A method of constructing and implementing a data architecture to identify at least one putative skin active agent having potential efficacy in treating a skin hyperpigmentation condition, comprising: (a) constructing a data architecture for use in identifying connections between perturbagens and genes associated with skin tone, comprising i. providing a gene expression profile for a control human cell, wherein the control cell is from a human cell line selected from the group consisting of keratinocyte, fibroblast, melanocyte and melanoma cell lines, ii. generating a gene expression profile for a human cell exposed to a perturbagen, wherein the cell is selected from the same cell line as the control cell, iii. identifying genes differentially expressed in response to the perturbagen by comparing the gene expression profiles of (a)(i) and (a)(ii), iv. creating an ordered list comprising identifiers representing the differentially expressed genes, wherein the identifiers are ordered according to the differential expression of the genes, v. storing the ordered list as an instance on a computer readable medium, wherein the instance is a keratinocyte, fibroblast, melanocyte or melanoma instance according to the selection in (a)(i), and vi. constructing a data architecture of stored instances by repeating (a)(i) through (a)(v), wherein the at least one perturbagen of step (a)(ii) is different qualitatively or quantitatively for each instance; and (b) implementing the data architecture to identify at least one putative skin active agent having potential efficacy in treating a skin hyperpigmentation condition; wherein, implementing the data architecture comprises querying the data architecture with a pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature, and wherein (a) querying comprises comparing the pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature to each stored cell instance, (b) the pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature represents genes differentially expressed in cells derived from skin affected with a skin hyperpigmentation condition or genes differentially expressed in cells treated with a benchmark skin active agent having known efficacy in treating a skin hyperpigmentation condition, and (c) the pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature is derived from a cell line corresponding to the cell line from which the instances are derived. (a) constructing a data architecture for use in identifying connections between perturbagens and genes associated with skin tone, comprising i. providing a gene expression profile for a control human cell, wherein the control cell is from a human cell line selected from the group consisting of keratinocyte, fibroblast, melanocyte and melanoma cell lines, ii. generating a gene expression profile for a human cell exposed to a perturbagen, wherein the cell is selected from the same cell line as the control cell, iii. identifying genes differentially expressed in response to the perturbagen by comparing the gene expression profiles of (a)(i) and (a)(ii), iv. creating an ordered list comprising identifiers representing the differentially expressed genes, wherein the identifiers are ordered according to the differential expression of the genes, v. storing the ordered list as an instance on a computer readable medium, wherein the instance is a keratinocyte, fibroblast, melanocyte or melanoma instance according to the selection in (a)(i), and vi. constructing a data architecture of stored instances by repeating (a)(i) through (a)(v), wherein the at least one perturbagen of step (a)(ii) is different qualitatively or quantitatively for each instance; and i. providing a gene expression profile for a control human cell, wherein the control cell is from a human cell line selected from the group consisting of keratinocyte, fibroblast, melanocyte and melanoma cell lines, ii. generating a gene expression profile for a human cell exposed to a perturbagen, wherein the cell is selected from the same cell line as the control cell, iii. identifying genes differentially expressed in response to the perturbagen by comparing the gene expression profiles of (a)(i) and (a)(ii), iv. creating an ordered list comprising identifiers representing the differentially expressed genes, wherein the identifiers are ordered according to the differential expression of the genes, v. storing the ordered list as an instance on a computer readable medium, wherein the instance is a keratinocyte, fibroblast, melanocyte or melanoma instance according to the selection in (a)(i), and vi. constructing a data architecture of stored instances by repeating (a)(i) through (a)(v), wherein the at least one perturbagen of step (a)(ii) is different qualitatively or quantitatively for each instance; and (b) implementing the data architecture to identify at least one putative skin active agent having potential efficacy in treating a skin hyperpigmentation condition; wherein, implementing the data architecture comprises querying the data architecture with a pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature, and wherein (a) querying comprises comparing the pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature to each stored cell instance, (b) the pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature represents genes differentially expressed in cells derived from skin affected with a skin hyperpigmentation condition or genes differentially expressed in cells treated with a benchmark skin active agent having known efficacy in treating a skin hyperpigmentation condition, and (c) the pigmentation-relevant gene expression signature is derived from a cell line corresponding to the cell line from which the instances are derived.