This document provides an overview of creating an experience-centered library. It begins with introducing the speaker, Craig M. MacDonald, and his background in user experience (UX) and library science.
The document then asks if libraries are doing UX currently and explains that all libraries are delivering an experience through their interactions with users, regardless of a dedicated UX focus. It defines that the better question is whether a library is doing great UX.
The following sections explore what great library UX looks like, defining it as useful, usable, and desirable across all touchpoints in a consistent, seamless, and contextual manner. The document emphasizes that libraries should think of UX holistically, including both digital and
2. About Me
Full-time assistant professor in the School of
Information at Pratt
Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from
Drexel University
Developed and coordinate UX program at Pratt:
• UX program concentration for MSLIS
• UX Advanced Certificate
• MS in Information Experience Design (fall 2016)
Provide UX consulting for various organizations,
including cultural heritage institutions, media
companies, and start-ups
3. Q: Is your library doing
“User Experience” right
now?
4. You might be thinking:
Do we do usability testing of our website?
Do we use LibQual or some other survey to
capture perceptions of our library users?
Do we have a UX librarian, or someone on staff
whose job includes some aspect of UX?
10. UX is often
thought of as a
property of an
digital interface:
“This app has a
great UX!”
“This website’s UX
is terrible!”
11. Is that really accurate?
For a long time, usability was the defining
property of an interface: it was either usable or
not.
This conclusion was reached through an
(occasionally) rigorous process of usability
evaluation.
• Are users able to complete tasks with effectiveness,
efficiency, and satisfaction?
• Is the interface sufficiently easy to learn and use?
• Are there minimal errors and are these errors easy to
recover from?
SOURCE:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/03/15/why-user-experience-cannot-be-designed/
12. UX is not usability
As the industry shifted away from “usability” and toward
“UX” as its main focus, it was seen by some as merely a
change in terminology.
But, UX is not just a new buzzword for usability: it is an
entirely new paradigm.
• Usability: find and fix problems that prevent people from
doing what they want to do
• UX: design interfaces that are pleasurable and engaging to
use
UX is “designing for pleasure, rather than absence of
pain.”
SOURCE:
Hassenzahl & Tractinsky (2006). User experience – a research agenda. Behaviour & Information Technology, 25(2), 91-97.
13. “Your [product’s] customers aren't won
over by features. They're won over by
the product experience...If you don’t
focus on the core experience, and
instead create a wide but shallow
product, you’ll find your users lost,
confused, or bored, and, more than
likely ready to walk away.”
- Lee Dale, UX Magazine
Is UX a product?
15. “User Experience Design somehow suggests that a designer
has direct control over how every user experiences the
product. A massive exaggeration…Design defines
experience, it doesn’t control it. Used like this, ‘User
Experience Design’ is a big promise that cannot be kept.”
- Oliver Reichenstein, Information Architects Inc.
Products are designed
17. “User Experience is just a sub-
category of experience, focusing on
a particular mediator...[Experience
Design] is the question of how to
deliberately create and shape
experiences.”
- Marc Hassenzahl, Folkwang University of Arts
Experiences are shaped
18. UX is an outcome
You can’t design an experience.
You can only design for an experience.
26. So, an experience is a
holistic, multi-faceted
outcome resulting from an
interaction with a product.
We can’t design the experience.
We can only design the product.
(which, in turn, provides the experience)
30. The Perpetual Challenge of UX
UX is the intersection of:
– The user(s)
their needs, behaviors, backgrounds,
expectations, etc.
– Their task(s)
what users are trying to do
– Their environment
where, why, and how users are trying to
complete their task
– The tool
what users need to use to complete the
task(s)
Can’t
be designed
Can
be designed
31. User Task
Environment
“We can design the product...[but] we can shape neither our
users’ expectations nor the situation in which they use what
we have designed.”
- Helge Fredheim, Smashing Magazine
We can design the tool
Tool
34. The Perpetual Challenge of UX
UX is the intersection of:
– The user(s)
their needs, behaviors, backgrounds,
expectations, etc.
– Their task(s)
what users are trying to do
– Their environment
where, why, and how users are trying to
complete their task
– The tool
what users need to use to complete the
task(s)
Can kind of
be designed
Can
be designed
library^
Can’t
be designed
35. User Task
Tool
Environment Diagram adapted from Shackel, 1991.
