SHARE Lab: Participant information and publishing systems for an evolving research study
The SHARE team supplied the scientific content, participant-informed direction, and study workflow for a public website and three staff-managed systems: the Participant Roadmap, Video Library, and Publications Directory.
From research materials to a public study site
Project period: October 2025–present
First public release: October 2025
Current work: Component development, hosting, and maintenance
Live site: uclasharelab.org
The UCLA Stress, Health, and Autism Research Study examines how stress influences the physical and emotional health of autistic adolescents and emerging adults. The research team works with autistic people, families, and clinicians. Autistic teens and young adults are the site’s primary audience; families and clinicians are secondary audiences.
The team brought the subject-matter knowledge, study materials, and participant-informed direction. Working with the principal investigator and research assistants, I translated that material into the information architecture, responsive interface, interaction behavior, and custom publishing systems. I also adapted existing mission and research materials into web copy, which the principal investigator reviewed and approved.
A study process staff can keep current
The Participant Roadmap turns team-supplied study content into a sequence staff can maintain. The research team determines the study steps, participant guidance, terminology, and supporting media. The system provides predefined layouts, structured fields, and sequence controls, then generates the participant-facing navigation automatically.
Staff can add a step, choose its layout, place it within a section, and revise it without rebuilding the tutorial. The resulting sequence is available across desktop and mobile.
The roadmap is designed to help prospective and current participants preview the process and return to a particular stage. Participant comprehension and completion are not reported here.
Keeping the Video Library and Publications Directory current
The Video Library gives staff a structured record for each video, including its title, description, duration, source, and thumbnail, while captions and transcripts come from the research team. The Publications Directory uses the same editorial pattern for authors, journal details, dates, summaries, files, and external links. A DOI can retrieve available bibliographic metadata into an editable record for staff review before publication.
Together, the three systems let the research team update participant guidance and research resources through the site rather than through code changes or separately formatted pages. One staff member has been trained to manage the content.
A deliberate boundary around study data
The public site was kept separate from research administration. It presents study information, resources, and contact pathways, but stores no patient health information, survey responses, screening data, or study records. Platforms such as REDCap handle screening and protected participant data.
Current operation
The first public release was built and refined in about four weeks: roughly two weeks of implementation followed by two weeks of copy refinement, layout testing, and iteration with the principal investigator and research assistants. It launched in October 2025. Since then, work has continued on the Roadmap, Video Library, Publications Directory, hosting, backups, and maintenance.
Implementation included semantic HTML, ARIA attributes, alternative text, contrast review, responsive behavior, and reduced-motion considerations. Staff tested layout, navigation, terminology, and content. The project record does not include participant-usability findings or an independent accessibility audit.
SHARE now has a live public site and three staff-managed publishing systems, with public information kept separate from protected research activity. The available record covers delivery and current operation, not participant response or recruitment.