The NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) undertook a major upgrade to its website and user experience this year. The work was motivated by the need to facilitate access to a growing number of astronomical data sets and exploration tools. The guiding principle of the redesign was to focus on the most important items, while providing easy access to the full set of IRSA's holdings and services. We discuss the redesign process and the key features of the new website

Brooke, T.

Desai, V.

Groom, S.

Howell, J.

Hurt, R.

Jackson, E.

Landry, W.

Llamas, J.

Ly, L.

McGehee, P.

Mi, W.

Monkewitz, S.

O’Dell, M.

Pyle, T.

Rebull, L.

Rey, R.

Roby, W.

Squires, G.

Teplitz, H. I.

Terek, S.

Wu, X.

Zhang, A.

Caltech Authors - Main

Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems: XXIV
ASP Conference Series, Vol. 495
A. R. Taylor and E. Rosolowsky, eds.
c©2015 Astronomical Society of the Pacific
IRSA’s New Look: Design Considerations
H. I. Teplitz, V. Desai, T. Brooke, S. Groom, J. Howell, R. Hurt, E. Jackson,
W. Landry, J. Llamas, L. Ly, P. McGehee, W. Mi, S. Monkewitz, M. O’Dell,
T. Pyle, L. Rebull, R. Rey, W. Roby, G. Squires, S. Terek, X. Wu, and A. Zhang
IPAC/Caltech
Abstract. The NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) undertook a major
upgrade to its website and user experience this year. The work was motivated by the
need to facilitate access to a growing number of astronomical data sets and exploration
tools. The guiding principle of the redesign was to focus on the most important items,
while providing easy access to the full set of IRSA’s holdings and services. We discuss
the redesign process and the key features of the new website.
1. The NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA)
IRSA (irsa.ipac.caltech.edu) is the infrared component of the NASA archives. It is
chartered to (1) curate and serve scientific data products from NASA’s infrared (IR)
and submillimeter projects; (2) enable scientific exploration of these data sets; and (3)
support planning for, operation of, and data set generation from NASA missions.
In the past few years, IRSA underwent a major expansion from holdings domi-
nated by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS; Neugebauer et al. 1984) and the
Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS; Skrutskie et al. 2006) to a much broader port-
folio. Recent additions include the Heritage Archive (SHA) of the Spitzer Space Tele-
scope (Werner et al. 2004); the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright
et al. 2010); NASA’s Planck Archive (Planck Collaboration et al. 2011); and seamless
access to ESA’s Herschel Science Archive. The increased complexity of serving many
heterogenous mission data sets, along with a large number of new users, strained the
previous website and required a serious reworking of the design.
2. The Old Look
Leading into the years of rapid expansion, IRSA’s web site was designed to be simple
and robust. The emphasis was placed on presenting as much information as possible
while minimizing mouse clicks. The two dominant menus (top and left-side, see Figure
1) were present on most static IRSA pages. A combined menu was offered on pages
dedicated to visualization-intensive services.
The IRSA front page highlighted additional information: news, external links, and
featured images. In addition, the first items in the main frame were a search box to
access IRSA’s Inventory Search, and a short statement describing the archive itself.
445
446 Teplitz et al.
Figure 1. The old website was characterized by two menus providing access to a
variety of data services and tools, a data discovery search box, news, external links,
and featured images. As the archive and user base grew, this “everything at your
fingertips” approach became overly complex, motivating a change in design.
3. Rethinking the Philosophy
IRSA partnered with the IPAC Communications and Education Team (ICE)1 to simplify
