2019-12-16 Resource Access Meeting Notes
Date
Attendees
- Andrea Loigman
- David Bottorff
- Jana Freytag
- Darcy Branchini
- Joshua
- Huda Khan
- Brooks Travis
- Allison Estell
- Joanne Leary
- Kimie Kester
- Kai Sprenger
- Emma Boettcher
- Magda Zacharska
- Elizabeth Chenette
- Mark Canney
- Brian Arrigo
- Anya
- mey
- Rameka Barnes
- Shirley Moentinish
Discussion Items
| Time | Item | Who | Description | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5min | Housekeeping | Andrea Loigman |
| |
| 10min | Usability | RA SIG is better informed about the outcome and recommendations of Cornell's Usability test of circ related functions (2019_09_FOLIO_Circulation Report.pdf) | ||
| 10min | Truncated loans | Determine if patron expiration date should be an outer bound on any due date calculation |
Meeting Outcomes
Functional Area | Product Owner | Planned Release (if known) | Decision Reached | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Notes
Usability - Huda Khan
Huda discussed the general findings from Circ Function Usability Testing that was recently conducted at Cornell. Five participants were asked to perform 10 basic circulation tasks.
- The most significant finding was the universal difficulty in placing a hold request. It was unclear where or how to initiate the request, or how to link the patron and item information to make a request. Button terminology will be changed to make it clear to click the button that will complete the request (not start over, as currently interpreted). Inventory will be changed to position a “request this item” button near the top of the item information block
- Most testers wanted to search for an item by call number; that functionality was not present in the test, but is added as part of the MVP
- Some testers found pop-up messages confusing; too much information
- Some didn’t understand the difference between the terms “sponsor” and “proxy,” but once understood, found it easy to select the appropriate profile
- Good findings: working in fee/fine screens was easy and intuitive; check-in and checkout were easy; Darcy Branchini said that Cornell tester Tobi Hines found that transitioning to FOLIO terminology from Voyager terminology was surprisingly easy
- Bottom line: there needs to be a stronger/more obvious path between searching for something and doing something with it. Button placement and labeling are crucially important.
Flash! After the meeting, Kimie reported that a JIRA issue has been created to address the problem of confusing drop-down menu selections at the top of the screen. STCOM-553 - Getting issue details... STATUS The goal is to create a more intuitive selector for placing requests or initiating other actions.
Brooks Travis brought up a problem that he encountered in doing bug testing: the patron expiration date (if earlier than the calculated due date) did not seem to shorten the due date. This is a problem.
- In all cases, the patron expiration date, if earlier than the calculated due date, should override the standard due date. It should also trump the “minimum guaranteed loan” setting. This is a fundamental need and should be part of MVP.
- For existing loans, a newly entered or modified patron expiration date should update the due dates on loans for that patron, in much the same way as a recall might update a due date. This would be an enhancement. (This is an issue that should probably be handled by Cheryl, who was not present at today’s meeting.)
- Jana: we would like a pop-up alert to display when a due date has been truncated
Huda asked that we alert her to any other areas that may need usability testing, and if we have any other questions.