Improving Institutional Repositories through User-Centered Design: Indicators from a Focus Group

Laura Icela González-Pérez, María Soledad Ramírez-Montoya and Francisco José García-Peñalvo
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Laura Icela González-Pérez: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey 64460, Mexico
María Soledad Ramírez-Montoya: R4C-IRG Research Group, Institute for the Future of Education, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64700, Mexico
Francisco José García-Peñalvo: GRIAL Research Group, Computer Science Department, Faculty of Sciences, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain

Future Internet, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: User experience with intuitive and flexible digital platforms can be enjoyable and satisfying. A strategy to deliver such an experience is to place the users at the center of the design process and analyze their beliefs and perceptions to add appropriate platform features. This study conducted with focus groups as a qualitative method of data collection to investigate users’ preferences and develop a new landing page for institutional repositories with attractive functionalities based on their information-structural rules. The research question was: What are the motivations and experiences of users in an academic community when publishing scientific information in an institutional repository? The focus group technique used in this study had three sessions. Results showed that 50% of the participants did not know the functionalities of the institutional repository nor its benefits. Users’ perceptions of platforms such as ResearchGate or Google Scholar that provide academic production were also identified. The findings showed that motivating an academic community to use an institutional repository requires technological functions, user guidelines that identify what can or cannot be published in open access, and training programs for open access publication practices and institutional repository use. These measures align with global strategies to strengthen the digital identities of scientific communities and thus benefit open science.

Keywords: user experience; institutional repositories; focus group; digital identity; higher education; educational innovation; open science; education 4.0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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