Purpose: The aim of this study was to understand the needs of European users for successful development and uptake of a digital land-based knowledge platform. Methodology: The "discover and define" phases of the design thinking double diamond framework were applied to inform the construction of 16 user-personas and journeys. Qualitative…

Choices made on data visualizations guide how users make meaning of the information presented. This research investigates design decisions made on 115 state-level dashboards reporting school safety data. Using pre-determined codes drawn from a framework of visualization rhetoric, dashboard characteristics were described and analyzed. Analysis…

The academic library, given its often privileged position on campus, is the information source that can include directional as well as general campus facts among the myriad of print and e-resources for reference. Also, an academic library's audiences can be quite varied and include prospective students or parents seeking more general knowledge of…

The problem of human-computer interface design was brought to the foreground with the emergence of the personal computer, the increasing complexity of electronic systems, and the need to accommodate the human operator in these systems. With each new technological generation discovering the interface design problems of its own technologies, initial…

Introduction: We present a prototype collaboratory, a socio-technical platform to support sharing research data collection instruments in library and information science. No previous collaboratory has attempted to facilitate sharing digital research data collection instruments among library and information science researchers. Method: We have…

Since the introduction of Tapestry in 1990, research on recommender systems has traditionally focused on the development of algorithms whose goal is to increase the accuracy of predicting users' taste based on historical data. In the last decade, this research has diversified, with "human factors" being one area that has received…

Meta-design theory emphasizes that system designers can never anticipate all future uses of their system at design time, when systems are being developed. Rather, end users shape their environments in response to emerging needs at use time. Meta-design theory suggests that systems should therefore be designed to adapt to future conditions in the…

When a website has become a virtual storage closet rather than a place where useful, usable content is created, published, and organized, there is a problem. If audiences cannot quickly and easily find what they are looking for when they visit a website--and are not interested in what they find when they get there--they will get frustrated and…

The usability of Identity Management (IdM) systems is highly dependent upon design that simplifies the processes of identification, authentication, and authorization. Recent findings reveal two critical problems that degrade IdM usability: (1) unfeasible techniques for managing various digital identifiers, and (2) ambiguous security interfaces.…

Oakland University (OU) Libraries undertook an assessment of how to leverage its resources to make online tutorials more focused on users' needs. A multi-part assessment process reconsidered Web tutorials offerings through the lenses of faculty and staff feedback, literature review, and an analysis of other universities' online tutorial offerings.…

In the last two decades, emotion has emerged as an important theme in discussions of design. However, there is no framework to date that encompasses both emotion and information design in a single theory. This dissertation was motivated by a lack of substantive theory that would allow design researchers and educators to model the relationships…

This article describes a recently introduced module at University College Dublin School of Information and Library Studies (SILS), entitled "Information Architecture: Designing the Web." The module provides students with a realistic experience of how information architects apply their skills to produce usable web sites, via a project to…

PubMed® is an on-line literature database hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Containing over 21 million citations for biomedical literature--both abstracts and full text--in the areas of the life sciences, behavioral studies, chemistry, and bioengineering, PubMed® represents an important tool for researchers. PubMed® searches return…

Libraries spend countless hours developing websites to connect users and resources. However, how much do we really know about what website terminology and features are meaningful to our patrons? And how can we best organize websites to facilitate access to resources? This article examines these questions by presenting a case study of a…

After speculation in literature about the nature of Personal Learning Environments, research in the design and development of PLEs is now in progress. This paper reports on the first phase of the authors' research on PLE, the identification process of what potential users would consider important components, applications, and tools in a PLE. The…