New Primo UI: Transition Considerations

Joint open call between Systems & Discovery & Delivery

Nathan Mealey (Systems) & Stephanie Michel (Discovery & Delivery)

Accessibility: Kate Deibel

About the new Primo User Interface (UI)

• Formerly known as “Primo 5”

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• New UI exists side-by-side with current UI

URL for Current UI:

http://alliance-primo-sb.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=[INST]

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URL for New UI:

http://alliance-primo-sb.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?vid=[INST]

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• Primo Back Office manages both current and new UI
• New UI = new front end, not a new version or instance (from “what you need to know”)

About the new Primo User Interface (UI)

• Transition is not automatic

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• Each library chooses when to transition
• Alliance not coordinating transition
• Feedback from August Release Testing

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• No sunset date for current UI
• Ex Libris will continue to support and develop both UIs

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Primo August Release

Primo August Release

• “Production-ready”

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• Major functionality in August release:
• Mobile display
• Accessibility improvements (?)
• Advanced Search
• bX recommender
• Alma Consortium (aka “more” link)

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Issues in August Release

• Demo

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• Alma Consortium (aka “more” link)

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• Uresolver (“View it” links)

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• Institution codes displaying in Physical Location, Library facets

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• Sign In / Sign Out / My Library Card links shift when moused over

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• Formatting of emails from eShelf (now “Favorites”) – too many fields, local customizations not applied (see example)

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Timeline for August Release

• Primo August Release will be installed to production on Sunday, August 28

(See Primo August Release Testing feedback)

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• New UI not visible to patrons unless you share URL

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Looking Ahead: November and February releases

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From: New Primo Interface FAQ

From: New User Interface FAQ

Looking ahead: November

• Permalinks will be redirected to the new UI if “Switch to new UI” parameter is enabled in Primo Back Office

Primo Back Office -> Ongoing Configuration Wizards -> Institution Wizard

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• Accessibility improvements

Customization in new UI

• UI Customization Package Manager in Primo Back Office

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• Manage CSS, HTML, JavaScript, images in one place

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• Ability to share customizations across Alliance

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Accessibility

Accessibility Issues in August Release

• Poor Screen Reader Support:
• ARIA markup is incomplete for many of the dynamic elements
• Some temporary elements are not properly hidden in the DOM and remain persistent to screen readers
• Poor Keyboard Navigation:
• Navigating the page by keyboard only is difficult due to lack of focus highlighting
• Tab order is confusing
• Dynamic elements do not use standard keyboard interactions
• Facets are largely unreachable due to lazy load of more results (skip links offer bypass)
• Color Issues:
• Red-green colorblindness issues on a few items
• Out-of-the-box colors fail color contrast standards

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Alliance Summer Meeting

12

July 11, 2016

Accessibility Improvements in November

• What my team is recommending:
• Improved ARIA markup
• Out-of-the-box CSS for keyboard focus highlighting
• A Summon-style button to trigger loading of more results instead of automatic lazy load:�https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/onesearch/
• Promised improvements:
• Ability to open items in background tabs
• Correct keyboard tabbing order
• Correct reactions to keyboard triggers

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Alliance Summer Meeting

13

July 11, 2016

Things You Need To Do Before Going Live

• Change the colors to meet your branding needs and meet recommended color contrast levels:�http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
• Edit all of the ARIA labels in Coding Tables > Front End > Aria labels to understandable text
• Update any documentation/guides to be consistent with new UI (less cognitive confusion)
• Decide if new UI icons are appropriate given the semiotic legacy of icons used at your institution

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Alliance Summer Meeting

14

July 11, 2016

Getting Ready for the New UI

Determine your timeline

• Do you need to wait for a specific quarterly release?
• Are there any show-stopper features/functionalities that you need to wait for?
• What model will work best for your library and campus?
• How much time will you need to configure your new UI?
• How much time will your librarians need to revise tutorials, screenshots, etc.?
• Do you want to run your new, ready-to-roll version in parallel for some time as a beta preview?
• Can you launch in the middle of the academic year? Do you want to?

Evaluate your existing customizations

• If you’ve added any functionality customizations to Primo 4, evaluate each to determine:
• Do they already exist in the new UI?
• Will they be needed in the new UI?
• If still needed, will they be possible in the new UI?
• Apply this same approach to design-based customizations as well, such as your library header or modifications to the Details tab

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Identify new functionality needs

• Evaluate functionality gaps in the new UI and their relative priority for your library
• For priorities, determine whether they can be resolved through customizations, and establish a timeline for doing so (example)��

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Determine design priorities for the new UI

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• How will you customize the design of the new UI
• Header
• Colors
• Links
• Logo
• Fonts
• Material type icons
• Revise the content of the home.html landing page

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Authentication & Alma integrations

• Authentication
• The new Primo UI works particularly well with no-PDS authentication, and so may be an opportunity for you to migrate
• An optional authentication prompt can be activated in the new UI
• Authentication flow is different in the new UI, so plan on testing to be sure it is working as expected (demo)
• Alma integrations
• Alma-related functionalities need to be tested to assess differences relative to Primo 4
• Examples: actions, general electronic services, details tab, facets, etc.

