Steal This UX: Improving Your Collection With Content Strategy and User Research

Annabelle Mortensenamortensen@skokielibrary.info

Stephanie Andersonsanderson@darienlibrary.org

Steal This UX: Improving Your Collection With Content Strategy and User Research

Agenda:–What’s content strategy?–What’s user research?–UX tools for everyone’s arsenal–Putting it all into practice

-Service population: 65,000-Registered borrowers: 40,573-Circulation in 2015: 2.1 million

-Service population: 20,500-Registered borrowers: 21,621-Circulation in 2015: 611,004

What is content strategyand why should I care?

“The practice of planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content.”

--Kristina Halvorson

Content strategists select and organize content, making it findable and relevant for users.

(Sound familiar?)

Content strategy toolkit:-Creating alignment-Providing

assessment-Developing strategy

Creating alignment means: interviewing stakeholders, identifying goals, creating a common understanding

like: ensuring staff is on board with the weeding plan, making displays based on holds lists

Providing assessment means: examining existing content through audits

like: evaluating circulation stats over time, comparing collection to similar libraries, reviewing booklists

Developing strategy means: turning ideas into direction, deciding how success is measured, planning for maintenance over time

like: collection development policy changes, creating budgets in response to use patterns

What is user research and why should I care?

“In technology, research is meant to answer this question: ‘How do people use something?’”

--Nick Disabato

User research and testing helps minimize taking stabs in the dark.

(And builds confidence!)

Tests help you move forward, question assumptions, learn from users, and then iterate.

(Yes, iterate. Sound familiar?)

User testing toolkit:–Observation–Interviews–A/B testing–Card sorting–Analytics

Observation means: observe people in context of usage

like: watching a heavily browsed display or shelf to see what patrons pick up and what they take with them

Interviews means: actually talk to people!

like: asking someone in the stacks how the library can make browsing easier, or developing a survey to learn where patrons get book recommendations

A/B testing means: creating multiple versions of a feature and showing each to different users to see which performs better

like: creating two shelf labels for two sets of DVDs and asking patrons at the circ desk for their opinion on which is easier to read

Card sorting means: to help structure information, ask users to put words in logical groups

like: rather than renaming sections based on what staff calls them, asking a group of patrons to sort book titles into groups and seeing what happens

Analytics means: stats!

like: How many patrons recommended a book to us this month? How many book groups did we host? How many patrons asked where the new DVDs are?

UX questions you can apply to anything:

Who is this for?What problem does it solve for them?How do we know they need it?How do they access it?How can we test this?

Core UX ideas anyone can use in their work:

Strive for alignment.Question your assumptions.Work small.

Only research/test things that support specific decisions. People want what they want, not what you want.

Okay, but what does this look like in real life?

Recap!-Strive for alignment.

-Question your assumptions.-Work small.

-Only research/test things that support specific decisions. -Remember people want what they want, not what you want.

Just Enough Research by Erika Hall

The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane

Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience by Jeff Gothelf with Josh Seiden

Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems by Steve Krug

Read more …

Useful, Usable, Desirable: Applying User Experience Design to Your Library by Aaron Schmidt and Amanda Etches

UK Government Digital Service Design Principles: https://www.gov.uk/design-principles

And more …

Thank you!What questions do you have?

Annabelle Mortensenamortensen@skokielibrary.info

Stephanie Andersonsanderson@darienlibrary.org

Steal This UX: Improving Your Collection With Content Strategy and User Research