1. Identifying the problem

Approach

The public library is inherently a physical space, yet it is growing its digital presence. Therefore it was important for us to understand both online and offline experience. We wanted to see how these two dimensions correlate with each other and what expectations and pain points users have when they visit the physical library and when they go to the library website. We also needed to know how the library operates and what its priorities are, because we had to design a solution that would be actually possible to implement.

Therefore for the research phase we used a variety of research techniques.

Understanding the domain

After spending some time in different libraries, talking with SMEs and observing users, we discovered that:

• The library no longer simply offers books. It has become a centre for services like hobby clubs, general advice, and workshops, where people come to socialise and connect.

• Library websites display minimum information about events and activities. There are notice boards and stands in the library with leaflets and posters about what’s on.

• Library prioritises activities and events based on their popularity and visitors reviews, but there is no system to accurately measure the popularity.

• There is no introduction to the library resources and activities for a new visitor and no tools to keep them engaged.

“We organise a lot of events for all age groups. You can learn about them on our notice boards. But people often just come and ask us for more information, and we give them leaflets. We don’t often update the website.

-Librarian

Understanding the users

During our user interviews, contextual enquiries and survey results with the public, we found that

• People often use the library as a workplace or a place to socialise and learn about their local community.

• Visitors often struggle to find updates on events both online and on the notice boards in the library.

• 67% of survey respondents are more likely to visit the library if they knew what the library has to offer.

• 81% of survey respondents prefer attending local events.

Based on our interviews, we created a user persona of James, whose goals are common to those of our users.

James is 42 years old, married and has a 9-year-old son. He is self-employed and comes to the library regularly to work because it’s near and it’s quiet. He also values interesting community-oriented talks and getting a free professional advice during the library drop-in sessions. Every month together with his son he also attends the library book club.

Yet, James is often frustrated when he can’t find updated information about the library events he is or might be interested in: neither online nor in the library.

Typical user journey

At this moment my role was to understand the current user journey and think of how to optimise it.

I drafted a typical journey of a library visitor looking for information about the Book Club (regular library event):

Persona-based scenario

After realising how complicated the current journey is, I wanted to imagine an ideal experience from James’ perspective. So I created a persona-based scenario to focus on the library visitors and how they think and behave, rather than on technology or business goals:

It’s Sunday evening, and James is reading to his son the last chapter of the book that they were reading together. He finishes, wishes his son a good night, and walks out. Suddenly he realises he can’t remember when exactly the next library book club is. 

James decides to look this up on the library website. He opens it on Safari, goes to the library website and finds the section for regular activities in the library. He scrolls down until he sees the book club link and opens it. James sees the calendar planned for the next 6 months with dates, as well as the next two books the library staff decided on. He also finds out that there are currently 7 people signed up to attend the next meeting, which is great, because James and his son like having a discussion in a big group. He presses RSVP button to confirm that 2 people (he and his son) will also come. At the bottom of the page James finds an option to sign up for updates and reminders, enters his email address, and sees a confirmation pop-up window on the screen. James is exited.

On the day before the book club James receives a notification and the total number of people signed up, and looks forward to coming to the library tomorrow with his son.

Improved user journey

After that, I imagined that an improved user journey may look as straightforward as this:

I also saw an opportunity to improve an in-library experience. There were at least 2 notice boards at every library we visited. A simple re-organisation of one notice board into a clear timetable of regular activities can be helpful for visitors.

2. Framing the problem

How might we help James discover and get timely updates on the library talks and activities relevant for him, so he can use the library resources to its full potential?

Getting feedback

One of the most important pages was the Event page. It seemed to We simultaneously tested three hypotheses with 3 library visitors and 2 library staff.

Final Event page

Before: Very little explanation about the event, no way to RSVP, no particular dates, no way to share with others.

After:

Other key final pages

4. Result for the users and the business

Design decisions

• Trustworthy: Introduced “last updated on…” to reassure the users that information is accurate and up-to-date.

• Conversational: Introduced feedback sections on key pages for visitors to improve communication between the library and visitors.

• Grid view: Previously events were organised in a list with no consistent order. A grid view with clear sections allows for convenient navigation.

• Community-oriented: Users clearly stated they prefer local events and are more likely to attend events where their friends go. We introduced social media sharing to help spread the word.

• Warm welcome: Re-designed on-boarding process introduces a visitor to library activities that go beyond books and helps to keep track of those.

• Reminders: Introduced 'Add to calendar' feature to ensure a desired event is not missed.

• RSVP: This feature helps both the library that wants to track attendance and the visitors who want to have a sense of crowdedness for some events.

• Updated navigation: The current structure has a side menu navigation with a long list of options. We conducted card sorting exercise and designed a simple top navigation.

Reflections

UX affects everything. This project was a great opportunity to see how UX means more than just interactive design. Our UX decisions were focused on improving both online and in-library experience.

Usability issues must go along with the business issues. When designing better UX, we tried to help both: for the library to build up its profile as a community hub and thus secure more funding, and for the visitors to be able to find what they need and being inspired to come again. Some features were nice to have for the users, but were not easy to implement for the library staff. We had to find the balance between what’s possible for the organisation and what’s needed for the users.

Observations are super valuable. It was really challenging to talk to people in the library as this is a place for quiet work by default. But we tried coming at different times, and it helped. When we couldn’t find someone to talk to, we just set there and observed the place and what’s going on. It really helped us to understand visitors and library interaction, and see issues we did not heard during the interviews.

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