Synchrotron storage rings represent unique facilities for the determination of macromolecular structures that are unsuitable for analysis using conventional laboratory X-ray sources [3]. Structural biologists converge on such facilities to analyze microbe containing crystals and discover the molecular structure contained therein. These scientists come from very distinct backgrounds but they all share the goal of solving a particularly problematic crystal structure that cannot be investigated at local facilities. While many structures have been successfully defined using sychrotron radiation, there are problems with usability at the facilities.
The experimental techniques at a beamline facility require the use of a wide range of software control programs as well as data analysis programs. These programs are often written by a number of different software engineers and because of this and the fact that the sychrotron laboratories are located throughout the world, no one unified interface has been developed. As the capabilities to use high intensity xray beams increases, however, the need for an interface is crucial to help in fully utilitizing these resources[3]. In surveys, users repeatly reported a need for facilities that were more oriented towards their needs. Worldwide synchrotron laboratories include: the Stanford Radiation Laboratory, Stanford, California; the Synchrotron Radiation Source, Daresbury, UK; the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven, New York; the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Ithaca, New York; the Photon Factory, Tsukuba, Japan, the Laboratorie pour l'Utilisation Rayonnement Electromagnetique, Orsay, France; Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg, Germany [3] and the newest facility in Argonne, Illinois known as the Advanced Photon Source for which the author is designing the interface discussed in this paper.
The presentation of this design description will proceed as follows: the background that contributes to the need for the interface will first be presented. Next, a discussion of the user groups will reveal the design issues faced when accommodating a population of two diverse user types. The design iterations explored that led up to the current design and the use of the user's task model[5] to define the interface will be discussed. Finally, a report on the current state of the interface will be given and the next steps for user testing elaborated upon.