Context is everything*
*Technically, context is everything that matters
Too Simple!
36. Tools (digital/outside)
“A good user experience is vital to the
success of a…website and the
institution it serves. If a website is
difficult to use, people leave....If
the essential information is hard to
read - or find! - they will leave.”
- Rob Landry, Plein Air Interactive
37. Tools (digital/inside)
“Given the increasing pressure on libraries relative to
budgets…we need to take advantage of all the tools at our
disposal. In addition to the energy, creativity, and passion of the
individuals who work in libraries, technology stands as an
important factor that enables libraries to prosper and
successfully serve their communities.”
- Marshall Breeding, Library Technology Guides
38. Tools (non-digital/outside)
“Many libraries feel the need to market what they’ve done as an
initiative, and then they’re quite often disappointed by it
because it’s been done as a series of one-off activities without
the coherence of a marketing plan…What I see in North
America—in Canada in particular, where they’re more
marketing driven—is that it does make a real difference.”
- Terry Kendrick, Strategic marketing practitioner
39. Tools (non-digital/inside)
“Let me be clear: a beautiful sign isn’t enough to
save a library or make it relevant to its community,
especially if it communicates a broken policy. It will,
however, do something more subtle but important
when it contributes to an overall pleasant
experience for library users.”
- Aaron Schmidt, Influx / Library Journal
41. Interactions (unstructured)
“The interactions that take place every day between staff
members and library patrons provide a human connection that
results not only in instrumental help in gaining access to useful
resources, but also in emotional help that contributes to a
sense of individual well-being.”
- Catherine Johnson, University of Western Ontario
42. Spaces (architectural)
“No matter how radical or even outlandish a [building]
design may appear on the outside, the real test is
whether the spaces within are appropriate to the
particular kinds of works the building will shelter.”
- Larry Shiner, University of Illinois
43. Spaces (transitory)
“UX in libraries needs to be a completely immersive experience.
We make sure…the surroundings are designed to be home-like
with fireplaces, couches, power outlets, lamps, and meeting
rooms. Across the country, libraries are thus transforming
themselves from book warehouses to places where people want
to come and hang out.”
- Amanda Goodman, Darien Library
46. A seamless whole
“Customers interact with businesses not only through many
channels, but also on many devices. Rather than seeing each of
these interactions as a separate experience, users view all
interactions with an organization as part of one larger user
experience. Thus, a company may think, ‘multi-channel service,’
but a customer thinks, “one company, one user
experience.’”
- Nielsen/Norman Group
47. A cohesive whole
“The challenge for the UX
designer is to identify where,
how, and at what level to
engage in order to
appropriately address this
scope...[and] helping realize
a whole that is greater than
the sum of the parts.”
- Peter Merholz, Adaptive Path
49. We need a framework that
helps us think about and
talk about these types of
holistic and multi-faceted
experiences.
50. The service perspective
“Services created in silos are experienced in bits...Often,
each bit of the service is well designed...[but] customers
experience services in totality and base their judgment on
how well everything works together to provide them with
value.”
- Polaine, Løvlie, & Reason, Service Design
51. Outcome-based
“Services are intangible economic goods—they lead to
outcomes as opposed to physical things customers own.
Outcomes are generated by value exchanges that occur
through…touchpoints.”
- Lauren Chapman Ruiz, Senior Interaction Designer at Cooper
52. Touchpoints & Channels
“[UX is] designing for all the
touchpoints a person has
with a business regardless of
channel.”
- Nick Finck
53. What if your
library thought
about every
touchpoint the
same way you
think about
reference
interactions?
54. What if your
library thought
about your physical
touchpoints the
same way as your
digital
touchpoints?
55. Q: So, what does a great
user experience look like?
59. Usability means...
It is easy to learn; users
can figure out what it
does and how it works
It is easy to use; users
can do things quickly
and without frustration
61. Desirability means...
It is appealing; it looks
and feels like something
users want
It is engaging; users have
positive memories from
using it
62. Time matters
Every user
interaction takes
place at a certain
point in time, in a
certain context,
and with the
intention of
meeting a specific
need.
