First Alpha Testing is Complete!

May 29, 2020 — It takes a lot of courage to share a vision with users and critics, but the GIDEON team is in no short supply of that. In our recent alpha testing round, we opened up our brand new interface to medical experts from 25 countries, who have very kindly shared their feedback on our successes and shortcomings.

What is Alpha?

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Quite simply, it is an early release of a major product upgrade. Our first alpha testing round focused on displaying our extensive database in a brand new ‘Explore’ module.

How Did We Do It?

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We opted for feedback-gathering mechanisms that support user independence and anonymity. This is different from a focus group, which is prone to leaving some opinions unheard.

Our Trusted Advisors were diverse, consisting of 80+ medical professionals – from seasoned experts to students. Some testers have never seen our product before, and others have used GIDEON for years.

The experience was scary, exciting, and necessary. We cannot thank our Trusted Advisors enough for their insight and valuable time spent exploring our new interface. The feedback has empowered a fruitful fine-tuning exercise, so if you are one of our testers – be sure to check out the implementation of your suggestions in the second alpha release!

Feedback

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We are beside ourselves in anticipation of the release of the new interface, and based on the early feedback, we know you will love it.

Here is a small sample of the comments we received:

• “This is a huge improvement. I very much like the general concept. The dark mode is also very nice.”
• “Comprehensive.”
• “Amazing work! So informative and pleasant to use.”
• “Disease comparison is great. What a useful way to compare a differential!”
• “I very much like the ‘fingerprint’ search concept for diseases.”
• “The interface is easy to use.”
• “Maps are amazing!!”
• “Thoughtful, cohesive design.”
• “Links to references are very useful.”

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What’s next?

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We cannot wait to share this new experience with you all. It’s the same GIDEON data that you know and love, but like you’ve never seen before.

The GIDEON Difference

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GIDEON is one of the most well-known and comprehensive global databases for infectious diseases. Data is refreshed daily, and the GIDEON API allows medical professionals and researchers access to a continuous stream of data. Whether your research involves quantifying data, learning about specific microbes, or testing out differential diagnosis tools– GIDEON has you covered with a program that has met standards for accessibility excellence.