Examiner search platform
Unifying the EPO's patent search and document viewing tools into one product for examiners, from ultra-wide screens to iPad.
- Client
- European Patent Office
- Services
- Lead, UX research, UX design
- Year
- 2018 – 2022
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The search platform
European Patent Office examiners relied on two outdated tools to manage their work:
- Ansera: a powerful but complex tool for conducting precise patent searches.
- JViewer: a separate application for reading and annotating patent documents.
Project goal
Create a unified product that enables examiners to perform all essential tasks within a single, streamlined piece of software.
This included analysing patent applications, searching prior art, viewing and annotating documents, organising prior art, and feature mapping for communicating findings to applicants. By consolidating these tasks, we aimed to simplify workflows, improve usability and boost examiner productivity.
The application needed to be usable on very wide screens, but also on iPad.
Client feedback
Mrs. Gelin has demonstrated, in this new role, her strong communication abilities with demanding internal user groups. She succeeded in introducing a systematic approach, based on iterative reviews with large numbers of users. Her UX design for highlighting markers is well remembered, to this day, by the responsible DG1 senior users. Mrs Gelin produced in 2019 a review of the Ansera UI, that has become a guideline for the Search programme in the strategic plan 2023.
Mrs. Gelin was given the opportunity to think out of the box, by participating in the EVA conceptual prototype. The result of this work, an animated film, showcased how assisted search and examination could look in the EPO. The film was extremely positively received by the EPO president and senior management. Mrs Gelin has demonstrated her ability to learn quickly about examination, to work against tight deadlines and above all her strong delivery orientation.
I have experienced Mrs. Gelin as adaptable, motivated and driven to deliver results and can highly recommend her.