69. UX as a process
“Great user experience
is about translating
user goals and business
needs into compelling
stories”
- Patrick Neeman
?
70. 1 Computer designed by buzzyrobot from the thenounproject.com
What we
design
71. 1 Computer designed by buzzyrobot from the thenounproject.com
2 Watch designed by la-fabrique-créative from the thenounproject.com
3 Check-List designed by Arthur Shlain from the thenounproject.com
How we
design
Create
What we
do to
learn
Research
What we
do to
measure
Assess
What we
make
72. UX is not just a process
“[UX] strategy is about uncovering the
key challenges in a situation and devising
a way of coordinating effort to overcome
them for a desired outcome.”
-Jim Kalbach
73. UX is a mindset
You can’t just follow a series of steps.
It’s an approach; a way of thinking.
74. This is a process
Sketch
Wireframe
Prototype
Develop
Create
Plan
Measure
Analyze
Report
AssessResearch
Plan
Gather
Analyze
Report
75. This is a mindset
Sketch
Wireframe
Prototype
Develop
Create
Plan
Measure
Analyze
Report
AssessResearch
Plan
Gather
Analyze
Report
Ask the right
question(s) at the
right time
Make the right
stuff, with the
right amount of
detail
Collect data to
confirm you’re
making the right
stuff
78. Q: So, what does great
User Experience look like?
79. Be grounded
Are you sure you’re
meeting the real needs
of real people?
Are you skeptical and
willing to test key
assumptions?
80. Be deliberate
Are you taking steps to
make sure you’re headed
down the right path?
Are you investing the
right amounts of time
and money?
81. Be iterative
Are you regularly testing
to make sure you’re on
the right track?
Are you using test results
to fix things and drive
improvements?
82. A: When your mindset is:
Q: So, what does great
User Experience look like?
Grounded• Do you know you’re meeting actual needs of real people?
• Do you use data to test key assumptions/hypotheses?
Deliberate• Do you consider all possible alternatives?
• Do you use your resources efficiently?
Iterative• Do you use assessment wisely?
• Do you use assessment results meaningfully?
83. “I didn’t notice or care that their website was so much
different from their app, and that neither one was
remotely similar to the in-person experience.”
- Nobody, ever
Why? Because
users are discerning
84. “I bet a lot of people worked really hard on this, so I’ll
cut them some slack if something doesn’t work exactly
the way I want it to work.”
- Nobody, ever
Why? Because
users are demanding
85. “I didn’t really have a great experience with this, but
that’s OK – I’ll still keep coming back because there’s no
where else I can go.”
- Nobody, ever
Why? Because
users are fickle
86. Think strategically
“[UX]…is about uncovering the key
challenges in a situation and devising a
way of coordinating effort to overcome
them for a desired outcome.”
- Jim Kalbach, Experiencing Information
87. “Enlightened trial and error
succeeds over the planning of
the lone genius.”
-Peter Skillman, IDEO
Plan
88. “I think the overt message of 'fail fast' is actually better
framed as 'experiment fast.' The most effective innovators
succeed through experimentation…by stepping out of the
lab and interacting directly with customers, running
thoughtful experiments, and executing them quickly to learn
quickly what works and what doesn’t.”
- Victor Lombardi, Why We Fail
Fail quickly
89. “How little design can I do, how little can I invest in developing
the thing and how quickly can I learn something about this
[so] that I can change something immediately…and…do it
different or better the next time I design?”
- Randy Hunt, Etsy
Fail safely
90. “If the person with the big hunch is wrong and we
don’t find out till after the money is gone, then we
have failed …And because this is the infancy stage of our
product vision, we don’t want to get too attached to any
ideas – especially without proper validation that real
customers will really want our solution.”
- Jaime Levy, User Experience Strategy
Fail smartly
91. “[UX] is a practice that, when
done empirically, provides a
much better chance of a
successful digital product
than just crossing your
fingers, designing some
wireframes, then writing a
bunch of code.”
- Jaime Levy, User Experience Strategy
Why? To de-risk
93. So, UX is a mindset of
planned experimentation that
enables quick, safe, and
smart failure.
Educate your staff about the process.
Create a culture where experience-centered
thinking is valued and rewarded.
94. Be focused
Is everyone dedicated to
delivering the same,
high-quality experiences
for patrons?
96. 2007: A Turning Point
1. The Designing Better Libraries blog was
launched (dbl.lishost.org).
2. Brian Matthews at Georgia Tech became the
first User Experience Librarian in the United
States.
“Essentially, my job now is to study users and to make
recommendations to library admin and department
heads. I'll also work with others to develop targeted
communication strategies and to do a little brand-work.
The biggest challenge will be getting all
departments/units to trust me—you say the word
assessment and people freak out.”
97. Emergence of #LibUX
SLA UX Caucus (2008)
Aaron Schmidt’s UX Librarian column for Library
Journal (started in 2010)
Session on “Holistic UX” at 2013 Computers in
Libraries Conference
Article on “UX Thinking” by LITA president
Three Publication Venues:
• Weave Journal of Library UX Journal (Oct 2014)
• Designing for Digital Conference (Feb 2015)
• UXLib Conference (Mar 2015)
99. About the Participants
All participants had official job titles that
included the term “User Experience.”
• 8 participants had exact title of “UX Librarian.”
• 2 participants held leadership positions within
UX departments.
• 6 participants had job titles combining UX with
other aspects of library work.
- Web development, instruction, assessment (2),
technical services, and marketing/outreach.
100. UX is broadly defined
14/16 participants defined UX as encompassing a
user’s entire experience with the library.
• Other 2 work for consortia with no physical location.
Key quote(s):
• “The heart of UX is about user engagement” (P-09)
• “I like the idea of it being more encompassing and
not just evaluating how we're doing but looking at
the whole picture and making the experience better
for people from when they walk in the door to when
they leave, virtually or in reality.” (P-08)
• “[My job is] not thinking as a librarian.” (P-13)
101. UX means doing research
15/16 participants described research as integral to their
work.
6 did survey research (2 LibQual, 4 homegrown).
General preference for qualitative research:
• Informal: “Tell Us” campaign; flip chart feedback
• Formal: Focus groups, observations/interviews
Key quote(s):
• “Some of the richest data we get, and some of the most
surprising things that we learn, come from the questions
we didn't even know to ask until somebody mentions
something and we start to investigate that and just say
‘Tell us more about that.’” (P-11)
102. UX is not really design
12/16 participants conducted usability testing as part of their
work, though some did more than others depending on the
size/culture of the library.
• 1 was in upper management, 1 just rejoined web team.
• 2 said usability testing was not part of their responsibilities
Preferred testing method was informal, guerilla style testing.
Few (7/16) mentioned using design-oriented UX methods.
• Card sorting (4), sketching (2), paper prototyping (2) web
analytics (2), personas/scenarios (1)
Key quote(s):
• “I'm not actually a designer, so I can identify the problem [but]
I don't always know how to fix it.” (P-08)
103. UX + other responsibilities
14/16 participants had other library responsibilities in addition to
their UX role; other 2 had combined UX and assessment roles.
• Reference & instruction (11), departmental liaisons (5), committee
memberships (3), technical responsibilities (1)
Balancing these responsibilities with UX is a constant struggle for
many, especially those at smaller libraries (more in Part II).
Key quote(s):
• “I think it keeps me honest [and] helps me see things first on the
front lines that our researchers are expecting, and seeing, and
experiencing.” (P-03)
• “[My boss] would really like it to be more of a position where I could
be spending more like 60 percent of the time on UX, but the reality
dictates that people come into the library and need help, so the
research, reference, etc., takes precedence most often.” (P-16)
104. Internal consultants
16/16 participants described their role as an internal
consultant without any actual decision-making
authority.
To be successful in this role, participants had to navigate
their complex library culture (with some having more
success than others).
Key quote(s):
• “[We are] there to help any department within the library
that needs help at any given time.” (P-10)
• “You're serving in an advisory capacity, right? So I'm not
actually empowered to make those changes… I [only] get
to do the research [and] say ‘this is where the problems
are, these are what I'd recommend as changes.’” (P-09)
105. “There's only three of us librarians, and [my
director] is really close to my other
colleague...so I don't have a lot of power
in that way of changing library policies or
making things happen.”
- Participant 05
106. “I'm not part of reference. I'm not part of circulation, I'm
not part of media - I'm part of admin, so there's a culture
of distrust over what I do and the motive behind what
I'm doing.”
- Participant 10
107. “It was actually kind of a weird
challenge to educate my colleagues
about what I was doing, because they
saw my title, and they thought, ‘oh you
test the website.’ Yes that is one of the
things that I do. And, here are the other
things that user experience means.’”
- Participant 12
109. “We’re no longer in a
world when we can
design for just a
single
isolated…interaction
, not thinking about
what happened before
that interaction or
what happens after.”
- Jared Spool
110. “And, we’re no longer
in a world where we
believe that every
before-interaction
and every after-
interaction only
happened online.”
- Jared Spool
111. “We’re now in a world
where digital and
non-digital are
merging. And we
need to be prepared to
design in that overall
experience.”
- Jared Spool
112. Technology is not magic...
“Broadly, [organizations] still tend to use magical thinking
when it comes to things digital. Somehow because it is
technology, it will succeed! Alas. The real hard work is the
content, not the technology. Bright digital teams need to work
with bright subject matter experts who can tell compelling
stories. ”
- Vicki Porter, The Wellcome Trust
113. “Park Guests use the Magic Band to
gain access to the park, get in
priority queues for the attractions,
pay for their purchases at the
concession stands, and even get into
their hotel room…[but] the real
achievement of the Disney Magic
Band is the transformation the
organization has gone through
to make it work.”
- Jared Spool
...integration is.
115. Breaking down silos
“UX is not the responsibility of the online
team or the marketing department
alone…everyone has a part to play in
the shaping of an experience.”
- Simon Norris, Nomensa
117. Embed UX in your DNA
“If an organization truly wants to be
design-centered, they need to
construct a reward system that puts
great design above all else…[and
those] rewards are built into the
organization’s DNA.”
- Jared Spool
118. Source: Jared Spool, http://www.uie.com/articles/beyond_ux_tipping_point/
A UX Maturity Model
1 UX Dark Ages Focus on building features, not UX; build poor
designs and deliver frustrating experiences.
2 Spot UX Projects Someone did some unrelated UX projects, but the
“fever” didn’t spread beyond the manager.
3 Serious UX
Investment
Senior management devotes resources to UX;
design begins to influence early decisions.
4 Embedding UX
Into Teams
UX people are embedded in teams so that UX is
an ongoing concern for every product/service.
5 Integrated UX
and Services
UX is everywhere; non-digital and digital teams
work together to provide seamless experiences.
UX Tipping Point
119. The experience-centered
library...
…has a vision for what an ideal experience looks, feels,
and/or sounds like, across all touchpoints and through
every channel.
…ensures that the vision is shared by everyone in every
department of the library.
…has a leader to oversee and maintain that vision.
…has operational and strategic goals that directly
support the delivery of that vision.
120. From the top...
...and the bottom
Is there a person at the highest
level of the organization who is
responsible for curating and
maintaining a holistic user-,
business-, and technology-
appropriate experience?1
See:
- Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
- Director of User Experience
Do you have a team of skilled
professionals who value cross-
individual skills rather than
tightly defined roles, are co-
located, and are motivated to
improve?2
Skills should cover interaction design,
information architecture, user
research/usability, and visual design.
1 Lis Hubert: https://uxmag.com/articles/ux-its-time-to-define-cxo
2 Jared Spool: http://www.uie.com/articles/who_is_on_the_ux_team/
121. Good news!
It’s getting harder, not easier, to do
Great User Experience.
Harder does not mean impossible.
122. What you can do:
Talk to your colleagues! Make sure they know
UX is not just about digital interfaces.
Launch regular small-scale research projects!
Learn how patrons experience the library
across every touchpoint.
Improve your design skills! Research without
design can only take you so far.
But most importantly…
123. The only way to get started
on your way to doing great
User Experience is to…
Hire a UX Librarian
(Every librarian is a UX librarian)
124. Go do it.
The only way to get started
on your way to doing great
User Experience is to…
125. Thank You
Craig M. MacDonald, Ph.D.
cmacdona@pratt.edu
@CraigMMacDonald
www.craigmacdonald.com