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Communications, training, outreach

• Each of these three areas will need to be mapped out
• An approach to collecting feedback from staff on the new UI and incorporating this into the design
• A workflow for bringing your library staff up-to-speed on the new UI
• A plan for providing outreach and communications to campus and key stakeholders
• To beta or not to beta?

New UI Transition Models

Two elements of transition

Timeline: When will you launch the new UI as your sole search interface

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Beta: Whether to run a beta in parallel with current UI before your launch

Your transition model will need to treat these as two potential phases

Begin transition

Launch!

Beta?

Phase 1

Phase 2 (optional)

Common launch timelines

• Between winter and spring terms
• Start of summer 2017
• Start of fall term 2017
• Later?

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Who’s launching when?

Email survey responses

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• Fall 2016 (0%)
• Winter 2017 (7%)
• Summer 2017 (85%)
• Fall 2017 (7%)

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*27 of 38 libraries responding

To beta or not to beta?

Considerations

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• Why run a beta UI, and who will be the audience?
• How long will your beta period be?
• How much earlier will you need to have your new UI ready?
• How will you enable parallel access to your two UIs?

Who’s beta’ing?

Email survey responses

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• Yes (30%)
• No (22%)
• Undecided (48%)

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*27 of 38 libraries responding

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Migration checklist

Migration planning checklist

• Determine your launch timeline
• Decide whether to run a public beta
• Identify Primo 4 functionality customizations to try and recreate
• Determine Primo 4 design customizations to apply in the new UI
• Identify functionality gaps in the new UI and whether to try and address them
• Test authentication and confirm it is working
• Test your Alma integrations
• Update Aria labels for improved screenreader accessibility
• Coordinate a communications timeline for your different stakeholder groups (librarians, campus community)
• Create a training timeline for your library staff

Next iteration of PCCWG

PCCWG

• Primo Consortial Configuration Working Group
• Workgroup formed by Systems Team in spring 2016
• Charged with evaluating consortial functionality in new Primo UI
• More info available from summer meeting (slides)
• Recommendations from the PCCWG
• The Alliance should organize a working group to identify CSS, Javascript, and image-based customizations to the new UI
• Implement the above list so that member libraries can take advantage of them when launching their new UI
• Provide recommendations for the ongoing management and maintenance of consortially-shared customizations

Next step: APC Joint Working Group

• Alliance Primo Customization Joint Working Group
• Will be a joint working group formed by the Systems Team and Discovery & Delivery Team
• Co-chairs from each team
• Membership balanced between developers and public services-oriented members (though membership hasn’t been finalized yet)
• Will pursue the three goals recommended by the PCCWG
• Timeline: target having an initial range of customizations in place for the November release

What’s Next: November Release

November Release timeline

• Ex Libris makes available: November 6

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• Installation on sandbox (?): November 13

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• Installation to production (?): December 4

(assuming “go” vote by Alliance libraries and D&D team approval)

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(Estimate based on past releases)

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Documentation & Communication

Documentation

• What you should know about the New Primo UI https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Knowledge_Articles/What_you_should_know_about_the_New_Primo_UI

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• New Primo Interface FAQ: http://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/New_Primo_Interface/010Frequently_Asked_Questions

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• Primo August 2016 known issues: http://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Release_Notes/2016/02August_2016/Primo_August_2016_Known_Issues

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Documentation (PBO)�

• Back Office Configuration for the new UI: http://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/New_Primo_Interface/Back_Office_Configuration_for_New_UI

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• New UI Customization – Best Practice: http://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Product_Documentation/New_Primo_Interface/New_UI_Customization_-_Best_Practices

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• New Primo UI: Initial Configuration - series of videos about: Download and Upload the Customization Package; Contents of Customization Package; Customizing Images; Modifying CSS https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Primo/Training/New_Primo_Interface/Configuring_the_Primo_New_UI  

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Additional resources: Discuss the new UI

• Alliance email list: primo5@orbiscascade.org

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• Ex Libris: Primo-new-ui@exlibrisgroup.com

(please cc primo5@orbiscascade.org to keep Alliance libraries in the loop)

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• Salesforce cases - may be opened for new UI as of August release
• Stephanie tends to use Salesforce for fixes/bugs, and use the Primo-new-ui@exlibrisgroup.com email address to send feedback about UI concerns/improvements directly to the Primo developers

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Questions?

Nathan Mealey

(Systems)

503.725.4515

nathan.mealey@pdx.edu

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Kate Deibel

(Accessibility)

206.685.1625

deibel@uw.edu

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Stephanie Michel

(Discovery & Delivery)

503.943.7418

michel@up.edu

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