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Queen's University Library

Queen's University Library

Library News

Web Redesign – Wireframes

Posted: August 21st, 2015

We have recently begun a very interesting part of the web redesign project called wireframing. The purpose of wireframing is to arrange content on the page, also known as blocking. When examining wireframes, it is important to realize that it is not the same as design; that is to say that a wireframe does not attempt to address design issues such as fonts, colours and imagery.

With that mind, we are pleased to present you with a wireframe of the new Library homepage:

QUL homepage wireframe

(click for full size)

This wireframe has been developed in consultation with a design firm we’ve engaged to work with us and builds on our process of user-centric design and consultation.

We invite you to send us feedback on what you see here. Here is an overview of each area:

Header & Footer

Both the header and footer areas will be available on every page on the site.

The header area is represented here in white and ends below the main menu. It includes:

  1. The Library logo
  2. A set of utility links for quick access
  3. A site search icon, where the search field becomes visible on mouse hover
  4. The main menu, which will use a mega menu dropdown on mouse hover. (Our new menu has been simplified to increase usability, but we’ll make sure to tell you more about that soon!)

The footer is all the content below the thick gray line near the bottom of the page. It includes key links to help patrons and will also link to our social media accounts.

Search Box

The elements of the search box has been positioned a bit differently from our current approach. Some of the features are:

  1. The (?) help icon provides a more detailed description of what both Summon and QCAT are. It would appear as a pop-up on mouse hover
  2. Both Summon and QCAT are featured as the primary search tools
  3. The QCAT area would look like the Summon area but also include a dropdown for search filtering like our current site
  4. The More search tools area links to pages that will help patrons to understand the context of these search tools while maintaining access to a single click

Top Area

The hours area has been put right at the top to emphasize this important content. Each location is directly linked to here as well.

We’ve added a prominent Ask Us button to quickly help patrons get the assistance they need.

The entire top area features a background image with a link to get more information about the image. We look forward to hearing from you about what kinds of images we might feature here!

Middle Blocks

The three middle blocks are a way to feature key content that is most important to our patrons and also highlights key services. We are still developing this list but plan to share it with you in our next blog post.

News & Events Area

This area will highlight our latest news and upcoming news as well as using an image to feature specific items of interest. The news and events feature short excerpts to provide more context to readers right on the homepage.

We look forward to hearing your feedback about all or any of what you see here. Please send us an email at library@queensu.ca.