How to redesign a virtual library website: a case study

This abstract presents how we redesigned, with user-centred design methods, the way we organize and present the content on the UOC Virtual Library website. The content is now offered in a way that is more intuitive, usable and easy to understand, based on criteria of customization, transparency and proximity.The techniques used to achieve these objectives included benchmarking, interviews and focus groups during the user requirement capture phase and user tests to assess the process and results.

Customization, transparency and proximity: a user- centered content strategy applied to the design of a virtual library website

We present a case study of the redesign of the organizational presentation and content of the Virtual Library website at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), based on a user-centered design strategy. The aim of the redesign was to provide users with more intuitive, usable and understandable content (textual content, resources and services) by implementing criteria of customization, transparency and proximity. The study also presents a selection of best practices for applying these criteria to the design of other library websites.

How to redesign a virtual library website: a case study

This abstract presents how we redesigned, with user-centred design methods, the way we organize and present the content on the UOC Virtual Library website. The content is now offered in a way that is more intuitive, usable and easy to understand, based on criteria of customization, transparency and proximity.The techniques used to achieve these objectives included benchmarking, interviews and focus groups during the user requirement capture phase and user tests to assess the process and results.

Customization, transparency and proximity: a user- centered content strategy applied to the design of a virtual library website

We present a case study of the redesign of the organizational presentation and content of the Virtual Library website at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), based on a user-centered design strategy. The aim of the redesign was to provide users with more intuitive, usable and understandable content (textual content, resources and services) by implementing criteria of customization, transparency and proximity. The study also presents a selection of best practices for applying these criteria to the design of other library websites.

The effect of brand trust on satisfaction, trust, and loyalty on a consumer magazine website

Internetin käyttö on yleistynyt valtavasti viimeisen kymmenen vuoden aikana. Internetissä kuluttajalta puuttuu kasvokkainen kontakti myyjään, mikä voi vähentää kuluttajan luottamusta myyjää kohtaan. Tällaisessa tilanteessa kuluttaja voi käyttää brändejä viitteenä myyjän luotettavuudesta. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena on tutkia brändiluottamuksen vaikutusta kuluttajan tyytyväisyyteen, luottamukseen ja uskollisuuteen Internet-sivuja kohtaan. Tutkielman kysely (n=875) toteutettiin Vauva-lehden Internet-sivuilla. Tutkielman tulokset paljastavat, että brändiluottamuksella on merkittävä myönteinen vaikutus kuluttajan tyytyväisyyteen, luottamukseen ja uskollisuuteen Internet-sivuja kohtaan. Internet-sivujen aikaisempikäyttö sekä rekisteröityminen sivuille vaikuttavat myös luottamukseen Internet-sivuja kohtaan. Lisäksi brändiluottamuksen vaikutus brändiuskollisuuden osoittautui erittäin merkittäväksi.

Testing website usability in Spanish-Speaking Academia through heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthroughs

Although usability evaluations have been focused on assessing different contexts of use, no proper specifications have been addressed towards the particular environment of academic websites in the Spanish-speaking context of use. Considering that this context involves hundreds of millions of potential users, the AIPO Association is running the UsabAIPO Project. The ultimate goal is to promote an adequate translation of international standards, methods and ideal values related to usability in order to adapt them to diverse Spanish-related contexts of use. This article presents the main statistical results coming from the Second and Third Stages of the UsabAIPO Project, where the UsabAIPO Heuristic method (based on Heuristic Evaluation techniques) and seven Cognitive Walkthroughs were performed over 69 university websites. The planning and execution of the UsabAIPO Heuristic method and the Cognitive Walkthroughs, the definition of two usability metrics, as well as the outline of the UsabAIPO Heuristic Management System prototype are also sketched.

Customization, transparency and proximity: a user- centered content strategy applied to the design of a virtual library website

We present a case study of the redesign of the organizational presentation and content of the Virtual Library website at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), based on a user-centered design strategy. The aim of the redesign was to provide users with more intuitive, usable and understandable content (textual content, resources and services) by implementing criteria of customization, transparency and proximity. The study also presents a selection of best practices for applying these criteria to the design of other library websites.

How to redesign a virtual library website: a case study

This abstract presents how we redesigned, with user-centred design methods, the way we organize and present the content on the UOC Virtual Library website. The content is now offered in a way that is more intuitive, usable and easy to understand, based on criteria of customization, transparency and proximity.The techniques used to achieve these objectives included benchmarking, interviews and focus groups during the user requirement capture phase and user tests to assess the process and results.

Factors Affecting Innovation Adoption in Organizations: The Case of Corporate Website Adoption

