Collaq
Mining Knowledge Together
UX Research
UX-UI Design
Product Design
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About.
What began as a digital library evolved into a comprehensive ecosystem for global research collaboration. Through the research process, I identified the need for a platform that goes beyond content access—one that empowers professionals throughout their entire research journey.
Collaq is an attempt to connects researchers from universities, corporations, and research institutions, facilitating meaningful collaborations, idea exchange, and streamlined workflows. The platform integrates three key components:
- A collection of quality academic and industry research resources.
- An intuitive workspace for organizing research, managing tasks, and capturing insights.
- A vibrant community hub for finding cross-sector partners and sharing knowledge.
By connecting worldwide researchers from different sectors, Collaq aims to accelerate innovation and elevate collaborative scholarship on a global scale.
Collaq’s Home Page
User Research.
I conducted a qualitative study in order to obtain information about the needs, challenges and desires of potential users. The study was carried out by interviews with 15 students, aged 24 to 36, pursuing various professional fields across different academic institutions.
Below are some of the important highlights that emerged from the study:
Personas.
Business Model.
Collaq operates on a dual revenue model, combining institutional subscriptions and targeted sponsored content.
The primary source of revenue comes from institutional subscriptions (B2B), offering tailored access for universities, research institutes, and corporate R&D departments. These organizations purchase licenses for their researchers and students, ensuring seamless access to high-quality academic resources, collaboration tools, and project management features.
In addition, Collaq incorporates sponsored content designed to enhance the research experience. This includes partnerships with providers of statistical analysis tools, professional conference organizers, academic journals, and specialized training programs. An intelligent algorithm curates relevant advertisements, ensuring that promotional content aligns with users’ research interests without disrupting their workflow.
By balancing institutional support with thoughtfully integrated sponsorships, Collaq sustains its mission to foster global research collaboration while maintaining an uninterrupted, user-centric experience.
Solutions.
Search system
A library is a cornerstone of the research process, yet many users—especially first-degree students—often feel overwhelmed by its vast data and complex navigation.
Collaq improves the digital library experience by combining simplicity with sophistication. The algorithm search engine not only delivers quick, one-click access to sources but also highlights the most relevant sections within each source, allowing users to scan information instantly.
For more advanced searches, results are displayed flexibly, allowing users to sort and prioritize information.
Market analysis
To design a seamless and effective search experience, I conducted a comparative analysis of leading search engines—Google, PubMed, and Harvard University’s library platform. The research focused on understanding their search processes, user flows, and key features, aiming to identify best practices and solutions for Collaq’s search engine.
Below is a visual comparison outlining the different features each platform uses:
Search flow
Gleaning data
Collaq streamlines the research process by highlighting relevant content as the user conducts a search. When he opens a source, the platform offers tools to enhance the workflow. Save highlights or entire source to a research project, generate citations automatically and more.
These features allows the user to focus on reading while keeping the data organized and accessible. Everything is stored in a structured way, making it easy to find and use the research materials when the user needs them.
Reading mode
Organizing Data
Research shows that users need more than simple access to sources. They require features that help organize their data effectively. By using Collaq’s library functions like project creation, researchers can group related information, move smoothly between studies, manage brainstorming sessions, and complete their tasks more efficiently.
The design of this Workspace section draws inspiration from productivity platforms like Notion, Monday, and Jira to create an intuitive research management experience.
The Workspace
Inside a project
Saving sources for future usage
Collaq offers a straightforward system for organizing research materials. Users can save sources to their personal shelf or within specific projects for easy reference.
The platform allows for flexible categorization based on source type, professional field, and other relevant criteria. As shown in the left sidebar, researchers can add frequently used sources or projects to a favorites panel for quick access, streamlining their workflow and saving valuable time.
My Shelf
Source display
Community: Connecting researchers globally
The Community section of Collaq serves as a dynamic hub where knowledge meets collaboration. Researchers can establish connections with peers from diverse sectors and geographical locations, forming specialized research teams and other collaborations. The platform enables the creation and management of various content events, including academic conferences, professional webinars, and specialized courses—all designed to facilitate knowledge exchange.
At the heart of this section lies the Discovery area, where users encounter content curated to match their research interests and preferences. Here, doctoral candidates can find potential mentorship, researchers can explore funding opportunities, access peer reviews of academic papers, and discover other research-related resources.
The Query feature allows users to post specific research questions or requests that subsequently appear in other users’ feeds, fostering a responsive research community. Through this comprehensive community ecosystem, Collaq transforms isolated research efforts into collaborative journeys, enabling researchers to leverage collective expertise.
Community-Discoveries
Network management
Information Architecture.
Site structure and navigation
The information architecture of the system was designed to support users’ research needs and navigation. The overall system layout organizes navigation menus and access to common actions in the top and left sides of the screen, while the center is dedicated to the main content. The main menu appears in the top bar, directing users to different platform sections where they can find and manage content specific to that area. The left sidebar is dedicated to quick access to favorites and common actions, allowing users to work efficiently without unnecessary navigation.
In some platform sections, a local menu appears in a bar above the main content. I chose to place it there, rather than on the left side, to maintain consistency in the overall navigation layout and create a clear separation between content-specific navigation and global elements. The Community section features an additional bar on the right side for Network and Discoveries management. Breadcrumbs appear when the user isn’t on a section’s main page, providing another indicator for orientation.
On certain screens, advertisements appear on the right side in a way that supports the user experience rather than detracting from it. In areas requiring special focus—such as when reading a source—or where content density is high, advertisements are omitted entirely, ensuring users can concentrate on their research tasks without distractions.
Search engine
The search engine design was a crucial component in developing the platform’s information architecture. The search mechanism was particularly complex for two main reasons. First, users search for different types of content—they might look for a note they wrote or a source discussing a specific topic. Second, the user journey varies depending on what element they’re searching for. Searching for a note versus searching for a source creates completely different user journeys.
The final search model implements two primary categories: System content searches (covering notes, profiles, and courses) and source searches. A single search box is centrally positioned in the screen’s top bar for consistency and accessibility.
To enhance user experience and focus, the search scope automatically narrows when users enter specific sections. For example, when navigating to the workspace, the search narrows to workspace-related content, with the search box label changing accordingly. This contextual approach helps users find relevant information more efficiently while maintaining a clean interface across the platform.
When searching from the home page, results include all system content but exclude academic sources. This design choice is due to the distinction between search journeys, and is a learned behavioral.
System Design
Several core values guided the system design process, derived from user research findings: collaboration, reliability, minimalism, and goal-oriented focus. The design was characterized by clean aesthetics, simplicity, and clarity to maintain a minimalist approach that supports task completion. The name I gave the system—Collaq—combines Collaboration + Query, representing the platform’s goals and values.
For typography, I selected two complementary typefaces: Roboto for most system elements, a modern-humanist sans-serif font that conveys calmness and neutrality. For body text and several additional elements, I chose Spectral, a serif typeface specifically designed for on-screen reading. It features subtle contrast, balanced x-height, and refined, sharp serifs.
The primary color selected—a subtle yet deep blue—communicates reliability and tranquility. I developed the color palettes by manipulating saturation and luminosity values, utilizing the Material Design Builder Plugin.
Color contrast selection strictly adhered to WCAG accessibility guidelines.
All rights reserved to Yotam Malkiel, JLM, 2024
Some of the graphic elements in this project were taken from Freepik