Usability: hold confirmation in staff client is below fold

[Benjamin Kalish]

In the staff client in 3.7.2 when placing a hold the confirmation of success or failure appears in a the holds records table at the very bottom of the screen in the Holds Status column. Unless library staff sets the zoom level in the browser to a very low number or is on a machine with a very large screen this confirmation cannot be seen without scrolling.

To improve usability the confirmation should appear where the user can see it.

I can see two possible approaches:

1. Show the confirmation near the place hold button itself, so that no scrolling is necessary. (Simple and obvious for a single hold, but it's less clear what should happen with multiple holds.)
2. Automatically scroll to the holds record table when the confirmation is shown. (Handles multiple holds well, but we would need to be careful not to create new usability or accessibility issues.)

Perhaps the best approach would somehow combine the two?

[Michele Morgan (mmorgan)]

I've noticed this as a usability issue as well. Another possible approach could be to add an additional toast to the page indicating success or failure in addition to what already appears in the holds records table.

Marking Confirmed.

[Benjamin Kalish (bkalish)]

I like that! Keep the existing behavior but also add something near the hold button that would give an appropriate confirmation, including the possibility of something like "some holds failed–scroll for details".

[Benjamin Kalish (bkalish)]

This is also a problem when placing holds with parts. The menu to select the part appears in the list of holdings where it won't be seen by most users.