New Library homepage: progress and how you can help
New Library homepage prototype
We now have a prototype or draft design for the new homepage! This has been created by the University’s digital communications team using information from our focus groups and a design sprint where you told us how the page should look and what information it should include (read about the design sprint, led by our colleagues in digital communications on their blog). Thank you for your help! Please tell us if we’ve got it right. Go to the prototype to take a look at the full page and sign in to leave feedback or comments – use a pseudonym when you register if you would like to remain anonymous. We will be gathering comments on the design until the morning of Monday 26 November.
We held 10 focus groups with a total of 52 participants. Undergraduates, postgraduate taught and research students, professional services staff and academic staff were represented in these groups. From the focus groups you told us that these were your ‘Must Have’ features and information (these results are taken from an aggregation of data across all 10 focus groups):
- Search bar
- Clean and clear design
- Library counter
- Opening hours
- Important and critical service information
Last semester we also asked you what we should name the replacement for SAULCAT and Seeker, which will be accessed from the new homepage. From this consultation, and the focus groups, we discovered that it is better not to have a ‘name’, but instead use the action that you will use the system to perform. The most suggested and mentioned action was ‘Search’. We will refer to the new Library system as ‘Library search’, or by the call to action: ‘search the Library’. You will begin to see the terms ‘SAULCAT’ and ‘Seeker’ disappear from the webpages and training materials, to be replaced simply with links using the text ‘Library’, ‘Library search’ or ‘search the Library’.
The new Library system and our new and improved homepage will be launched in January 2019.
If you have any comments or questions, please email [email protected].