Project name

Usability study for Digital Repositories' applications

Project description

The CERN IT Collaboration, Devices & Applications group and the Digital Repositories' section (IT CDA/DR)  in particular, run many highly visible and popular services, which enable researchers/institutions to share and preserve their research data, software and publications.

Our Digital Reporitory services like Zenodo and the CERN Document Server (CDS) are in operation and annually serve around 2 million visitors each. Both services are currently transitioning to a new platfrom, InvenioRDM, which is under development together with a collaboration of 11 other universities, instituties and private companies.

Invenio comes as Invenio Framework, RDM and ILS (Integrated Library System). Key user experience in the InvenioRDM (Resource Data Management) is part of platform includes the search, upload, and data curation features, that are being revamped as part of the development. InvenioRDM platform will also be running on each of the partner institutions, and many more are likely to come.

This project will measure user reaction and make usability recommendations to the development team via the following method:

1. Talk to the development teams to get familiar with the applications.
2. Review user feedback received so far by analysing existing InvenioRDM mock-ups.
3. Produce wireframes / mock-ups to suggest more functional views and/or navigation paths. Use the existing base in balsamiq (check license permissions with supervisor).
4. In March: Take a random sample of users (Maria and Lars to check with Nicola Tarocco for people from the CERN Library e.g. Tullio and Anne) to measure:
   1. End User Experience
   2. Administrator Experience
5. Make a list of issues and proposals for improvement, based on what this usability exercise revealed.
6. Discuss the list with the developers, suggest concrete steps and finalise it with their commitment.
7. Prepare a summary report, containing a sine-qua-non and a nice-to-have part, based on what this usability exercise revealed.

Pre-requisite condition:

Because of exposure to users' input where personal information may appear, the student must have signed the CERN OC5:

[1] https://security.web.cern.ch/security/rules/en/OC5_english.pdf OR https://security.web.cern.ch/security/rules/fr/OC5_french.pdf

[2] https://security.web.cern.ch/security/rules/en/oc5_aims.shtml OR https://security.web.cern.ch/security/rules/fr/index.shtml

 

End report and related material can be found in the References below.

 

Required skills

Expertise in web usability, optimal web navigation patterns, organisational and reporting skills, video recording skills.
Good english (spoken and written) B2 CEFR level (Common European Framework of Reference).
Understanding Information Technology (IT) tools. Linux sophisticated user knowledge would be ideal.
Facility with video recording and editing (mostly screen capture).
Good communication skills. The tasks require contact with many users and experts.
Availability for an internship contract, at least 50% working time (2 days per week and 3 days per week the following week) Internship salary is 1500CHF/month for a 100% contract (40hrs per week).
Project can start in January 2020.
Please contact Maria.Dimou@cern.ch, with CV, recommendation letters and university grades.

Effectively started February 2020. Duration was 2 months at 50% internship contract.

Learning experience

Thanks to the vast variety of users that use these applications and their very different profiles, the student will profit technically (set-up of the process and analysis of the results) and organisationally (emails, doodles, web pages, reports, contact with the developers).

Project duration

1 to 3 months

Project area

Learning

Contact for further details

Maria Dimou

References

1. Final report in https://indico.cern.ch/event/897177/
2. Preparation material from March 2020 here
3. Pre-existing material from January 2020 here
4. Contacts:
   1. Maria Dimou <maria.dimou@cern.ch> for project planning.
   2. Lars Nielsen <Iars.holm.nielsen@cern.ch> for Invenio & Zenodo.
   3. Nicola Tarocco <nicola.tarocco@cern.ch> for CDS.
5. Invenio, Zenodo and the CERN Document Server (CDS) entry points.
6. Previous reports from usability evaluation exercises (CERN internal access only):
   1. Report about the CDA Jekyll site HERE
   2. Report about the Indico Room booking module HERE
7. Mira Buzanszky in smartrecruiters (accessibile via smartrecruiters.web.cern.ch, access restricted).

 

CERN group

IT-CDA

Status

Accomplished Submitted by Maria Dimou on Monday, September 23, 2019 - 18:16.