the design of the website without sacrificing functionality. ICE is a unique team of
scientists and science-savvy developers that has developed websites for PTF, NuSTAR,
NExScI, and more.
The first step was to understand the needs of IRSA’s users. A usage study was
conducted using Google Analytics, software that tracks how visitors interact and travel
through a website. Scientific use cases were developed by IRSA scientists based on
knowledge of the literature. Finally, feedback from the wider community of scientists
was gathered from both the IRSA Help Desk and from a user survey conducted at the
end of 2012.
The second step was for ICE designers to translate this understanding of user needs
into a design, taking into account the modern expectations of web users. Developers
and scientists iterated to reach a design that (1) was simple for new users to learn; (2)
did not alienate or sacrifice functionality for veteran users; and (3) inspired trust in the
data and services behind the scenes.
The third step was to implement the design in a way that meshed seamlessly with
IRSA’s back-end services, so that IRSA could maintain and update the website inde-
pendently.
1http://ice.ipac.caltech.edu
IRSA’s New Look 447
Figure 2. The new website features a compact, comprehensive, text-based menu,
as well as visually-intuitive iconographic menus for the most popular tools (red)
and data sets (blue). News and Featured Images are combined so users have only
one place to look for changes. Google Analytics revealed that Catalog Searches are
extremely popular, so a search box was added to allow this directly from the front
page. Help is prominent on the top and bottom of the page.
Figure 3. (left) The complex menu of Spitzer Heritage Archive content; (right)
The mission information page for Spitzer.
448 Teplitz et al.
4. The New Look
The new website features an “app driven” layout, which is familiar to modern users
of smart phones and tablets (see Figure 2). Simple and consistent iconography makes
navigation intuitive. User research guided decisions on which services and data sets to
put in front of the user, and which could be placed a logical click or two away. For users
of more obscure items, the top of the frame presents the centralized text-based menu.
Below the menu are the five major areas of content:
Search: In addition to the Inventory Search provided in the previous design, the new
page also offers front-page access to the Catalog Search Service, our most popular tool.
Data Services: The multi-mission and non-mission data services are accessed through
red icons that are used consistently throughout the website.
Major Missions: Blue icons link to information pages for major missions. These
compile links to all relevant IRSA holdings and external sites, the most important of
which are represented as icons at the top of the page (Figure 3, right).
News and Featured Images: This section is dynamic to reflect both the changing
nature of its content and to keep its screen footprint compact. News items and images
rotate through at a slow pace (once per minute). Older items are available from links in
the same area.
Help: At the bottom of the main frame are prominent links to documentation, demos,
and the helpdesk.
Footer: Below the major areas is the site footer, with a site-search, institutional logos,
and links to the Acknowledgement statement and contact info.
References
Neugebauer, G., Soifer, B. T., Beichman, C. A., Aumann, H. H., Chester, T. J., Gautier, T. N.,
Lonsdale, C. J., Gillett, F. C., Hauser, M. G., & Houck, J. R. 1984, Science, 224, 14
Planck Collaboration, Ade, P. A. R., Aghanim, N., Arnaud, M., Ashdown, M., Aumont, J.,
Baccigalupi, C., Baker, M., Balbi, A., Banday, A. J., & et al. 2011, A&A, 536, A1.
1101.2022
Skrutskie, M. F., et al. 2006, AJ, 131, 1163
Werner, M. W., et al. 2004, ApJS, 154, 1. astro-ph/0406223
Wright, E. L., et al. 2010, AJ, 140, 1868. 1008.0031


