Moving Towards a User-Centered Architecture
By Eric Conderaerts, Director of Product Management
A customer recently asked me to identify the single most important trend in our industry. Needless to say, this was not an easy question - as we are truly looking at many trends that are continuously reshaping how libraries manage their collections and operations. So rather than looking at a single trend, I responded by asking a question of my own: where do we see "the action”? And here, I believe, there is a clear answer; the action today is with the user. Today, users interact with information in a social, "on-demand” and personalized context. This of course has clear implications for libraries; it’s the user experience after all that will drive usage and strengthen awareness of the library’s services and collections.
So what does this mean? When looking at next-generation library services, the user experience must be central. And here we need to distinguish between "back-end” workflow and the "front-end” user interface. On the back-end, it is clear that the workflow must touch on the user wherever possible. Collection development must be user-driven. Metadata management must support user-contributed content. Statistical analysis should provide clear and detailed insight into trends and interests. And Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - the ability to communicate with customers and cultivate relationships - must be an integral part of the back-end system.
On the front-end, the user interface must adhere to key principles. The first is portability of content; users increasingly expect to interact with content at a time and place of their choosing. We see this with the prevalence of widgets - small applications that enable users to interact with content away from the original site. For the library this means additional marketing opportunities; by using widgets, you reach out to your users in different places on the web.
The second front-end principle is social. More and more, users consult their social graphs to learn about and promote products and services. Libraries too must facilitate the collaboration around collections and services, albeit with an important footnote: rather than reinventing the wheel, users should be able to interface with their existing social networks. In other words, the front-end must be seamlessly integrated with a user’s existing affinity group(s).
The last point is personalized. Where possible, content must not be generic - but rather catered towards a user’s particular profile. If we know that a user likes certain items or events, we can present information and suggestions that are aligned with his or her specific interests.
The above concepts - a user-driven front-end alongside a user-centered back-end system - form the cornerstone of a User-Centered Architecture (UCA). As we build out our suite of applications and move towards next-generation systems, UCA will be a critical focal point in our development efforts. It will provide our customers with an extensible environment to understand users and to cultivate relationships. On the back-end, much has already been done - we introduced CRM functionality in Vubis Smart / V-smart for example and provide statistical analysis tools through V-insight. On the front-end, we are developing Iguana - our user collaboration and marketing platform. Now, as we move forward, UCA will be at the heart of our approach, providing both libraries and their users with a next-generation framework that redefines the user experience. 
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