The Molecular Workbench team has a unique opportunity—take our wonderful software and increase access to it. But we know that this is no “Field of Dreams” task. If we build it, will they come?

We’re using The Lean Startup as a guide to optimize our software for the Web. It’s encouraging us to experiment to see which ideas are brilliant and which are crazy and get feedback from users early. We’re thinking about how not to assume we know what people want, but instead go and find out, and be prepared to shift our ideas. In short: Test. Iterate. Repeat.

So we held our first focus group with several Rhode Island teachers who have been loyal users of Molecular Workbench. Our goal was to get feedback on ways to make our new browser-based MW more valuable to them. We asked them to evaluate new designs (we invite you to take our survey, too). We also asked about tone and length of activities. And the teachers described ways they’d like to select and integrate MW models and activities into their classrooms.

Two major themes emerged: flexibility and student accountability. This confirmed what we knew about the classroom: teachers have limited time, a wide range of learners, a diversity of classes, and pressures around high-stakes tests. We’re now working on prototyping ways to incorporate teacher feedback into our Web-based MW models and activities. We’ll share our progress on our website.

And, of course, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.