CONCURRENT FACTORS OF A VIRTUAL SPACE REDESIGN

ADA  CHAN  McGill  University  School  of  Informa6on  Studies  

MARIA  ZIEMER  ProQuest  Graduate  Educa6on  Program  

-  13 000 members social network -  Managed by ProQuest Graduate Education Program (GEP) -  Hosted on Ning since 2010 -  Communication hub for GEP Members -  Complimentary Database Access -  Learning and professional development resources -  Training tool for GEP Student Trainers

ABOUT DISCOVER MORE CORPS

Changes in third party hosting platform (affects overall structure)

3 KEY ISSUES FOR REDESIGN

1

Changes in GEP members database access (affects overall user experience) 2

Dated existing architecture and content (affects overall usability) 3

OLD DISCOVER MORE CORPS

Other  regularly  accessed  content  were  o?en  buried  below  the  fold.  

-  PROTOTYPING provides sandbox area for quality assurance

-  VISUAL ANCHORS maintain old networks basic structure and elements

PROJECT: TRANSITIONAL STRATEGIES

NEW DISCOVER MORE CORPS

Color,  type  weight  and  sizes  help  dis6nguish  various  informa6on.  

NEW DISCOVER MORE CORPS

Regularly  accessed  content  moved  to  homepage  above  fold.  

NEW DISCOVER MORE CORPS

Social  content  grouped  and  easily  accessible  from  global  naviga6on.  

LEARNED CHALLENGES

… NOT ALL VIRTUAL SPACE DESIGNS ARE DRIVEN BY USABILITY TESTING AND SURVEY FEEDBACKS. OTHER EXTERNAL FORCES CAN BE VALID REASONS FOR AN OVERHAUL. EXTERNAL FORCES AND CONSTRAINTS MAY NOT ALWAYS ALLOW THE SAME DESIGN PROGRESSION. INSTEAD OF A LINEAR PROCESS, IT SHOULD BE SEEN AS A SPECTRUM WITH SYNCHRONIZED ATTENTION TO VARIOUS ASPECTS DEPENDING ON THE LIMITATIONS…