Involving users in OPAC interface design: perspective from a UK study

Authors:
Elahe Kani-Zabihi;Gheorghita Ghinea
Affiliations:
School of Information Systems Computing and Mathematics, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK;School of Information Systems Computing and Mathematics, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK
Venue:
Proceedings of the 2007 conference on Human interface: Part II
Year:
2007

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine user suggestions for a typical OPAC (Online Public Library Catalogue) application's functionality and features. An experiment was undertaken to find out the type of interactions features that users prefer to have in an OPAC. The study revealed that regardless of users' Information Technology (IT) backgrounds, their functionality expectations of OPACs are the same. However, based on users' previous experiences with OPACs, their requirements with respect to specific features may change. Users should be involved early in the OPAC development cycle process in order to ensure usable and functional interface.