Oliver v5 - Designed with students, for students

Usability testing is central to Softlink’s development process. Our developers spend time with real students, gathering feedback and observing how they use the product.

In addition to visiting multiple test sites, we recently invited the children of Softlink staff to try out the new search during their school holidays. This video shares insights from that day.

This video includes:

Our method (0:50)
How we use the insights (1:13)
What our test users thought of the Oliver v5 interface (1:23)

Learn more about the Oliver v5 search interface

Read the transcript

Softlink’s Oliver v5 has been designed with students, for students so you can be confident it meets their needs.

Usability testing is built into Softlink’s development process.

Our developers spend time with students of different ages, gathering their feedback, and observing how they use the product. This helps identify ways to really improve the user experience.

In addition to visiting multiple test schools, we invited children to try out Oliver v5 during their holidays. It was a lot of fun.

Student: It was awesome!

During the testing, our team used the “think-aloud” method to understand how students actually use Oliver v5. This involves observing their interactions with the system and prompting them to talk through their actions while they perform tasks.

Student: Well I’m looking for books in a series…

Developers use the insights from these sessions to come up with exciting new features, like the ones you’ll find in the Oliver v5 search interface. So, what do our test users think of Oliver v5?

Xavier: I like that if you search a book it’ll say some similar books that you can read and that would be recommended.

Glenn: It makes my life easier in trying to find books.

Bella: I enjoy the fact that you can easily find recommended books for what you’re currently reading.

James: I really liked how Oliver allowed you to look though a lot of books really quickly and efficiently.

Caleb: I like how you can do reviews and type up easy comments.

Your school library software should not only help your library run more smoothly, it should be attractive, easy to use and able to evolve to meet your changing needs and the needs of your students.

Contact your local Softlink office to find out more.