Portfolio > LSBU Research Open

In mid-2015, London South Bank University (LSBU) commenced a project to overhaul their publications repository, LSBU Research Open. The project was designed to improve the repository and integrate a third-party research system in time for changes to open access rules in April 2016.

In November 2015, I was assigned this project and was responsible for designing the user experience and user interface based on user needs. However, due to tight project deadlines - go-live was scheduled for February 2016 to allow for adequate testing prior to the rule changes scheduled for April 2016 - I was unable to complete a comprehensive user research and discovery phase. I shortened the research phase and relied on interviews with a small but diverse sample of users, support desk email correspondence with LSBU repository administrators, various online resources, and academic research on repository usage patterns and user expectations.

After analysing the research I gathered, I created a series of low-fidelity wireframes and a high-fidelity clickable prototype (password: lsbu) using Axure RP. These wireframes were shared with LSBU and amended to account for subsequent changes to their institutional branding and web standards. Once the wireframes were approved by LSBU’s stakeholders, I implemented the designs and redeveloped the repository’s interface using HTML/CSS (Bootstrap v3), JavaScript (jQuery), and Perl.

For a complete overview of the project, please download the LSBU Research Open Case Study.