This is a keynote presentation that I presented to the Oklahoma Chapter of the Association of Research Libraries on looking at how academic library websites in the next few years might look, and how the research and design process has evolved in the past decade or so.

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Rachel Vacek, Head of Web Services, University of Houston Libraries
OK-ACRL Conference | 11.6.2015 | slideshare.net/vacekrae
Re-Imagining the Library Website

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Web Services department
We specialize in web and software development, user research,
usability testing, interaction design, graphic design, system
administration, system integration, content strategy, digital library
development, and project management.

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re-imagine
verb re·imag·ine ˌrē-i-ˈma-jən
: to imagine again or anew
: to form a new conception of
: re-create

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imagineer
imagine + engineer = imagineer

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Rachel Vacek, Head of Web Services, University of Houston Libraries
OK-ACRL Conference | 11.6.2015 | slideshare.net/vacekrae
Re-Imagining the Library Website

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I. Evolution of website redesign
II. Web design trends
III. User expectations
IV. How libraries can imagineer

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I. Evolution of website redesign

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Small iterative change
spreads out the cognitive load required
to learn new things
on a site.
- Aaron Schmidt, INFLUX

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II. Web design trends

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Best practices in 2011
http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/libr_pubs/40

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Web design trends
Responsive design
More emphasis on typography
Large and beautiful
background images
Large and unobtrusive video
Scrolling instead of clicking
More and larger touch targets
Flat design
Microinteractions
Personalized storytelling
Personalized user experience
Grid style layouts
Scalable vector graphics
Mega navigation menus
Expanding search bars

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Responsive design

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5 different
responsive sizes
for BYU’s library
website

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Large
background
image
Large touch
targets
Grid style
layout

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Large touch
targets
Large
background
image

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Large
background
image
Parallax
scrolling
Flat design

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Large
background
image
Long pages
that scroll
Scalable vector
graphics
Flat design

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Longer
pages
that scroll
Flat
design

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Large
background
Image
Scalable
vector
graphics

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Micro-
interactions

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Long scrolling
pages
Large
background
images
Flat design
Grid layout

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Grid or tile
layout
Personalized
user
experience

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Grid or tile
layout

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Personalized
user
experience

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Grid layout at
NCSU
Long pages
that scroll

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Expanding
search box

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Mega
navigation
menus

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Mega
navigation
menus

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Mega
navigation
menus

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Personal
portraits

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Personal
portraits

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Lots of info crammed
into a page + Lots of
layers = Too complicated
to make responsive
That’s why Amazon has
an app users can
download instead
Amazon’s
website is
clearly not
responsive to
smartphone
sized devices

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III. User expectations

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Contextual Inquiry @ UH Libraries
A research study that involves in-depth interviews where users walk
through common tasks in the physical environment in which they
typically perform
Used to better understand the intents and motivations behind user
behaviors
Ethnographic data

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User expectations
Full library discovery
Personalized user experience
Get to resources and info
quickly - not buried in site
Find resources library has
through Google
DRM free resources
E-resources are printer-friendly
Simple, clean design
Subtle, large background images
Point of need assistance
Mobile friendly

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Image gallery
gets ignored
because it
looks like an
advertisement

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Too many
options for
most users

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Too many
options for
most users

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Users look
for PDF icon
to download
or print
Want
consistency
in use of
icons across
systems

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Usable ≠ Good user experience

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Full library discovery ≠ Discovery system

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Full library discovery
Discoverability of more than just
content and collections
Integrates many existing
systems in the library to create
search results into “bento box” –
results presented by type or
resource
Includes:
◦ People and expertise
◦ Research guides
◦ Unique collections and local
repositories
◦ Exhibits
◦ Specialized services
◦ Library website content
http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/002214.html

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Search
results
presented by
different
formats
Book results
include
images

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Not quite
bento box
approach,
but still
highlighting
other library
resources
while
keeping
facets

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Libraries with “bento box” search results
Stanford
UNT
Dartmouth
UNC Chapel Hill
Michigan
Alabama
Rice
Vanderbilt
NCSU
Duke
Yale
Brown
Cornell
Princeton
Toronto
Wayne State
… and the list is growing

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New services in libraries
• Data management services
• Data visualization services
• GIS services
• Social and collaborative
citation tools and bibliometrics
• Mobile content delivery
• Enhanced and more
accessible scholarly content
• Electronic publishing
• Identity management
• Web-scale discovery tools
• Cross-institutional systems and
development partnerships
• Multidisciplinary research
• Liaisons embedded in
curriculum development
• Capturing and archiving
campus digital research outputs

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IV. How libraries can
imagineer

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Stop doing major website redesigns

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Integrate usability testing
into your iterative development
and design lifecycle

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Embrace current and upcoming web
design trends seen primarily outside
libraries

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Conduct more user research

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Create or highlight
personalization options
within the site

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My account
My favorites
Customized RSS feeds
Subscribe to X
My wishlist
My saved resources
Popular resources from similar searches

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Highlight unique digital assets more

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Highlight services and people more

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License resources that have
the least restrictions
on saving or printing
and that have good user interfaces

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Offer full library discovery,
not just content discovery

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Offer full library discovery,
not just content discovery

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Connect users to resources and
services in their own workflows
by making those resources and
services more familiar, discoverable,
usable, desirable

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The resources and services
we provide and the
way in which we present them
need to be meaningful

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How will you help your library imagineer
your website?

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Thanks! Credits
Web Design Trends To Look Out For In 2015http://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/resources/web-design-trends-to-
look-out-for-in-2015
Dempsey, Lorcan, Constance Malpas, and Brian Lavoie. 2014. "Collection Directions: The Evolution of Library
Collections and Collecting" portal: Libraries and the Academy 14,3 (July 2014): 393-423.
http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/library/2014/oclcresearch-collection-directions-preprint-
2014.pdf
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Libraries, Discovery, and the Catalog: Scale, Workflow, Attention
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/thirteen-ways-looking-libraries-discovery-and-catalog-scale-workflow-attention
Varnum, K.J. “Library Discovery From Ponds to Streams.” The Top Technologies Every Librarian Needs to Know.
A LITA Guide, Chicago, IL: ALA Techsource (2014): 57-65.
Stop Redesigning And Start Tuning Your Site Instead http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/05/16/stop-
redesigning-start-tuning-your-site/
The Redesign Must Die talk, by Lou
Rosenfeldhttp://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/the_redesign_must_die_talk.html
Thinking about Technology … Differently, by Locan Dempsey
http://www.slideshare.net/lisld/thinking-about-technology-differently
New Media Condortium Horizon Report; 2014 Library Edition
http://redarchive.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-library
Does Discovery Still Happen in the Library? Roles and Strategies for a Shifting Reality, by Roger Schonfeld,
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/blog-individual/does-discovery-still-happen-library-roles-and-strategies-shifting-reality
Rachel Vacek
Head of Web Services
University of Houston Libraries
http://rachelvacek.com
vacekrae@gmail.com
@vacekrae
Follow my department’s work:
http://sites.lib.uh.edu/wp/websit
e-redesign/