Comments on: How Important is User Interface. Craigslist versus eBay versus ChemSpider http://www.chemspider.com/blog/how-important-is-user-interface-craigslist-versus-ebay-versus-chemspider.html Building Community for Chemists Tue, 14 May 2013 21:50:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 By: Chris Singleton http://www.chemspider.com/blog/how-important-is-user-interface-craigslist-versus-ebay-versus-chemspider.html/comment-page-1#comment-195059 Chris Singleton Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:12:32 +0000 http://www.chemspider.com/blog/?p=1533#comment-195059 1) The ability to open only what data and sources you need. for example, the pages load quicker than they used to, since the properties, spectra, etc. are only loaded when you click on the relevant header.

3) The ability to search for stereoisomers of a molecule

4) 8. It fits most of my needs, and I know if there is a need it doesn’t address, I can request and it usually gets done (or I may get a request to accomplish it myself :)

5) NIST spectral data. Not possible since they have make money and don’t want to give it up, but one can still dream….

]]> By: David Sharpe http://www.chemspider.com/blog/how-important-is-user-interface-craigslist-versus-ebay-versus-chemspider.html/comment-page-1#comment-195058 David Sharpe Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:20:35 +0000 http://www.chemspider.com/blog/?p=1533#comment-195058 I don’t know if you happened to also pick up on this article on Craigslist, perhaps a little less relevant (at least in the short term) but nonetheless interesting.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/17-09/ff_craigslist?currentPage=1

The questions that you pose are interesting, I would posit that this might not be the right forum for getting the best data, as I imagine the readership of your blog are quite techie and have possibly different expectations/agendas from your average bench chemist/researcher.

Having said that I always like to have may say, so I’ll add my 2 pen’th to the mix and hopefully kick-start some debate.

1. I’d say it is the pop-up that comes up when you click on the structure search interface – it’s the multitude of different ways you can enter a representation of a molecule and get a structure out – I find it really useful and impressive.

2. I’d say the actual structure search itself, substructure searching is often slow and the search options only allow you to widen the scope very slightly (tautomers, same skeleton), or very generally (All isomers) there is no middle-ground.

3. Better integration of tools. Eg structure editor embedded in page rather than in popups
Also make curation faster and easier.

4. 7/10 – I’d say that ChemSpider allows me to do many of the useful things I want to do. I think that the basic features are fine (searching could do with some refinement as mentioned before).
I think that there is a need to think about the way data is presented from an ease of view perspective and also thinking about the future growth of the database.

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