Table of Contents: 2020 JANUARY–FEBRUARY No. 432

Thanks for Your Feedback on the New PubMed

Thanks for Your Feedback on the New PubMed. NLM Tech Bull. 2020 Jan-Feb;(432):e3.

2020 January 30 [posted]

Since the launch of the new PubMed on November 18, 2019 (see The New PubMed is Here), we have been delighted to see many users trying the new site and sharing feedback on their experience.

Over the past 24 years, we have continuously updated PubMed to help users to find relevant information quickly and to keep pace with ever-changing information technologies. Many of the features and enhancements added to the legacy PubMed site have been implemented thanks to user feedback.

User feedback continues to inform our design and development process for the new PubMed. We are developing the site using an Agile framework, which emphasizes a rapid, iterative development and release cycle; this enables a more transparent and inclusive design process where users can try new features and provide feedback at multiple points in the process. For example, prior to its launch at the new URL in November 2019, the new PubMed was available to the public for testing and feedback on the experimental Labs platform (see An Updated PubMed Is on Its Way).

Gathering feedback through user interviews, usability testing, analytics, and directly through the "Feedback" button on every page of the new site helps ensure the default functionality of the site is compatible with the knowledge and goals of the majority of our 2.4 million daily users, while also preserving key functionality for those who use PubMed for more specialized tasks. The challenge is providing an optimal experience for different audiences, without producing a compromised experience for all users.

Future development

We are continuing to prioritize features based on user research, including usability testing, analytics, and feedback from users. In the weeks since the new site was launched at the new URL, we have released several updates (see The New PubMed Updated: Items Per Page, Sort Options, See All Similar Articles, and More) and there are more exciting features we anticipate adding in the near future and beyond.

Just as the legacy site has received updates throughout its tenure, the new PubMed will continue to evolve over both the short and long term. It will become the default in spring 2020 and will ultimately replace the legacy version. We will continue to run the legacy system in parallel for a period of time after the new PubMed is the default. Significant milestones such as the new site becoming the default and the retirement of the legacy site will be announced in advance via banners on the legacy site.

We encourage users to continue to share their questions and suggestions about the new PubMed. NLM is committed to continued PubMed development, ensuring that PubMed remains a trusted and accessible source of biomedical literature today and in the future.