English

IRSA's New Look: Design Considerations

Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems: XXIV
ASP Conference Series, Vol. 495
A. R. Taylor and E. Rosolowsky, eds.
c©2015 Astronomical Society of the Pacific
IRSA’s New Look: Design Considerations
H. I. Teplitz, V. Desai, T. Brooke, S. Groom, J. Howell, R. Hurt, E. Jackson,
W. Landry, J. Llamas, L. Ly, P. McGehee, W. Mi, S. Monkewitz, M. O’Dell,
T. Pyle, L. Rebull, R. Rey, W. Roby, G. Squires, S. Terek, X. Wu, and A. Zhang
IPAC/Caltech
Abstract. The NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) undertook a major
upgrade to its website and user experience this year. The work was motivated by the
need to facilitate access to a growing number of astronomical data sets and exploration
tools. The guiding principle of the redesign was to focus on the most important items,
while providing easy access to the full set of IRSA’s holdings and services. We discuss
the redesign process and the key features of the new website.
1. The NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA)
IRSA (irsa.ipac.caltech.edu) is the infrared component of the NASA archives. It is
chartered to (1) curate and serve scientific data products from NASA’s infrared (IR)
and submillimeter projects; (2) enable scientific exploration of these data sets; and (3)
support planning for, operation of, and data set generation from NASA missions.
In the past few years, IRSA underwent a major expansion from holdings domi-
nated by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS; Neugebauer et al. 1984) and the
Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS; Skrutskie et al. 2006) to a much broader port-
folio. Recent additions include the Heritage Archive (SHA) of the Spitzer Space Tele-
scope (Werner et al. 2004); the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright
et al. 2010); NASA’s Planck Archive (Planck Collaboration et al. 2011); and seamless
access to ESA’s Herschel Science Archive. The increased complexity of serving many
heterogenous mission data sets, along with a large number of new users, strained the
previous website and required a serious reworking of the design.
2. The Old Look
Leading into the years of rapid expansion, IRSA’s web site was designed to be simple
and robust. The emphasis was placed on presenting as much information as possible
while minimizing mouse clicks. The two dominant menus (top and left-side, see Figure
1) were present on most static IRSA pages. A combined menu was offered on pages
dedicated to visualization-intensive services.
The IRSA front page highlighted additional information: news, external links, and
featured images. In addition, the first items in the main frame were a search box to
access IRSA’s Inventory Search, and a short statement describing the archive itself.
445
446 Teplitz et al.
Figure 1. The old website was characterized by two menus providing access to a
variety of data services and tools, a data discovery search box, news, external links,
and featured images. As the archive and user base grew, this “everything at your
fingertips” approach became overly complex, motivating a change in design.
3. Rethinking the Philosophy
IRSA partnered with the IPACCommunications and Education Team (ICE)1 to simplify
the design of the website without sacrificing functionality. ICE is a unique team of
scientists and science-savvy developers that has developed websites for PTF, NuSTAR,
NExScI, and more.
The first step was to understand the needs of IRSA’s users. A usage study was
conducted using Google Analytics, software that tracks how visitors interact and travel
through a website. Scientific use cases were developed by IRSA scientists based on
knowledge of the literature. Finally, feedback from the wider community of scientists
was gathered from both the IRSA Help Desk and from a user survey conducted at the
end of 2012.
The second step was for ICE designers to translate this understanding of user needs
into a design, taking into account the modern expectations of web users. Developers
and scientists iterated to reach a design that (1) was simple for new users to learn; (2)
did not alienate or sacrifice functionality for veteran users; and (3) inspired trust in the
data and services behind the scenes.
The third step was to implement the design in a way that meshed seamlessly with
IRSA’s back-end services, so that IRSA could maintain and update the website inde-
pendently.
1http://ice.ipac.caltech.edu
IRSA’s New Look 447
Figure 2. The new website features a compact, comprehensive, text-based menu,
as well as visually-intuitive iconographic menus for the most popular tools (red)
and data sets (blue). News and Featured Images are combined so users have only
one place to look for changes. Google Analytics revealed that Catalog Searches are
extremely popular, so a search box was added to allow this directly from the front
page. Help is prominent on the top and bottom of the page.
Figure 3. (left) The complex menu of Spitzer Heritage Archive content; (right)
The mission information page for Spitzer.
448 Teplitz et al.
4. The New Look
The new website features an “app driven” layout, which is familiar to modern users
of smart phones and tablets (see Figure 2). Simple and consistent iconography makes
navigation intuitive. User research guided decisions on which services and data sets to
put in front of the user, and which could be placed a logical click or two away. For users
of more obscure items, the top of the frame presents the centralized text-based menu.
Below the menu are the five major areas of content:
Search: In addition to the Inventory Search provided in the previous design, the new
page also offers front-page access to the Catalog Search Service, our most popular tool.
Data Services: The multi-mission and non-mission data services are accessed through
red icons that are used consistently throughout the website.
Major Missions: Blue icons link to information pages for major missions. These
compile links to all relevant IRSA holdings and external sites, the most important of
which are represented as icons at the top of the page (Figure 3, right).
News and Featured Images: This section is dynamic to reflect both the changing
nature of its content and to keep its screen footprint compact. News items and images
rotate through at a slow pace (once per minute). Older items are available from links in
the same area.
Help: At the bottom of the main frame are prominent links to documentation, demos,
and the helpdesk.
Footer: Below the major areas is the site footer, with a site-search, institutional logos,
and links to the Acknowledgement statement and contact info.
References
Neugebauer, G., Soifer, B. T., Beichman, C. A., Aumann, H. H., Chester, T. J., Gautier, T. N.,
Lonsdale, C. J., Gillett, F. C., Hauser, M. G., & Houck, J. R. 1984, Science, 224, 14
Planck Collaboration, Ade, P. A. R., Aghanim, N., Arnaud, M., Ashdown, M., Aumont, J.,
Baccigalupi, C., Baker, M., Balbi, A., Banday, A. J., & et al. 2011, A&A, 536, A1.
1101.2022
Skrutskie, M. F., et al. 2006, AJ, 131, 1163
Werner, M. W., et al. 2004, ApJS, 154, 1. astro-ph/0406223
Wright, E. L., et al. 2010, AJ, 140, 1868. 1008.0031


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IRSA's New Look: Design Considerations

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