The Library Authoring Environment - UI Needs

Owned by
Jenna Makowski
Last updated: Jan 30, 2024
3 min read

User stories:

 

As a content author/instructional designer:

 

  • I want my Library to contain all of the text, video and problem blocks that I may want to reuse in other courses later, so that I have a readily available content bank to draw from which will make it easier, quicker and more efficient to create new courses.

  • I want to create as many text, video and problem blocks as I need to, within a single Library, so that I don’t need to create many, separate Libraries.

  • I expect the experience of creating new text, video and problem blocks to mirror the experience in the course authoring environment (ie, the latest versions of the editors). 

  • I want to add tags to the text, video and problem blocks in a Library so that I can align the content to skills, competencies, learning outcomes etc. This will also make it easier to find the right content for reuse, later.

  • I want it to be easy to work with a Library that has hundreds or thousands of text, video and problem blocks.

 

SEARCH

  • I want to search in my Library using free-form keyword/text search.

  • I want to search in my Library using tags. Give me all the components that are tagged for “accounting”. Give me all the components that are tagged for “accounting” and let me refine by “type: video”.

  • I want to conduct basic boolean searches. Give me all the multiple-choice problems that are tagged with “accounting” AND “easy”.

 

SORT

  • I want options to sort all of the content in my library by:

    • A-Z, Z-A

    • Newest/Oldest

    • Most recently modified

    • Most recently published

 

FILTER

  • I want options to filter all of the content in my library by:

    • Type: Video, text, problem

 

 

  • I want to create subsets of content within a Library, like a playlist, collection, or problem bank. 

    • For example, I may want to create a bank of questions about accounting that all have the same learning objective, so that I can use the problem banks for exams in course and randomize the sets of problems that different students will get.

    • Or I may want to create a collection of evergreen videos about how to do peer-review, so that I can easily find them later when I am creating new courses.

 

Limitations of the current Library Authoring environment:

 

  • The main view/landing page of Libraries contains a simple list of all the text, video and problem blocks that were created, and users are expected to scroll through them. This becomes cumbersome when the list grows to 10 or more, and libraries are expected to hold hundreds or thousands of pieces of content in the future. 

  • When new text, video or problems are added, they simply get added to the top of the list.

  • There are limited tools to sort the content, only “sort by date added”, which is not helpful.

  • The sidebar is poorly used. 

  • The whole experience was not designed with content management needs in mind. 

 

Elements needed with a new UX/UI:

 

  • A “landing page” experience that guides users to the key functions of Libraries:

    • Finding content that already exists that they may want to reuse

    • Buttons to create new text, videos or problems

  • A “browse all content” option with toggles for different views, such as list views, grid views, and basic filter and sort per the user stories above.

  • A search experience as per the user stories above

  • A page to view all the collections/playlists/subsets

  • A tool/set of functions to create collections/playlists/subsets. For the MVP, this may be as simple as using tags to create collections/playlists. 

 

Reference examples:

 

Merlot has a nice “browse all” page with nice filters on the left sidebar, and toggles between grid and list view: https://merlot.org/merlot/materials.htm?sort.property=overallRating

 

SDG Academy has a nice “browse all” page that’s simpler than Merlot, also with nice toggles between grid, list and filters on the top instead of along the sidebar: https://sdgacademylibrary.mediaspace.kaltura.com/category/Browse+All+Videos/112825222

 

OER Commons has a nice entrypoint directly into the keyword search pathway from their landing page: https://oercommons.org/

 

OER Commons also uses the sidebar for filter refinements when search results are turned up:

 

Anthropological Fieldwork Online has a nice landing page that features collections/playlists that have already been created, with browse/filter options along the top: