The document discusses a user experience (UX) project conducted at the University of the Arts London (UAL) libraries to engage students and inform the development of library spaces. The project used ethnographic methods like observations, touchstone tours, focus groups, and reflective logs to understand student behavior and needs. A student UX team helped with mapping, observing, and gathering feedback. The project provided recommendations for existing spaces and new buildings based on the findings. It demonstrated how UX methodology can provide valuable insights for improving services and facilities from the student perspective.
On National Teacher Day, meet the 2024-25 Kenan Fellows
Engaging students through user experience (UX) at UAL
1. Engaging Students through User
Experience (UX) at the University
of the Arts London (UAL)
Tania Olsson and Sandra Reed
2. Six colleges, one service
• Camberwell College of Arts
• Central Saint Martins
• Chelsea College of Arts
• London College of
Communication
• London College of Fashion
• Wimbledon College of Arts CSM Library; Ana Escobar 2015
3. Why user experience ?
• A different way of
gathering feedback
• Commitment to user
engagement
• Focus on student
behaviour and usage of
space
• Planning for new build
projects
4. Ethnography in the Library
UXLibs conference 2015 Cambridge
• Andy Priestner
• Matt Borg
• Donna Lanclos
• Ned Potter
5. Schedule & Methodology
Phase Activity Timeframe
Phase 1 Recruitment to observation team April 2015
Briefing and training of observation
team
April 28th 2015
Movement observations 29th April – 13th May 2015
Static observations 29th April – 13th May 2015
Touchstone tours 29th April – 13th May 2015
Phase 2 Focus groups May – June 2015
Phase 3 Reflective logs June – July 2015
Phase 4 Briefing analysis team July 2015
Analysis July – August 2015
Phase 5 Reporting and next steps October 2015
6. Student UX team
• Mapping
• Observing
• Touchstone tours
LS UX Project: LCC; Leo Appleton, 2015
9. Campaign
• Web pages
• Social media
• Posters / flyers
• Digital screens
• Committees etc.
• Incentives
10. Touchstone tours
• Walk and talk
• Subjective view of space
• Most / least used areas
• Suggestions
LCF Library; Ana Escobar 2015
LCC Library Touchstone tour 2015
Touchstone tour, LCC, Tania Olsson, 2015
11. UX student team feedback
• College / UAL
themes
• Critique of
methodology
UX student team, feedback workshop, 2015
12. Student focus groups
College discussion on spaces:
• Type
• Layout
• Amount
• Behaviours
• Staff support
LS UX Project: LCC; Leo Appleton, 2015
14. 19th June
As Jocelyn isn’t available to shoot over the weekend, I
make good use of my time by looking through and
editing the footage from yesterday. I spend the
morning at home working at my desk as I find it’s a
space I am able to fully concentrate in and to
contemplate the shots.
2nd year Chelsea student; Graphic Design & Communication
Reflective logs
C. Mann, Chelsea, UAL, 2015
15. Project outputs / outcomes
• UAL UX reports
• Student reflective journals
• Recommendations for
existing spaces and
planning new library
building projects
• Fed into student focussed
policies
• Methodology for future UX
projects
LCC Library; Sandra Reed 2016
16. Lessons learned
• Observation vantage points
• Static observation
frequency
• The watcher and the
watched
• Technology
• Touchstone tours
• Campaign
18. UX 2017: Digital Presence Review
• To ensure a co-ordinated and student friendly digital
presence.
• To better understand user behaviour in engaging with
our digital presence.
• To contribute rich stakeholder information to planned
projects around the UAL digital platforms.
19. Schedule & Methodology
Digital presence review
Phase 1 Data gathering and benchmarking November - December 2016
Phase 2 Scoping and workshop preparation January - April 2017
Phase 3 UX workshops and survey May 2017
Phase 4 Data and UX analysis June – August 2017
Phase 5 Final report and recommendations September 2017
Phase 6 Implementation of change that can
be effected within LAS
Academic year 17/18
20. Recruitment & Incentives
• Digital ambassadors
• Social media
• Flyers
• Sign–up sheets in libraries
• Amazon vouchers
• Free lunch!!
29. Workshop coding
https://www.instagram.com/uallibraries/
Digital presence workshop coding
S Space
Rel Relationship
Pro Process
Res Resources
Comm Comunication channels
Workshop 1 Red / hard Green / easy
Theme 1 Theme 2 Theme 3 Keyword Theme 1 Theme 2 Theme 3 Keyword
BA Live events and television (yr 2)
BA (yr 2)
BA Art Direction (yr 2)
Pro Res Read brief
Pro Rel Relax with classmates
Pro Rel Think with classmates
Pro S Thinking on the move
Pro Rel Discuss with [named individual]
Res S Library
Res Library DVDs
Res Library VHS
Pro Play
Pro Read Pro Read
Pro Refine Pro Refine
S Digital space
30. Digital Presence Review: audio
https://www.instagram.com/uallibraries/
“I always chill, chill, chill, till the last minute”
“I don’t start with reading a book”
“Sometimes in the library, you just see numbers”
“I underated how much a librarian knows”
“I’m not on the internet to be talking to the librarian”
“The first thing I’d do, I’ll go to the library”
32. Survey
Do you use UAL Library Search?
“I like it for its accessibility and ease of use”
“It is one of my main tools of research”
“I prefer to look around the library to find something that inspires me”
“always handy”
34. CSE assessment 1.6.17
Compliance plus:
There is corporate commitment to putting the
customer at the heart of service delivery and leaders
in our organisation actively support this and
advocate for customers.
35. Tania Olsson
Learning Resources Manager
London College of Communication
t.olsson@lcc.arts.ac.uk
Sandra Reed
Discovery Librarian (Resources & Communications)
Library Services
s.reed@arts.ac.uk
arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/library-services/
36. References:
Appleton, L., Batch, J., Olsson, T., Reed, S. (2016) ‘Engaging students through User Experience at the University of the Arts
London.’, pp. 59-67, SCONUL Focus 67. Available at: https://www.sconul.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/14_20.pdf
https://spark.adobe.com/video/HkqN9yvE (Accessed: 08.06.17).
Batch, J., Olsson, T., Reed, S (2017) UX CPD25 workshop session 10.05.17. Available at: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/events/ux-
event-ref-tg1aspects/ (Accessed: 08.06.17).
Connaway, L. S. (comp.) (2015) Library in the Life of the User, Engaging with People Where They Live and Learn. Dublin,
Ohio: OCLC Research. Available at: http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/2015/oclcresearch-library-in-
life-of-user.pdf OCLC (Accessed 08.06.17).
Jackson, N. J. ‘The Concept of Learning Ecologies’ Lifewide Learning : History of an Idea Lifewide Learning, Education &
Personal Development. Available at:
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Development e-book. A5 pp.1-21. (Accessed 08.06.17).
Lanclos, D. (2017) Donna Lanclos–The Anthropologist in the Stacks. Available at: http://www.donnalanclos.com/ (Accessed:
08.06.17).
Lanclos, D. (2017) ‘UXLibs in Cambridge–Keynoting, Dining and Punting, Oh My’, Donna Lanclos–The Anthropologist in the
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08.06.17).
37. References:
Olsson, T. & Reed, S (2016) ‘UX: engaging and involving students through user experience to inform library space
development at University of the Arts London’. ARLG conference workshop. Aston University, Birmingham. 27-29.06.16.
Available at: http://lanyrd.com/2016/arlg-conference/sfbfym/ https://www.slideshare.net/colinsawers/ux-engaging-and-
involving-students-through-user-experience-to-inform-library-space-development-at-university-of-the-arts-
london?qid=ebbf35e7-6c23-448c-8300-8f0b0a298a53&v=&b=&from_search=2 (Accessed: 08.06.17).
Potter, N. (2017) Ideas about communication. Available at: https://www.ned-potter.com/ (Accessed: 08.06.17).
Priestner, A. and Borg, M. (ed.s) (2016) Applying Ethnography and Human-Centred Design. London: Routledge.
Priestner, A. (2014) ‘Why UX in libraries is a thing now’. Business Librarians Association conference, Leicester July 2014.
Available at: www.slideshare.net/AndyPriestner1/why-ux-in-libraries-is-a-thing-now-36899649 (Accessed: 08.06.17).
Reed, S. Osman, S. and Carden, K. (2016) ‘Accessible by Design: Library Search at the University of the Arts London’, Insights,
29 (2), pp.154-159.
Schofield, M. (2017) Listen: Andy Priestner. [Podcast]. 10 April Available at: https://libux.co/andy-priestner/ (Accessed:
08.06.17).
UXLibs (2017) ‘Conference reviews’. UXLibs Available at: http://uxlib.org/conference-reviews/ (Accessed: 08.06.17).
White, D.S. and Le Cornu, A. (2011) ‘Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement’ First Monday, Volume
16, Number 9. Available at: http://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049 (Accessed 08.06.17).
White, D.S. ‘Visitors & Residents’, DIGITAL – LEARNING – CULTURE thoughts from David White. Available at:
http://daveowhite.com/vandr/ (Accessed 08.06.17).
