ChEMBL interface user experience updates

Thank you to everyone who has shared feedback with us through our UX studies and conversations with the ChEMBL team. Your input has helped us understand what’s working well, what could be smoother, and where small changes could make a big difference. Based on that feedback, we’ve made a few updates to the ChEMBL web interface that we hope will make browsing, searching, filtering, and exploring data a little easier.

We’d love for you to try them out and let us know what you think.

Filters that stay with you

The filters panel is now sticky, so it stays visible while you scroll through results. This should make it easier to refine searches without having to jump back up the page.

We’ve also updated the histogram-style filters so the bars include counts directly inside them, making it easier to scan the available values at a glance.

And when a filter section has more options available, there is now a “See all” button so you can expand the full list of facets.

Histogram filters before and after

A smoother data table experience

We’ve made several changes to improve the experience of browsing larger data tables. The table header now stays visible while you scroll, making it easier to keep track of the columns. The horizontal scrollbar is also sticky and always visible, so you can move across the table without having to scroll to the bottom first.

The Structure Search button now includes a text label as well as its icon, making its purpose clearer.

The Structure Search modal has also been simplified. Instead of opening the complete Advanced Search modal, it now opens a smaller modal focused specifically on structure searching.

We’ve added a confirmation step for actions that will start a new search, helping to prevent accidental changes to your current search. There’s also a new Clear sort button, which appears whenever one or more columns are being sorted.

Downloads should be more straightforward too. Data files now download automatically once they’re ready, so there’s no need to wait for the file to generate and then click a second time.

Clear sort button when sorting and data table sticky header and horizontal scrollbar.

Tell us what you think

These updates are part of our ongoing work to make ChEMBL easier and nicer to use.

Visit the ChEMBL web interface, try out the new features, and share your feedback with us. We’d love to hear what works well, what could be clearer, and what you’d like to see next.

P.S.
You may also notice that our group name has changed from Chemical Biology Services to Chemical Biology Resources.

Nothing has changed in the resources themselves, but we’re still excited about the update!