Update March 24, 2016:

After detailed discussion of all prototypes, public feedback, etc, the UI Working Group has written a detailed Summary of options / discussions:

From Jan - Feb 2016, the DSpace UI Working Group has asked each of our prototype teams to present their work in recorded, small group presentations (see Prototype Presentation Schedule below). These sessions are all being recorded an made publicly viewable below.

While this process is going on, anyone in the DSpace community is welcome to add your feedback / opinions on prototypes to our Evaluation Form at:

• DSpace UI Working Group Summary:

• https://docs.google.com/

• document/d/

• 1bvJrRWEO2ZLTCLqNiaJ_KXGZKHNfXDjnqHWt_

• ZYGek4/edit

We ask that you add your comments (advantages / concerns / questions) to the "Public Comments" section for each prototype. A more formalized call for public feedback will occur once all prototype presentation videos have been made available publicly. The goal is to make a decision on a new UI platform by sometime in mid-to-late March, 2016.

As detailed in this document, the UI architecture has been narrowed down to two options under consideration:

• A Java-based, server-side solution based on Spring Boot. For a sample, see Prototype #1 below.
• A Javascript-based, client-side solution using Spring Boot (for server-side components) and likely Angular 2 (for the client-side UI).  Prototypes #7 (and #4) featured client-side UI options, but neither used Angular 2.

At the DuraSpace Summit (March 16-17), these options were discussed with attendees from the DSpace Steering and Leadership groups. During that discussion, it was decided that we would move forward with an extended prototype of the client-side solution featuring Angular 2.  As noted, none of our original prototypes used Angular 2 (though one did use Angular 1). Yet, Angular 2 has great interest in that it claims to solve the major SEO (search engine optimization) shortcomings of Angular 1.  All original client-side prototypes (#7 and #4) had these SEO shortcomings, which made it difficult to judge their capabilities as a future DSpace UI.

The extended prototype phase will move into May. At that time, a final decision between the two platforms will be made.

How did we get here?  Here's the timelines of where we've been and where we are going

Update Feb 3, 2016: At this time, all prototypes have all been presented (see Prototype Presentation Schedule below for video recordings / slides), and the UI Working Group (along with DSpace Committers) has begun the evaluation / analysis stage. Below is our (tentative) evaluation timeline:

• Week of Feb 8-12:  Collect oral and written feedback on prototypes, focusing on "Advantages, Concerns & Questions" (see call for feedback above and our public evaluation form). A public call for feedback will be sent to all mailing lists once all prototype videos are available/posted.

•  Week of Feb 15-19: Resolve outstanding questions. Select a shortlist of 2-3 architectures for consideration.

•  Week of Feb 22-26: Select no more than 2 finalist architectures, which might include combinations of technologies from the various prototypes

•  Week of Feb 29-March 4: Select an architecture for recommendation; validate it against our criteria (see evaluation form)

• . See UI Working Group Summary.
•  March 16-17: Presentation of recommended architecture to DSpace Steering and Leadership groups at the DuraSpace Summit Meeting for their feedback / approval.
•  March / April : Extended prototype phase of an Angular 2 prototype. A team comprised of several institutions will collaborate on this prototype, and determine its plausibility (as a future UI) and whether it meets our SEO needs.