The last decade has been one of rapid change for libraries as we attempt to keep up with the ever-changing needs and demands of users. Making it even more daunting are the diverse service needs and expectations of students and faculty in various disciplines. In this climate of constant change, understanding user experience with new services and technologies is critical. According to ISO 9241-210,2010 standards, user experience is defined as “a person's perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service.” Within the context of libraries, user experience focuses on the user’s feelings while using library collections, discovery tools, or services, and it is influenced by the expectations and experiences of the user. Successful system and service design that meets user expectations depend on an organizational commitment to user-focused design, data-driven decision making, and communication. The 2010- 2013 Columbia University Libraries/Information Services (CUL/IS) Strategic Plan explicitly called for the Libraries work to be guided by user- focused design and data-driven decision making: “In the years ahead, the work of CUL/IS will be guided by [the following principles]: user-focused design, data-driven decision making, continuous assessment of results, and flexible and adaptive response to user needs.” As has been the case with our counterparts across the nation, we have made great strides in each of these areas included in the strategic plan to better understand our users’ experiences and expectations. This talk presents a sample of the types of user experience projects that we have completed in the last two years. Highlights include five projects, each utilizing a different method, that led to changes in the platforms used to deliver digital services and collections as well as changes in how we staff these services:
- Usability testing of Libraries discovery tool and website
- Exploiting Google Analytics data to improve Libraries discovery tool and website
- Interviews and focus groups to understand eBook usage and perceptions
- Observation studies to advance our understanding of user interactions with library environment and technology
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
Like any large structure, the process of building a library website starts long before the first line of code is written: budgets, RFPs, timelines, identifying (and balancing) the needs and preferences of diverse stakeholders, representing complex services and structures -- and all in a design that pleases everyone and complies with brand standards. How do we ensure that overarching concerns like user experience, content strategy and governance, and accessibility don’t simply fall by the wayside as the project progresses? In this session, Courtney Greene McDonald, Head of Discovery & Research Services at Indiana University Libraries, and Rick Cecil, Director of User Experience at Bluespark Labs share five common challenges experienced in library website redesign projects, with tips and insights drawn from their contrasting perspectives from inside and outside the library. Attendees will come away with processes, techniques and methodologies to tackle these common challenges, even before the first wireframe is sketched.
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
Fast Talks: UX Projects & Research
This 45-minute session allows for 10 minute Fast Talks on four projects. Find these presenters later in the day to dive into details or ask questions.
1. A Library Catalog UX Study in Preparation for a Website Redesign
Mary Marissen, Collections Specialist, Swarthmore College Library
The consortium of Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr and Haverford College Libraries had plans already in place to engage a web design firm for a catalog redesign, when a Swarthmore alumnus, professional UX consultant and educator, volunteered his expertise to guide a UX study for the site. Under his guidance and with the help of a full-time student intern, we conducted formative user tests to learn how students understand the catalog and navigate searches. We shared our study and resulting recommendations with the design firm, who in conjunction with their own processes, will be ready to unveil the new site design in February 2015.
2. Designing for Better Database Discovery: Simplifying a Complicated ProblemDespite the power of web-scale discovery, to effectively search large and diverse e-resource collections, library users still need to utilize the native search features of many databases. But often just choosing a good resource can be a difficult task, forcing users to invest significant time and energy trying out different options to find the database that’s “just right” for their information needs. Without strong cues, meaningful descriptions, or appropriate tools to help identify good resources, users resort to trial and error, or turn to databases that have worked well in the past, only to be frustrated when these strategies don’t meet their current needs. To alleviate this guesswork, a team of librarians and programmers at the Merrill-Cazier Library decided to investigate ways to support better decision-making and reduce the interaction costs for users wanting to browse our e-resource collection. Informed by an earlier usability study, our new design simplifies the user experience, while improving database presentation and adding navigation options that can help users make more informed and successful resource selections. This session will demonstrate our design prototype, describe initial findings from user testing, and propose additional steps and potential enhancements to increase the usefulness of this design.
3. UX @ NYU Libraries: How One Library Department is Incorporating UX Methods for a Better Web PresenceThe plethora of user centered methods can make it hard to determine what approaches fit best when trying to improve library interfaces for users. In this session, you’ll hear about some effective UX methods the User Experience Department at NYU Libraries employs to create a better, more user-friendly web presence. As a small, versatile department, we work with stakeholders from around the university to incorporate user centered methods into agile product design and development.
4. Rinse & Repeat Usability Testing
Marie Maxey, Product Analyst, UX, SAGE Publications
At SAGE we’re experimenting with the ability to use a ‘rinse and repeat’ styled approach to our user testing practice. Our goal is to get better at what we do every time we do it, while keeping our methods flexible and responsive to our products requirements. We’re weighing the costs and benefits of different approaches – when are we best served by classic talk-out-loud usability methods? And when do we need a hybrid test that includes semi-structured interviews at the end? How can we best determine tester proficiency, to help inform our analysis of test results? We’d like to achieve a system that encourages our test participants to ‘come again’ and have a long term relationship with us, with the goal of continuing to recruit new participants to build a community around our products.
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
Designing and developing interfaces devoid of understanding the needs and behaviors of your users can lead to fragmented user interactions and interfaces. In this session I’ll discuss some UX strategies and methods-including customer journeys, scenarios, and personas-we've incorporated into product development that ensure the user is central to the process.
Updating an academic library website to current design expectations can involve an enormous amount of time, requiring testing and development in a number of areas that affect the user’s ultimate experience. This session uses the recent update to the [http://www.library.unt.eduUNT Libraries’ website] as a case study in guerrilla tactics, discussing our study of analytics data and peer sites, adoption of the bootstrap library for rapid development, early html prototyping, patron interviews, and good commons sense in our typographic choices and content strategy as we developed both a mobile-responsive site and bento-box style search application. We’ll also take a detour into the world of device-based testing and demonstrate how in-browser testing, paired with a small collection of phones and tablets made troubleshooting the design process far easier, how having these types of devices makes sense as a public service within libraries in general, and some of the new user testing tools/toys we have on hand to bring user testing in the libraries up to a whole new level in the coming months and years.
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
In Spring 2014, a user experience that was confusing to both library patrons and staff made me begin on the journey to create a UX Team at my university library. I am eager to share what I learned in the form of practical tips and recommendations on that process: from writing the proposal, to getting buy-in, and selecting projects. In addition, I'll share details of an exciting and productive collaboration with a Qualitative Methods class that provided the newly formed UX Team with a rich source of data and a great place to begin.
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
