New GALILEO User Views Now in Production
Revised GALILEO Homepage Prototypes
GALILEO is pleased to announce the production release on March 17, 2008 of four new interfaces for each of the GALILEO user communities: Scholar (academic), Library (public library), High-School, and Teen. GALILEO’s interface has remained very consistent throughout its 12 year history; this is only the fifth “version” of the GALILEO interface, and represents a dramatic change for all concerned. Some users and library staff may be surprised to discover the new look. However, many library staff members throughout the state have been involved in the development and release of the interfaces.
Based on functional requirements (PDF) gathered by the Community Customization Working Groups, new interfaces for the GALILEO communities were prototyped and revised in an ongoing usability testing process with benchmark users. In a tribute to the Working Groups, usability testing of the beta prototypes identified few and minor issues with each user view; the majority of the findings addressed the need to further clarify differences in navigation between the user views through color and design. The initial designs have been available for review and testing in beta since early October. During that time, revisions have been prototyped based on the usability findings and any critical issues uncovered in beta testing were addressed.
User View Features
- Each view accessible to all audiences through user-tested flow model
- Each view has unique user-tested labeling and categories
- Each view has unique presentation of searching and resource discovery features, currently in testing
- Faster page loading speed
- Every page book-markable per institution
- Subject-based browsing of both databases and ejournals
- Quick-searching opportunities contextualized throughout the interfaces by subject and type
A fifth interface intended to replace the Kid’s interface now in production is being revisited based on feedback from usability and K12 stakeholders.