Communicating about Open Access
Communication around open access can be complicated - both for authors during the publishing process, and readers while accessing articles.
March 31, 2023
Copenhagen, Denmark
Meet Yen M. T. Trinh, a user experience designer at ChronosHub. With her recently awarded Ph.D. degree in engineering design, Yen is putting her research into practice, using her education and expertise to improve the platform and make it more user-friendly for researchers.
At ChronosHub, Yen is able to utilize her knowledge and experience to create synergy between her research and her work on a platform, ultimately designed to make it easier for all researchers to publish their work. In this article, we will explore Yen's background and the ways in which her research is helping researchers succeed on ChronosHub.
In February, Yen Trinh received her Ph.D. degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.
Her research focused on the design of products as compositions of features and their influence on product perception, specifically on the role of conceptual coherence in product design. E.g., the extent to which a person's concept of a car composed of one engine and four wheels influences the degree to which they perceive an object to be a car based on the presence and position of the engine, wheels, and other features in its design. As part of her studies, she completed her thesis titled 'Design Coherence: Exploring Conceptual Coherence in Product Design'. The findings from the final thesis showed that people's perception of a product is influenced by their knowledge of concepts that embody coherence, and that conceptual coherence positively influences product understandability and acceptance. Her research has implications for design approaches to and methods of product innovation.
Yen is interested in the embodiment of product interactivity for user interaction. She is able to create and implement innovative design solutions to analytical user problems.
Yen's research on conceptual coherence is particularly relevant to her work at ChronosHub. The ChronosHub platform is a complex product used by different users with different purposes within the research eco-system, making it challenging to conceptualize and design its user experience. However, she’s using her research to improve the user experience and interface design of the platform, establishing user insights, and translating them into useful and usable designs. She is now more conscious and deliberate about the application of conceptual coherence in her design practice, making the user interfaces less complex and clearer for the users. E.g., Librarians consider themselves to be organized individuals. Therefore, the concept of 'organization' in terms of order and structure is particularly promoted in the features intended for their use. It establishes and enforces the conceptual coherence of 'organization' in the product design for a librarian to identify their self-concept.
Yen believes that making her research part of the ChronosHub platform is essential, as it helps to prioritize between more central and less central factors and features, improving the user experience and reducing complexity. This will have a direct impact on other researchers, as Yen's research principles and approach can be applied to other product designs, providing value to the world.
Yen's work at ChronosHub demonstrates the importance of putting research into practice, creating a synergy between academia and industry, and ultimately contributing to the advancement of knowledge and the improvement of products for the benefit of all.