Overview

DSpace will standardize on a single, out-of-the-box User Interface.  While third parties are still welcome to develop and distribute alternative interfaces, only one will be distributed with DSpace.

As both the XMLUI and JSPUI are aging, this is an opportunity for supporters of each of these UIs to collaborate on a common UI platform.

Use Cases / Notes

• End User Use Cases
• Admin UI Use Cases
• Brainstorms on a Future UI (includes some notes on possible platforms for a UI)

Planning Phase - Selecting a Platform

Timeframe: 3rd and 4th Quarters of 2015. The UI platform will be selected before the end of 2015.

• Establish one or more team(s) to prototype potential platforms for a UI. These team(s) will likely consist of volunteer or "donated" development resources
• [Late July?] (date TBD) : Begin prototyping at least 2-3 different UI platforms (Recommended that at least one of the prototyped UI platforms is Java-based, and at least one is non-Java based. Some possible options include those mentioned on Brainstorms on a Future UI)
  • This early prototyping may be less structured, allowing teams to work at their own pace (within the given requirements and deadlines)
  • A standard prototype will be defined in terms of simple feature sets it should try to achieve (e.g. be able to display an existing DSpace hierarchy, providing browse, search and basic editing capabilities)
  • Each platform should also be analyzed for how we might achieve other UI features on the RoadMap (e.g. configs in Admin UI, easy theming, etc) which are not within the scope of the prototype
  • Each prototype much be kept transparent (on GitHub)
• [October] (date TBD) : The prototypes, their code, and initial notes/analysis will be made publicly available for community-wide feedback
  
  • Reviewed more formally by Committers (and optionally DCAT members)
• [December] : A single UI platform will be selected from feedback and analysis of prototypes
  
  • The selection must be approved by Committers
  • The selection should be approved by DCAT
  • The selection must be approved by Steering Group
  • The selection must be approved by Leadership Group

Design Phase - User Experience

Timeframe: In parallel to Planning Phase (3rd and 4th quarters of 2015) and early in the Development Phase (2016)

• Find a (part-time?) user experience (UX) designer/expert to create mockups/wireframes (using Balsamiq Mockups or similar) of the new DSpace UI experience.
  
  • This work should involve analyzing examples of good user experience design (in both repository platforms and on the web in general), and finding ways to potentially apply them to the DSpace user experience.
    
  • Depending on available funds, this person may need to be a volunteer or donated from an institution
    

Development Phase - Building the UI

Timeframe: Organized development begins in January 2016, and continues until 7.0 Release in late 2016.

• [December 2015] : Establish a development team (ideally with some overlap with the planning phase team). This team will likely consist of volunteer or "donated" development resources
  
• [January 2016] : Schedule a series of development "sprints" which will begin in early 2016. This will allow institutions to donate developers for specific sprints (or allow developers to balance local work with sprint work)
  
  • Ideally, hold a "hackathon" to help kickstart some of these sprints and get everyone on the same page
  • Development process will be kept transparent (on GitHub) with ongoing status reports to Committers, etc.
    
  • Ongoing "beta" or early releases will be made available for testing/feedback/analysis by developers and/or DCAT members
• [June 2016] : Early / Beta version of the new UI is presented at the OR2016 conference in Dublin. Ideally, we'd not only have a demo, but also a training session on the new UI.
  
• [Late 2016] : Fully functional new UI in place for the DSpace 7.0 release (tentatively scheduled for Late 2016).