The lack of research replicability is becoming more of a concern in many fields. The medical research community and specifically the National Institutes of Health are concerned about how this issue will affect the well-being of the field (Collins & Tabak, 2014). However, this situation represents an opportunity to showcase how human factors can act as a solution through a combination of usability and human systems integration. The current work details how the development of a software platform designed to address replicability and reproducibility concerns in drug dependency research was informed by human factors principles from early development.

In recent years, there have been concerns about research practices in basic and preclinical biomedical research. There have been problems with non-replicable results, and experimental designs lacking internal validity or external or translational validity. The Experimental Design Accelerator (XDA) is Internet-based, interactive software designed to help those trying to design, conduct and document rigorous, replicable and relevant experiments. It leads the investigator step-by-step through a series of decisions that will define the experimental design. It provides background regarding the significance of each decision and the advantages and disadvantages of each possible choice. For example, it leads the researcher to address issues such as choosing a research model, developing testable hypotheses, identifying extraneous variables, dealing with random and systematic error, picking appropriate sample size and picking appropriate statistical analyses. There are also sections to help conduct the experiment consistent with its design and to document the study to facilitate accurate replication. Helpful features include access to an online statistics book and provisions for rapid contact with consulting experts. A number of potential uses for such novelinteractive software tools will be discussed.