The last visual refresh to the DLPS Image Class environment updated the layout and styles, but mostly worked the same way. Starting this year, we've been making more drastic changes. These updates were based on what our analytics showed about browser use (larger, wider screens and of course, mobile use) and conversations with collection managers.
Below are some highlights of the changes that have been rolled out this year.
When viewing an image record, the image, record, and system metadata are presented simultaneously. No more tabs, and in particular, collection managers no longer have to decide whether users would see the image or the record metadata. When a user's browser is wide enough, all three columns are presented side-by-side; the record and system metadata columns drop below the image as the window narrows, until finally all three columns are stacked.
We're using Leaflet to drive the image presentation. We can present the largest possible view to the image when the page is loaded.
We've added a new Share/Cite menu on the toolbar to make sharing use of Image Class easier. Users can get the "bookmarkable" link to the record or a ready-to-copy citation. Visitors can zoom and pan the image viewer to a particular spot and then use the Image view... option to get a static image of that view.
Using the Download menu, users can easily download different sizes of the image, or preview the different sizes by following the View all sizes... option:
Finally, we took advantage of the new image viewer to redesign the Images with Record view by way of Google Images. When users click on the thumbnail, the full image and record metadata slide out under the thumbnail and viewers can use the full functionality of the image viewer.