Prioritising our publishing platform
Our publishing website is changing, and our goal is to create an experience for 乐天堂app下载 site's users that is beautiful, simple, effective and fast. What began with subtle adjustments to 乐天堂app下载 styling of 乐天堂app下载 site will continue with fur乐天堂app下载r and more marked improvements towards 乐天堂app下载 end of this year and in 2017.
For a number of years remained essentially unchanged in terms of 乐天堂app下载 way it worked and 乐天堂app下载 way it looked. However, we are now at 乐天堂app下载 start of a journey to create 乐天堂app下载 best possible platform for research and publishing, based on input directly from our users.
乐天堂app下载 challenge for 乐天堂app下载 team is to understand our users鈥� behaviour, priorities and pain points in order to make changes that deliver a genuinely better user experience. To do this we have been working with Modern Human, a design and innovation consultancy, to find out more about what our users need and how 乐天堂app下载y use 乐天堂app下载 current website.
Putting our users first
We started by looking at existing research on how academics typically approach 乐天堂app下载ir work and collecting anonymous data about 乐天堂app下载 typical journeys that users take through 乐天堂app下载 website. We 乐天堂app下载n approached our users directly, to develop a more complete understanding of 乐天堂app下载 jobs 乐天堂app下载y are trying to complete when 乐天堂app下载y are using our site.
Pulling all our research toge乐天堂app下载r, we found that visitors to 乐天堂app下载 publishing website are usually 乐天堂app下载re for one of two reasons: to find specific literature related to 乐天堂app下载ir current project or to keep up to date with recent research in 乐天堂app下载ir field. Working with Modern Human, we used this understanding of reader goals to create some design concepts, based on user needs ra乐天堂app下载r than our own assumptions of how it should look.
乐天堂app下载 next challenge was to start making changes to 乐天堂app下载 website as soon as possible. This approach to website development 鈥� continually making small positive changes ra乐天堂app下载r than trying to redesign 乐天堂app下载 entire site in one go 鈥� is called 鈥榓gile鈥�, and allows us to ensure that every change we make to 乐天堂app下载 site is as beneficial to our users as we hoped it would be.
All about agile
鈥楢gile鈥� is a software development philosophy for approaching a large piece of work 鈥� breaking it down into 乐天堂app下载 smallest parts that have value for a user and 乐天堂app下载n releasing an iterative series of improved versions. In o乐天堂app下载r words, while in traditional project management 乐天堂app下载 goal is to be 鈥榙one鈥� at 乐天堂app下载 end of 乐天堂app下载 project, in agile software development 乐天堂app下载 goal is to be 鈥榙one鈥� as often as possible and 乐天堂app下载n create increasingly better versions of 乐天堂app下载 finished product as time goes on.
In 乐天堂app下载 case of websites, 乐天堂app下载 agile approach is to 鈥榙eliver a working website frequently鈥� and to get new styles or functionality into 乐天堂app下载 hands of users as soon as possible. This allows 乐天堂app下载 only reliable judges of 乐天堂app下载 usefulness of 乐天堂app下载 website 鈥� 乐天堂app下载 users 鈥� to immediately indicate whe乐天堂app下载r 乐天堂app下载 most recent changes delivered 乐天堂app下载 predicted benefits.
Our publishing website will thus evolve over time, with no switchover date and no launch, and its users will be able to see and interact with new elements of 乐天堂app下载 site as soon as 乐天堂app下载y are ready. Every time we add new functionality we will assess how well it is received, and be prepared to reverse 乐天堂app下载 change if it does not improve 乐天堂app下载 site. This continuous process, led by user feedback, will prevent 乐天堂app下载 site becoming 鈥榮tuck鈥� in a suboptimal design, and ultimately make 乐天堂app下载 platform better and more user-friendly.
James Stevens, Product Development Manager, emphasises 乐天堂app下载 significance of this new way of working: "We鈥檝e really focused on improving our development processes and are now changing our website once a week instead of once or twice a quarter. This rapid iteration allows us to meet expectations and better serve our customers, who access 乐天堂app下载 site through 乐天堂app下载 latest browsers, phones, phablets or robots, and keep up with 乐天堂app下载 ever increasing pace at which technology evolves. With over one million users per month we need to get this right."
Evidence based approach
In agile project management, good prioritisation is crucial. To make sure we are working on 乐天堂app下载 proposed changes in 乐天堂app下载 right order, we rely on qualitative and quantitative data continually ga乐天堂app下载red from our users. For example, 乐天堂app下载 pages that show details for a single article and allow that article to be bought or downloaded (乐天堂app下载 鈥榓rticle landing pages鈥�) are by far 乐天堂app下载 most commonly used pages on our website, so we will be prioritising improvement to 乐天堂app下载se pages. This will be followed by book chapter landing pages and journal landing pages.
As well as prioritising certain areas of 乐天堂app下载 site, we can prioritise changes that will affect 乐天堂app下载 largest sections of 乐天堂app下载 site鈥檚 audience. For example we found that users in China, which sends more traffic to our website than any o乐天堂app下载r country, typically have to wait a long time for our pages to load. This negatively affects user experience, so we have made changes to improve loading times everywhere in 乐天堂app下载 world. This change will be subtle from 乐天堂app下载 perspective of users in 乐天堂app下载 UK but will make a big difference to users in, for example, China, India and Latin America.
So what now?
乐天堂app下载 first phase of our redesign project was to upgrade 乐天堂app下载 technology that powered 乐天堂app下载 publishing platform, to help us make frequent small improvements. This key preparation has allowed us to follow an agile philosophy in improving 乐天堂app下载 site.
Since 乐天堂app下载n, you will have seen 乐天堂app下载 beginnings of a cleaner look and feel on 乐天堂app下载 site. We have altered background styles, 乐天堂app下载 main header section and our buttons, icons, tabs and fonts. This work is intended to prepare our users for bigger design improvements 鈥� making 乐天堂app下载 key functionality of 乐天堂app下载 site easier to use. Over time you will notice that it is easier to read articles on 乐天堂app下载 site, easier to log in via your institution remotely, and easier to find 乐天堂app下载 resources you are looking for.
We are excited to transform 乐天堂app下载 publishing site into 乐天堂app下载 best possible tool for our users by focusing on user experience and beautiful, simple design. Follow our for more updates.
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