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dmccaff4@asu.edu
Arizona State University
Timezone: Eastern U.S.

Campus Champion
Senior Software Application Analyst, Cyber-infrastructure (CI) Facilitator
https://search.asu.edu/profile/4745435

Availability:

Friday 1/31 from 2-4

Monday 2/3 from 11-1

Friday 2/7 from 11-1

Friday 2/7 from 2-4


Interviewers:
Dina Meek, Matt Yoder


Via sign up form:

How should we address you?
Deb or Dr. McCaffrey

Please describe your experience with supercomputing
I've used supercomputers, but not regularly

Are you familiar with the U.S. National Science Foundation's ACCESS program?
Yes, I've used ACCESS in my research


Via pre-survey:

Please describe your experience using advanced research computing?
My education is in experimental physical chemistry and we often complemented experiments with computational simulations. For my career, I'm a research computing facilitator and help researchers with advanced research computing.

If you've used ACCESS, what allocation level did you start with?
Explore

What have you used or hope to use the ACCESS website to do?
Find information about all the resources easily. Find information to decide on which resources to use.

Remind us what your role is, as it applies to working with ACCESS:
Community Member

What is your research domain?
No answer

What courses do you teach?
No answer

What is advanced research computing is your resource particularly well suited for?
No answer

Who are your stakeholders?
Research IT leadership. Researchers in all domains. Office of Research.

What one thing do you appreciate most about the program?
There's no money changing hands. I like the credits model. I also like how it isn't limited or weighted towards NSF award recipients.

What one thing would you change about the program?
This should be a central service from the US government, not a solicitation!!!!! See the former Compute Canada model.

Interview guide:

60–90 minute interview. Each task will take approximately 5-10 minutes.

  • Login, introductions, set up screen share, record to cloud, click transcript, at end of interview save transcript

We ask that you “talk aloud” as you are completing your task – telling us what you are thinking about and looking for as you complete your task. Begin here:

https://access-ci.org/

  • Task 1: Where would you go to find out what type of research is being conducted using ACCESS? Is your institution’s area of research/study/classroom activity represented on the ACCESS website?
    Went to find info for you for researchers; then get started; then found news stories/tags

    • having different sizes of font is distracting

  • Task 2: Where can you find information specifically targeted for you?
    went to find info for you

    • noted the “find info…” tab didn’t have a rollover dropdown, you have to click

  • Task 3: Are you eligible to use ACCESS? Where can you find eligibility requirements?
    Went to about, then find info for you - found the quick link

  • Task 4: Find information about the cost to use ACCESS.
    struggled to find this info

    • logged in to try to find it

    • thinks there might need to be a page titled “cost” or “pricing”

  • Task 5: What is an ACCESS resource? Where can you find the type of resources that are available through ACCESS? How would you select an ACCESS resource?
    Went to Resources top nav; noted it would be helpful to have some explanation for the tags/filters

    • people may not care where machines are located; probably would mostly look at Resource Types

    • might be helpful to have some of what these resources can do

    • felt like the tags are more useful than the boxed items at the top

  • Task 6: What is an allocation? What types of allocation projects can you apply for? How do they differ from one another?
    Went to allocations menu

    • scrolled to the footer to Project Types

    • language is confusing - resource units vs. credits

      • no explanation of what credits are

      • Matt asked if a video might be helpful

        • She felt maybe something graphical to explain the Credits concept

  • Task 7: Where would you go to find the definition of an unfamiliar term or phrase used in ACCESS?
    Started on the homepage; scrolled to footer but didn’t catch it;

    • recommended adding it as a menu item; not general HPC terms tho

  • Task 8: Where can you go for help to use the ACCESS system? Where can you go to open a help ticket?
    Might not click “support” first; went to contact ACCESS

  • Task 9: If you want to get involved and volunteer with the ACCESS community where would you go?
    Sounds like a forum to her; knew those would be under support; went to Overview; went to ask.ci

    • struggled to find where to volunteer; that word isn’t prominent; did not expect to find under “about” but then easily found “get involved”

    • suggested Search should be above chat bot

  • Task 10: What’s the first step to get started using ACCESS?
    Went right to get started on the home page

    • did suggest “find info for you” should be “get started”

  • Task 11: Where can you find information about citing ACCESS in your publications?
    Went to About - Acknowledging ACCESS; most people may not know they need to acknowledge individual systems

  • Task 12: Where do you go to find Systems Status?
    Went to resources; clicked on a resource; then tried User Guide; jolting when you go off site to a particular resource’s home page (ie PSC bridges); Googled it and it took her to support; Support is where you can find these, but we may need more clear direction; Shared how Slack does it

More experienced user questions:

  • Task 13: Do you know what the XDMod tool is used for and how to find it?
    She said she’d got to the individual resources; and would search XDMoD; she usually links from Open On-demand from the ASU resource

    • noted the landing pages look more like they are just for new people; maybe need more language around info for current users

  • Task 14: Can you find what resources are running PyTorch?
    Went first to resources; went to SDS link (it wasn’t loading!); she was looking for a PyTorch filter; possibly mention the action you need to take on the resources page (i.e. get suggestions might change); might need a link from Resources page; felt like the resource advisor looked like it will be a ticket which will take to long (but it doesn’t)

  • Task 15: Can you find a resource that runs ACCESS On-Demand?
    Went to the Resources page; found the tags

  • Task 16: Can you find an Affinity Group for FABRIC users?
    Went to Support; affinity Groups; Searched

  • Task 17: Where can you go for training to use ANVIL?
    Went to Support; Events and training; was surprised to see it under “Affinity Group”; would have thought it’d say “Resources”

  • Task 18: Can you find how to get started with ACCESS MATCH services to help you with your research project?
    Thought it should really be under “resources” in the filter not “affinity groups”; did find it on the resources page

  • Task 19: Please review this page and suggest any additions or deletions.
    https://access-ci.org/get-started/for-programs-organizations/
    Need to frame this more as “collaborating”; thought Science Gateway people would first look at the RP page (but didn’t think it was really there); said she usually defaults to contact page and would open a ticket; felt like this title seems too targeted at leaders who might need to interface with higher level ACCESS leadership

  • Task 20: What type of HPC resources are your stakeholders looking for? Have any of your stakeholders reported back their experience working with ACCESS?
    Most of hers are going to ACCESS for very niche things: Neocortex; large GPU clusters

  • New users may not click on Allocations” because it doesn’t mean anything to them;

  • Wrap up, thank you, at end of interview save transcript

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