About Us

Granting Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Description: The Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) aims to enable broad use of Common Fund (CF) data sets to accelerate scientific discovery. The CFDE has created an online discovery portal that helps make Common Fund data sets FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). The portal enables researchers to search across data sets to ask scientific and clinical questions from a single access point.

Services: Usability testing, user interface mitigation, color values for data visualization

URL: https://www.nih-cfde.org/

Granting Agency: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Description: The RBK Data Repository houses curated data and tools generated by the RBK consortium. All data and tools in the repository are searchable and accessible via web-based interfaces, REST APIs, and program libraries.

Services: Usability testing

URL: https://www.rebuildingakidney.org/about/

Granting Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Description: A consortium of laboratories working to provide the scientific and medical community with curated data and tools to facilitate research; includes a molecular atlas of gene expression.

Services: Digital strategy, usability testing, user interface design

Partners: University of California Viterbi School of Engineering

URL: https://www.gudmap.org/

Granting Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Description: Northwest Passage Project. An Arctic expedition designed to explore and document conditions in the Northwest Passage while training college students on the conduct of research. The Inner Space Center (ISC) conducted live broadcasts from the Arctic during the expedition, connecting the world to oceanographic exploration projects in real time.
Services: Digital strategy, usability testing
Partners: Exploratorium, Smithsonian Oceans Hall, and the Alaska Sea Life Center
URL: https://northwestpassageproject.org/

Granting Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Description: A new citizen science community focused on STEM education.

Service: Committee member, digital strategy, information architecture, user experience training, usability testing, evaluation plan

URL: http://cosmoquest.org/

Granting Agency: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Description: The Unknown Ocean. Extending the work of Titanic discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard, The Inner Space Center (ISC) utilizes telepresence technologies to connect the world to oceanographic exploration projects in real time.

Artifacts: Touchscreen kiosk, website, controller for Exploration Command Station theatre program

Services: Digital strategy, usability, information design

Custom services: Storyboard for the Exploration Command Station, Ocean Exploration aquarium gallery design plan, project planning

Partners: Mystic Aquarium, South Carolina Aquarium

URL: https://innerspacecenter.org/education-outreach/projects/the-unknown-ocean-exploring-inner-space/

Granting Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF) and LSST Corporation

Description: The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will produce an unprecedented wide-field astronomical survey of our universe using an 8.4-meter ground-based telescope. The National Research Council for the National Academy of Sciences ranked the LSST as its top priority for the next large ground-based astronomical facility.

Artifact: Website

Services: Digital strategy, information design

URL: http://www.lsst.org/

URL: https://www.lsstcorporation.org/

Granting agency: National Science Foundation (NSF), in conjunction with Adler Planetarium and Oxford University

Description: The Zooniverse is a pioneering online citizen science framework based on the work of astrophysicist Dr. Christopher Lintott, who pioneered the GalaxyZoo project. Zooniverse now provides a reliable platform for citizen science projects in many fields of study.

Artifact: Website

Services: Usability testing

URL: https://www.zooniverse.org/

Granting agency: The Providence Journal Charitable Foundation, the A.H. Belo Corp., and the Philip L. Graham Fund

Description: The Metcalf Institute promotes clear and accurate reporting of scientific news and environmental issues.

Artifact: Website

Services: Digital strategy, information design

URL: http://metcalfinstitute.org/

Granting agency: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with the Coastal Education Learning Centers

Description: First deployed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and evaluated at Shedd Aquarium, Ocean Today provides an interactive kiosk where users can directly experience multimedia content about the world’s oceans.

Artifact: Touchscreen kiosk

Services: Usability testing

URL: http://oceantoday.noaa.gov/

Granting agency: National Science Foundation (NSF), in conjunction with Rutgers University

Description: MARACOOS’s mission is to seek, discover and apply new knowledge and understanding of our coastal ocean while extending that knowledge to “end users” – people whose livelihoods depend on the oceans.

Artifact: Website

Services: Usability testing

URL: http://maracoos.org/

Granting agency: National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Description: COSEE Networked Ocean World (COSEE NOW) is an online network of scientists and educators focused on using emerging Ocean Observing Systems (OOS) technologies and data.

Artifact: Website

Custom services: Onsite Workshop ‘Best Practices in Developing Web Communities’

URL: http://coseenow.net/

Partner: John G. Shedd Aquarium

Description: Great Lakes Forever is a public education initiative involving media outreach, educational advertising, point-of-experience signs at lakefront areas, and web-based outreach to inform and inspire action to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

Artifact: Website

Services: Usability analysis

URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20220128112745/http://greatlakesforever.org/

Granting agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in conjunction with the University of Arizona

Description: Launched in August 2007, the Phoenix Mars Mission was the first in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)‘s Scout Program, and found further evidence for the existence of water on Mars.

Artifact: Website

Custom services: Pro-bono website evaluation

URL: http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/