Melanie Huggins Executive director of Richland Library in Columbia, SC, which received the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honour 

Our system was busy, growing and our existing customers were mostly complimentary about our services. But we weren’t serving all the people we could. But we were issuing a lot of library cards and not turning those new cardholders into loyal customers. And any good business knows that customer loyalty is what differentiates you from the competitors. We were meeting the needs of many. But we weren’t always exceeding our customers expectations. Because in a time where information is free and books are cheap, it was important for us to embrace the fact that we don’t have a product, we only have an experience. Define it for staff. CxP and touchpoints We started using the customer experience and service design work of companies like Adaptive Path and Forrester Research and The Temkin Group. Bruce Temkin and His Six Laws of Customer experience was an especially good primer for us and a highly recommend you read it if you are interested in this topic.

It is projected that by 2020 half of all workers will be independent freelancers, responsible for their own fortunes and well-being. 

Interesting content! So what if we finally stopped thinking ourselves as a place to warehouse books and a place that was about bringing light, increasing understanding and enabling our communities to see and learn things differently? We needed a new framework for how do think about our service design and we needed to get all 400 staff members in all of our locations on the same page about that. Which any of you in here who work in an organization of more than one person know how hard that can be. Our system was busy, growing and our existing customers were mostly complimentary about our services. But we weren’t serving all the people we could. But we were issuing a lot of library cards and not turning those new cardholders into loyal customers. And any good business knows that customer loyalty is what differentiates you from the competitors. We were meeting the needs of many. But we weren’t always exceeding our customers expectations. Because in a time where information is free and books are cheap, it was important for us to embrace the fact that we don’t have a product, we only have an experience. Define it for staff. CxP and touchpoints We started using the customer experience and service design work of companies like Adaptive Path and Forrester Research and The Temkin Group. Bruce Temkin and His Six Laws of Customer experience was an especially good primer for us and a highly recommend you read it if you are interested in this topic. Let me share two key takeaways

What are the learning needs of our communities What are the learning needs of our communities? (strategic plan) How do we differentiate those experiences from other learning organizations? (brand promises) How do we design services that meet the needs of our target customers? (service design) You will know 90% of the words you will use in daily conversation by the time you are 5. 1 in 4 childern are not ready for K. 30% are not reading ready at first grade. “It is good news that the number of students demonstrating reading proficiency in third grade has increased. But the fact remains that nearly 20 percent of students leave third grade not reading on grade level. Promoting students whom have not mastered basic reading skills by third grade doesn’t help them; it hinders their education,”

customer experience takeaways Don’t make the customer feel stupid. An experience designed for everyone benefits no one. Don’t make the customer feel stupid Many of us are parts of complex organizations. We use acronyms that even we don’t know what they mean and we have systems designed by us to make our work make sense that we simple flip around and expect the customer to understand. Our customer should not have to work so hard to understand how we work; they don’t care and they shouldn’t have to. And as Bruce Temkin says if your front line staff find themselves explaining how the organization works to a customer, you have a problem. Being fair keeps up from being exceptional. The customer doesn’t care about what you did for the 200 people before them or the 200 after, they only care about what you will do for them. I realize that there are some you in here my go to jail if you create different rules for all of your clients, but we encourage all of our staff to do the right thing for the person in front of them and if it feels wrong—even if it’s the rule— it probably is. go to jail if you create different rules for all of your clients, but we encourage all of our staff to do the right thing for the person in front of them and if it feels wrong—even if it’s the rule— it probably is. So let me now unveil the highly sophisticated diagram that we created to explain the customer experience in our organization…

we promise to be Welcoming Caring Committed to the best Helpful Fresh and Fun ………………………

What are the key drivers for instigating the project What are the key drivers for instigating the project? And What research was needed to make the project credible?

PEOPLE FIRST, NOT BOOKS: We started designing programs and services and aligning our entire organization around a simple premise: That our customers needs, goals and feelings, should be at the center of everything that we do,.

#LibraryAsStudio www.learncreateshare.vision A creative risk taking environment where ideas are explored, problems are solved, talents are practiced and passions uncovered. A place where you can learn, create and share. Library As Studio started as a way to rethink the physical design of our libraries. That if we were truly in the business of learning, not books, how should we approach the design of our spaces. What kind of learning? Our goal was to create a framework that would inform the design process, teams and engage the staff in new ways. #LibraryAsStudio www.learncreateshare.vision

Library as studio

human-centered design In 2014, we began working to learn how human-centered design could help us transform library services and spaces.

Service Design It’s mindset and craft centered on customers needs and feelings. It helps sustain and refine an organizations’ brand and customer experience. It impacts operations and sustains culture. It gives structure and creativity to projects.

Service design examines the operations, culture, and structure of an organization for impact on service experience Service design applies design methods and craft to the definition and orchestration of 
 service experiences