Diplomityössä tutkittiin innovaatioiden omaksumista organisaatioissa, ja tarkoituksena oli selvittää tekijät, jotka vaikuttivat omaksumisajankohtaan sekä luokitella yritykset omaksujaryhmiin. Työn empiirinen osuus tarkasteli yritysten internet-kotisivujen omaksumista. Tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto kerättiin postikyselyn avulla, ja vastausprosentti kyselyssä oli melko hyvä (60%). Aikaisempien tutkimusten pohjalta muodostettiin eri tekijöille mittarit, jotka analyysien perusteella olivat erittäin luotettavia. Regressioanalyysia sovellettiin, kun pyrittiin selvittämään omaksumisajankohtaan vaikuttavia tekijöitä, ja klusterianalyysiä käytettiin apuna omaksujaluokkien muodostamisessa. Omaksujaluokkien väliset erot selvitettiin varianssianalyyseillä. Tutkimuksessa löydettiin kolme omaksumisajankohtaan vaikuttavaa tekijää: (1) innovaation koettu suhteellinen hyöty, (2) yritysjohdon sitoutuminen omaksumisprosessiin, sekä (3) yrityksen strategisten partnereiden määrä. Yritykset luokiteltiin neljään omaksujaluokkaan (innovaattorit, aikaiset omaksujat, aikainen enemmistö ja myöhäinen enemmistö) innovatiivisuuden perusteella. Innovatiivisuutta mitattiin kolmella indikaattorilla, jotka olivat: (1) ajankohta, jolloin yritys tuli tietoiseksi internet-sivuista, (2) ajankohta, jolloin tehtiin omaksumispäätös sekä (3) aika, joka kului internet-sivujen käyttöönottoon. Omaksujaluokkien välillä tunnistettiin lukuisia eroja eri ominaisuuksien suhteen.

Development of an epidermal growth factor derivative with EGFR blocking activity.

The members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF)/ErbB family are prime targets for cancer therapy. However, the therapeutic efficiency of the existing anti-ErbB agents is limited. Thus, identifying new molecules that inactivate the ErbB receptors through novel strategies is an important goal on cancer research. In this study we have developed a shorter form of human EGF (EGFt) with a truncated C-terminal as a novel EGFR inhibitor. EGFt was designed based on the superimposition of the three-dimensional structures of EGF and the Potato Carboxypeptidase Inhibitor (PCI), an EGFR blocker previously described by our group. The peptide was produced in E. coli with a high yield of the correctly folded peptide. EGFt showed specificity and high affinity for EGFR but induced poor EGFR homodimerization and phosphorylation. Interestingly, EGFt promoted EGFR internalization and translocation to the cell nucleus although it did not stimulate the cell growth. In addition, EGFt competed with EGFR native ligands, inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells. These data indicate that EGFt may be a potential EGFR blocker for cancer therapy. In addition, the lack of EGFR-mediated growth-stimulatory activity makes EGFt an excellent delivery agent to target toxins to tumours over-expressing EGFR.

Usando um website para explicar a espectrometria de ressonância ciclotrônica de íons por transformada de Fourier

This article shows the usefulness of a website to explain the concepts, operational events, vacuum system, applications and an experimental sequence of the Fourier Transform Ion Ciclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry technique (http://143.107.46.113/icr/icrj.html).

Gp120/CD4 blocking antibodies are frequently elicited in ART-naïve chronically HIV-1 infected individuals

Antibodies with the ability to block the interaction of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) gp120 with CD4, including those overlapping the CD4 binding site (CD4bs antibodies), can protect from infection by HIV-1, and their elicitation may be an interesting goal for any vaccination strategy. To identify gp120/CD4 blocking antibodies in plasma samples from HIV-1 infected individuals we have developed a competitive flow cytometry-based functional assay. In a cohort of treatment-naïve chronically infected patients, we showed that gp120/ CD4 blocking antibodies were frequently elicited (detected in 97% plasma samples) and correlated with binding to trimeric HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins. However, no correlation was observed between functional CD4 binding blockade data and titer of CD4bs antibodies determined by ELISA using resurfaced gp120 proteins. Consistently, plasma samples lacking CD4bs antibodies were able to block the interaction between gp120 and its receptor, indicating that antibodies recognizing other epitopes, such as PGT126 and PG16, can also play the same role. Antibodies blocking CD4 binding increased over time and correlated positively with the capacity of plasma samples to neutralize the laboratory-adapted NL4.3 and BaL virus isolates, suggesting their potential contribution to the neutralizing workforce of plasma in vivo. Determining whether this response can be boosted to achieve broadly neutralizing antibodies may provide valuable information for the design of new strategies aimed to improve the anti-HIV-1 humoral response and to develop a successful HIV- 1 vaccine.

Blocking and unblocking in a navigation task

Rodrigo, Chamizo, McLaren, & Mackintosh (1997) demonstrated the blocking effect in a navigational task using a swimming pool: rats initially trained to use three landmarks (ABC) to find an invisible platform learned less about a fourth landmark (X) added later than did rats trained from the outset with these four landmarks (ABCX). The aim of the experiment reported here was to demonstrate unblocking using a similar procedure as in the previous work. Three groups of rats were initially trained to find an invisible platfom in the presence of three landmarks: ABC for the Blocking and Unblocking groups and LMN for the Control group. Then, all animals were trained to find the platform in the presence of four landmarks, ABCX. In this second training, unlike animals in the Blocking group to which only a new landmark (X) was added in comparison to the first training, the animals in the Unblocking group also had a change in the platform position. In the Control group, both the four landmarks and the platform position were totally new at the beginning of this second training. As in Rodrigo et al. (1997) a blocking effect was found: rats in the Blocking group learned less with respect to the added landmark (X) than did animals in the Control group. However, rats in the Unblocking group learned about the added landmark (X) as well as did animals in the Control group. The results are interpreted as an unblocking effect due to a change in the platform position between the two phases of training, similarly to what is normal in classical conditioning experiments, in which a change in the conditions of reinforcement between the two training phases of a blocking design produce an attenuation or elimination of this effect. These results are explained within an error-correcting connectionist account of spatial navigation (McLaren, 2002).