Conversations with 100 Scientists in the Field Reveal a Bifurcated Perception of the State of Mass Spectrometry Software.

Mass spectrometry is an important tool used by many scientists throughout the world. Nonetheless, feedback on the strengths and limitations of current software is often restricted to anecdote rather than formal inquiry. Over the course of 100 interviews over the state of mass spectrometry software, surprising patterns coalesced on several topics: perception of the frontier, perception of software quality, and differences between commercial and nonprofit environments. Most notably, interviews suggested a substantial schism between user satisfaction with current software and developer perceptions of software quality. Scientists' anonymized responses are presented and summarized into their suggestions for improving the state of the art.