1. Looking for Trouble: The Role of User Research in Discovering & Solving Problems Thomas Crichlow, User Experience Project Manager, Duke University Libraries Emily Daly, Head of User Experience Department, Duke University Libraries Adrienne Lai, Emerging Technologies Services Librarian, NCSU Libraries TRLN Annual Meeting | July 22, 2013

2. User Experience Department Department: o some Public Services staff o Learning Commons o Web team Emphasis on "cross- channel" user experience

3. User Research Team User Research Team – cross- departmental membership Aim is to gather feedback from users Purpose is to improve services Image from www.walkingpaper.org

4. A lightweight approach Regular program of usability testing Small sample size Model: Test, View together, Debrief

5. Monthly usability testing Client-based program Worked with clients from six different departments across the Libraries Participants in usability tests are compensated for their time

6. UX Department Charged to improve users experience of library services and spaces, both physical and virtual Part of Collections & User Services Encourage others to submit project ideas submit project ideas

7. WebX Team

8. Vision & implementation Consider & prioritize web projects Serve as sounding board for process & designs Gather user feedback Research future possibilities

9. Examples

10. Virtual Browse touch-screen kiosk Examples – New projects

11. My #HuntLibrary

12. Examples – New projects How would you feel if one of your Instagram photos were selected by the library to be kept as a permanent record of what students did in 2013? I would be so excited. For me, I think it would be better than winning an iPad.

13. Examples – New spaces 1 st Floor 4 th Floor

14. Examples – New spaces

15. New perspectives

16. Taking action

17. Examples

18. Examples - Web Redesign Observed Usability Testing Search Term Analysis Online Reverse Card Sort Online Surveys Feedback Sessions

19. Observed Usability Testing Source: Steve Krug Rocket Surgery Made Easy

20. Search Term Analysis Five people analyzed data from the 250 most frequently used search terms.

21. Online Reverse Card Sort

22. Online Surveys Open Questions about likes/dislikes A / B / C testing of "Catalog" Terms Testing of Wireframe designs of web pages

23. Feedback Sessions

24. Examples - UX projects Carrel and locker use & request process Graduate Student Reading Room Food-free zones Digital signage & wayfinding kiosks

25. Lessons learned

26. User research can involve significant up-front work Challenges & Recommendations

27. User research can involve significant up-front work Take the opportunity to invest in infrastructure and build expertise Challenges & Recommendations

28. How do you decide what to study? Challenges & Recommendations

29. How do you decide what to study? Beware of scope creep - concentrate on whats fixable and commit to iterative design Challenges & Recommendations

30. How valid are the results of usability testing? Challenges & Recommendations

31. How valid are the results of usability testing? Take the results with a grain of salt and triangulate when possible Challenges & Recommendations

32. Writing research reports is really time-consuming

33. Challenges & Recommendations Writing research reports is really time-consuming Only produce as much documentation as is necessary

34. Challenges & Recommendations How do you get buy-in from staff?

35. Challenges & Recommendations How do you get buy-in from staff? Make it easy for people to participate, emphasize co- ownership & keep senior decision- makers informed

36. Thanks for listening! Thomas Crichlow, thomas.crichlow@duke.edu Emily Daly, emily.daly@duke.edu Adrienne Lai, aslai@ncsu.edu

37. The Storified Website How Patrons Told Our Story Mike Nutt, Digital Media Librarian Charlie Morris, Web Development Librarian

40. #DHHILL on Instagram

41. News article A post from our blog Instagram photo Tweet

42. lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibrary THEN

43. lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibrary NOW

44. Voice

45. Delight http://flic.kr/p/c54Sj5

46. Curating Viral Website Publicity Customer Service Unexpected Things go.ncsu.edu/storify mrnutt@ncsu.edu MORE!