Nanotoxicity
NHECD - Nanotoxicity specialized search engine

NHECD - Search engine

An indexed database of research and documentation, serving scientists and legislators, for the protection of our health and environment from the impact of toxic Nanoparticles.

NHECD
NHECD - Nano Health and Environmental Commented Database, commissioned by the EU in collaboration with the Tel-Aviv University, is a unique project aimed at legislators and researchers in the field of Nanoparticles, specifically relating to toxicity.
The challenge

With a growing body of knowledge in the field, searching for specific data is an overwhelming task. Embarking on an adventure in a subject foreign to me, I set out to define what UX structure would produce the most efficient search results. By interviewing researchers and legislators, I became familiar enough with physicochemical characterizations of nanomaterials, to understand how to group items, and divide them into logical hierarchies. With feedback from the scientists, I defined the correct methodologies for productive indexing and search query constructions.

Research
Project aims
Personas, user journeys
User interviews
Products
Search query definitions
Database indexing
UX/UI, Flowmaps
Contributing to the creation of a safer environment has been a gratifying experience.
Collaboration

Back in 2010, I worked with a dedicated team at TLV university, to plan the behavior of a unique resource, a database utilizing data-mining methods, algorithms, and taxonomies.

NHECD intelligent search
NHECD Search Results
NHECD Search engine queries
Search queries

By using the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials, we devised an efficient grouping methodology for creating clear search queries.

NHECD Database
Extensive database

Comprising of scientific papers, reviews, whitepapers, and surveys, the extensive database required a user-friendly indexing system.

NHECD Taxonomy
Taxonomy

Matching the indexing metatags with those used for seeking information, we exposed the user to the taxonomies providing an alternate search path.

Focused data
Perfecting results

The defined metatags allowed us to offer an advanced intelligent search results filter, refining the results to achieve a high level of accuracy.