Resumen
The article discusses the user-centered design techniques that can broaden the appeal, use, and effectiveness of Web-based bioinformatics tools. It explores all aspects of human experience and interaction with these tools and Web sites, focusing on ease-of-use and biologists' research needs in order to improve functionality. Since human-centered tools concentrate on user behavior, anyone designing bioinformatics tools must first analyze and understand biologists' experience to be able to build models of their behavior. Although the amount of bioinformatics information and tools is increasing dramatically, BioUse is one of the few such projects in which users themselves are indeed the research focus. The complexity of the bioinformatics domain represents a challenge to biologists and bioinformatics tool designers alike, so close interaction is a must. Tools designed specifically for the biomedical user community are likely to be adopted only if they concentrate on and adapt to the people who are ultimately expected to use them.