**Community Member: Deb McCaffrey

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:

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

  • Get started or find info for you look promising

  • Find info for you

    • For researcher

    • How to get started

    • This isn’t right; this is about how to use ACCESS

  • Go back -> Get Started

    • Tried I am a researcher - same page

    • See how ACCESS is advancing science

      • This goes to the news section

      • Keywords - I want to search based on these

    • Found tags

      • Having different sizes is distracting/offputting

      • Bigger words are the most used domains

    • Click on Chemistry tags

      • I’m interested in this article!

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

  • I already tried that one!

    • Find info for you

  • I found that one several ways

  • Find info for you don’t have information on mouseover

    • Not consistent with other items in universal nav
      
      

• Task 3: Are you eligible to use ACCESS? Where can you find eligibility requirements?

  • Look at the about page

    • That’s just about the program

  • Find info for you

    • Go to researchers

      • Found in quick links

• 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”

  • Try support Q/A tool

    • Need to log on

    • Tried logging on with ASU

      • Error: user not registered

      • Oh, I have an ACCESS account

    • Try to search for ACCESS pricing

      • Results show lots of other ACCESS terms

      • Frustrating!

• 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

  • Resources menu in universal nav

    • We see all the resources

    • They have tags - pretty cool

    • Is there anything that explains what these tags are

      • No not currently

  • Selecting a resource

    • I would use these filters

    • The way they’re designed graphically is very nice

    • Resource provider may not be that helpful for most people

    • Resource type is helpful

    • Helpful to have different computational types

      • Bioinformatics, image analysis, etc.

  • Would you use the other options at the top of the resource catalog page

    • Probably not

    • The other information on the page is more eye catching

    • If I couldn’t find the filters there, I’d try to get help

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

  • Look at allocations menu

    • Found definition

  • What types can you apply for

    • Found project types in footer

    • Or get your first project

      • Link to project types

    • Allocations home page -> resource units

    • Project types -> credits

      • Nothing on this page about what credits are

      • Found credit concept confusing when first got started with ACCESS

  • 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

• Menu items don’t look promising

  • Go to open a help ticket

  • Didn’t find glossary on her own

    • Suggested putting it as a menu item

  • Glossary

    • These are program-specific, not HPC terms

    • Even experienced HPC people won’t know these terms

• Task 8: Where can you go for help to use the ACCESS system? Where can you go to open a help ticket?

  • Support menu

    • I wouldn’t click that first

    • On most sites, it’s for documentation and forums

  • Scroll down to the bottom to find contact us in footer

    • Open a help ticket

• Task 9: If you want to get involved and volunteer with the ACCESS community where would you go?
  Sounds like a forum to me

  • Usually under support

  • Support -> Community menu

    • I’m not sure what any of these things mean

    • Start with Overview

  • Looking for something like http://Ask.CI

  • Probably wouldn’t be interested in affinity groups if I was looking for something specific

• Where would you go to interface just with ACCESS people (e.g., to volunteer)

  • Thought maybe CSSN

  • Looking and support site footer

  • Not seeing a menu item or link that screams volunteer

    • I would look for something specifically called volunteer

  • Would not think to look under About

    • But once I got there, I would click Get Involved

  • Would search

    • Q/A Bot is first

      • Have to log in

    • Would be helpful to have the search box first

    • Found volunteering under search

• 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

  • Looking for something called “Get started”

  • Found get started button on home page

  • “Find info for you” could be renamed to “get started”

    • “Find info for you” is not a common phrase on website

      • People wouldn’t be sure what to do with it

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

• Task 11: Where can you find information about citing ACCESS in your publications?

  • This is something I’d probably look for in About

  • Found acknowledging ACCESS

    • 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?

  • Resources

  • Click the resource

    • Jump to’s don’t look promising

    • Clicked wait time chart

    • Didn’t find it on the resource catalog page

  • Try the user guide

    • Note: most people don’t realize they need to cite individual systems

    • Don’t see it here

    • Search “status” on PSC website

      • Not at all what I need

    • Complete change in branding between ACCESS site and resource site

    • Google “Bridges-2 status”

      • Got to support outages page

    • Slack has a nice outages page

    • We may need to show affirmatively that there are no outages

    • Not just the absence of an outage notice

    • Noted it’s 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?

  • Go to resource and look for XDMod

    • Resource catalog

    • Go to resource page

      • User guide

        • Couldn’t find it in PSC search

  • Researcher landing page

    • This is a “get started” kind of thing

    • I’d look for something like “current users”

      • Like prospective students vs. current student on university site

    • 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?

  • Looked in resource catalog

    • Couldn’t find filter

  • Found get suggestions (ARA)

    • But it didn’t load

    • This looks like a ticket

    • I wound’t submit it

    • 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?

  • Found filter on resource catalog page
    
    

• Task 16: Can you find an Affinity Group for FABRIC users?

  • Where did I see affinity groups

  • Went to support site

    • Found affinity groups

    • These were in several places

  • Search for Fabric

    • Found it

• Task 17: Where can you go for training to use ANVIL?

  • Events and Trainings menu

    • That’s interesting - I wouldn’t think to look under affinity groups

    • I’d look for a category call resources

    • 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?

  • Saw it on support site (already there)

  • Would look under resources

    • This is just machines…

    • …Oh, but it is there! Cool!

    • 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/

  • From the point of view of these groups, I wouldn’t be looking to use ACCESS resources. I’d be looking to collaborate.

    • Might want to talk to the ACCESS program about

  • From science gateways, if I wanted to host something, I’d look under resource providers

    • Wouldn't click on quick links to talk about hosting

    • I’d go to the contact page

      • Open a ticket

  • This is not the information writ large that I would expect

    • Would this be helpful if you were a campus champion?

    • What recommendations would you have?

      • TItle “programs and organizations” suggests that it’s the leadership of the organization

      • Campus champions - I would not click on programs and organizations

        • I’d go to the researchers page and start looking for things if there wasn’t something called out for facilitators

        • Need to frame this more as “collaborating”
          
          

• Task 20: What type of HPC resources are your stakeholders looking for? Have any of your stakeholders reported back their experience working with ACCESS?

  • We have a large cluster of our own

  • Most people are not going to ACCESS for basic HPC

    • Some people interested in niche things like Neocortex

    • Large GPU clusters

      • Extra GPU capacity

      • Most of hers are going to ACCESS for very niche things: Neocortex; large GPU clusters

• Final Thoughts

  • ACCESS credits vs resource units

    • Sounds like they should be the same thing

    • Understand why it was done

    • Wouldn’t necessarily want a video

      • But a graphic that explains it (e.g., with money might be helpful)

  • Anything else?

    • I don’t know that researchers coming in fresh would know the word “allocation”

      • That could be confusing

      • They’d probably be looking for a pricing page

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