The data playground: An intuitive workflow specification environment

  • Authors:

  • Andrew Gibson;Matthew Gamble;Katy Wolstencroft;Tom Oinn;Carole Goble;Khalid Belhajjame;Paolo Missier

  • Affiliations:

  • School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK;School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK;School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK;European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK;School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK;School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK;School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK

  • Venue:
  • Future Generation Computer Systems
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Workflows systems are steadily finding their way into the work practices of scientists. This is particularly true in the in silico science of bioinformatics, where biological data can be processed by Web Services. In this paper, we investigate the potential of evolving the users' interaction with workflow environments so that it more closely relates to the mode in which their day to day work is carried out. We present the Data Playground, an environment designed to encourage the uptake of workflow systems in bioinformatics through more intuitive interaction by focusing the user on their data, rather than on the processes. We implement a prototype plug-in for the Taverna workflow environment and show how this can promote the creation of workflow fragments by automatically converting the users' interactions with data and Web Services into a more conventional workflow specification.