The private, editable view of the ORCID record (“My ORCID”) is the heart of the ORCID experience. My ORCID is where you manage your personal information and add affiliations, works, funding, and more. That’s why it’s important for researchers to feel connected to, comfortable with, and excited about its functionality. Our recent My ORCID UI release makes adding or editing information in individual records quick and easy—all while maintaining the familiar look and feel of the ORCID UI (although we freshened it up a bit!). With these updates, researchers can focus more time on their research and less on record maintenance.
Evolution, Not Revolution
Earlier this year, we released a major update to the UI of the public (non-editable) view of ORCID records. Since many of our researchers have become familiar with and are comfortable updating and interacting with their records, our goal with the recent My ORCID UI updates was not to make sweeping changes, but rather to make key user journeys smoother. Specifically, we focused on five key principles:
- Efficiency. Make repeatable, reusable components and patterns available whenever possible.
- Performance. Create a UI that looks clean and feels fast even though there is a great deal of complex functionality running in the background.
- Clarity. Develop a clean, clear, simple UI that puts legible information front and center.
- Coherency. Develop consistent patterns and behaviors across the UI so they can be used once and understood.
- Accessibility. Remove the barriers to usage for everyone, regardless of ability, technology, or context.
What’s New?
Neater look and feel
We’ve updated the My ORCID UI with a clear, consistent layout in line with the revised public UI. Key updates include:
- A simplified color palette
- A modern, grid-based layout that makes better use of your screen real estate, regardless of device
- Refined, enhanced typography to make complex, detailed content more legible and easier to read
- The careful use of space to keep as much on the page as possible while still making it feel like there’s breathing room between elements
- The creation of a clear visual hierarchy to make pages easier to read and scan
- Improved color contrast that aids accessibility and helps move us closer to our commitment to meeting WCAG 2.1 AA criteria
Overall My ORCID changes
We’ve improved the visibility of individual items so it’s easier to scan a record and see at a glance what information is publicly visible and what is not. Additionally, we’ve built drag and drop functionality for quick and easy list management.
Sidebar and personal information
With a click of the edit icon (i.e., the pencil), users can quickly update names, links, countries, and keywords straight from the sidebar. Our revised email editing experience makes it easier to see which emails are verified and which are not.
Activities
The My ORCID UI has undergone a number of updates. Highlights include:
- A consistent method of editing that puts the focus on the information currently being accessed (and nothing else).
- Fewer distractions when editing as forms open in focused windows.
- An overhaul to ORCID forms that makes them easier to understand and faster to complete. A quick navigation option also lets you toggle between form sections making the desired section quicker to access.
- An update to search and link wizards that makes it easier to scan available options.
- A change to works that enables actions such as combine, export, update visibility, and delete to be applied only to the currently selected items.
- More manageable grouped works with greater affordance.
- Where available, additional contributor information is shown in the summary and detail views for works. (More contributor and co-author updates are planned for 2022!)
Mobile and smaller devices
The editing experience in My ORCID has been vastly improved on mobile and smaller devices, with continued improvements and optimizations on the way.
Looking ahead
My ORCID now represents the bulk of the work completed in migrating the Registry to the new UI. We are committed to iterating and improving functionality, behaviors, and styling over the coming months.
The final step that users will notice in the initial migration to the new UI will be an update to the account settings in My ORCID. We’ve simplified the layout and have introduced a new hub area for trusted parties.
Alongside these ongoing improvements, we will also be introducing some exciting new features and functionality built on the new framework. Stay tuned!
We’d love to have your feedback on the new look and feel of My ORCID. Please reach out to share your thoughts!
