As part of the SUNCAT Redevelopment we reported on last week, we will be introducing a new contemporary design for the SUNCAT web interface.
A number of designs were produced by EDINA’s in-house designer, based on a design brief submitted by the SUNCAT team based on
- User feedback we have received over the past few years.
- A survey of a number of commercial search engines as well as library and union catalogues in the UK, Europe and beyond. These sites included:
Feedback suggested that the current design was well liked but was starting to look somewhat dated so some key elements of the brief included:
- Keeping the SUNCAT logo and colours for continuity
- Keeping the search functionality at the heart of the design
- Incorporating other elements of the site into the search homepage to reflect a more portal style approach
- Trying to keep the design clean and simple.
After the initial set of designs was discussed and adapted by the SUNCAT team, the selection was narrowed to two preferred designs which were then circulated to EDINA colleagues for comment.
We were then keen to consult our SUNCAT contributors to involve them in the final selection and to gather feedback which could be incorporated into the ultimate design. A short online survey was made available to SUNCAT contributing libraries for a week at the beginning of November. Sixty responses were received in total, from at least 26 different libraries.
Seventy-two percent of respondents preferred the design displayed below, one percent liked both designs equally and happily none of the respondents reported that they didn’t like either design. The main reasons for preferring the design below included:
- Simpler, cleaner and more user friendly
- Preferred colours and images
- Layout of search and filters on the screen
- Having a map of contributing libraries and a newsfeed easily accessible on the homepage
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| New Design for SUNCAT Interface |
We will now be looking at some of the suggestions on how to improve the design, such as:
- Changing the colour of the “Find Now” to better differentiate it from the limit options
- Moving the Advanced Search and Browse buttons closer to the main search box
- Moving the Reset button to beneath the “Find Now” button.
The new design will form part of the beta release of the new platform in spring 2013, please let us know if you have any comments about SUNCAT’s new look in the meantime.
