GExplore
UX/UI & Front-End Designer
A bioinformatics platform for genome-scale exploration of the C. elegans genome — a decade-old research tool reimagined for clarity, and shipped.
GExplore is a bioinformatics platform for genome-scale exploration of gene and protein function in C. elegans — a nematode worm that has been a cornerstone of genetics research for decades. First launched in 2009 by Dr. Harald Hutter's lab at Simon Fraser University, it had served researchers for over ten years when I joined to lead its redesign. Working closely with Dr. Hutter and developer Mehrdad Moosavi, I rebuilt the experience around clarity — turning dense scientific data into something researchers could actually explore.
- Role
- UX · UI · Front-End · Visual Design
- Client
- Dr. Harald Hutter · SFU
- Timeline
- May – Nov 2024
The Problem
Scientific tools are built by scientists, for function — which too often leaves the interface an afterthought. GExplore worked, but a decade of research data had outgrown its design.
An accessibility gap in the data
Valuable datasets sat outside the big centralized repositories — hard to reach and harder to cross-reference. Researchers needed a single, optimized place to explore them, with the data kept current for comprehensive analysis.
Experience, overlooked
Bioinformatics tools tend to prioritize raw functionality over usability. But an intuitive, multi-functional interface is exactly what makes data extraction efficient — the difference between a tool scientists tolerate and one they reach for.
Data you can actually read
Selecting and structuring the right data is only half the job. Presenting it clearly — so a researcher can draw a meaningful insight at a glance — matters just as much.
The Organism
To design for GExplore, I had to understand what it is really for — and why a one-millimetre worm has quietly shaped modern medicine.
Why C. elegans
C. elegans is one of biology’s most important model organisms: simple, transparent, and mapped down to every cell. What researchers learn in the worm routinely reshapes our understanding of human genetics and disease.
A Nobel-winning model
In 2024 the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for discovering how microRNAs regulate genes — work done in C. elegans. GExplore is a tool built to accelerate exactly this kind of genome-scale discovery.
Six Databases
At its core, GExplore is a fast way to ask complex questions across large groups of genes — and get a usable answer back.
One tool, six datasets
Gene, mutation, and protein databases sit alongside three genome-scale expression datasets, together giving researchers quick access to curated data in one place.
Built for experimental planning
The point is speed of insight: get an overview of the biological and biochemical functions of large gene groups that share a set of features, then take that shortlist into the lab for deeper analysis.
A Scientific Identity
A research tool still deserves a point of view. I gave GExplore an identity that feels modern and credible without losing its scientific core.
A logo from the biology
The mark is drawn from the silhouette of C. elegans itself, with a subtle DNA double-helix worked into the form — the organism and the data it represents, in one symbol.
A system to build on
I defined the typography and colour rules behind the platform — a clean, blue-led palette and type system — so the design stays consistent as the tool keeps growing.
Designing the Interface
Most of the work lived in three screens — search, display, and help — each rethought around how researchers actually move through data.
Search that guides you
Every field carries an inline help icon and autosuggest, so researchers find the right terms without leaving the page. Search and clear sit in a sticky bar, and search only activates once a valid input is entered — a quiet signal that you are ready to go.
A display built for exploration
The results view centres on a collapsible sidebar — search summary, display options, export, and help — that folds away to hand the screen back to the data. Columns reorder, plots open full-screen, and large multi-gene tables stay smooth to navigate.
Help that follows the work
I consolidated the guidance into a single help page that mirrors the real workflow, walking new users through search inputs and display options in the order they would meet them.
What I learned
Collaboration at a distance
Remote, interdisciplinary work asks for more communication than an in-person studio, not less. Translating a scientist’s needs into design meant listening carefully and planning deliberately — and it sharpened how I work.
Tools that respect the science
Bioinformatics tools are critical infrastructure for research. The best thing design can do for them is get out of the way — make it simple and efficient for scientists to reach, read, and act on their data.
We Care