What Public Library Users Want and How to Deliver It

on Your Website

Nina McHaleArapahoe Library District

LITA Forum 2012Slides available: slideshare.net/ninermac

THE NEW LIBRARY WEBSITE IS COMING

Why all the Doom & Gloom?

• Bad past experiences with web launches• Poor communication/no chance for input• Changes made reactively to complaints• Development decisions and processes not

data-driven• Design/build choices were not user-centric*

*Staff are users, too!

Agenda

• The Status Quo• The January Survey• The Five Things• The Design/Build Process• The Paper Prototyping• The Present

The Status Quo

• arapahoelibraries.org• Heavily modified Drupal 6 site that staff hated• Uses the Drupal Millennium module to import

MARC records from our III catalog to create a second, e-commerce-like “web” catalog

• Unstable server environment• Some ideas for patron improvements:– Make search more prominent– Feature social media presences more

SIERRA IS COMING

The January Survey

• Adapted from a study conducted by fellow LITAn Christopher Evjy, Web Manager at Jefferson County (Colorado) Libraries

• Included two versions:– 10 questions for patrons– 7 questions for staff

• Not focused on the specifics of the current iteration of the site, but more what users do—and want to do—with it.

The January Survey: Patron Questions, 1/2

1. How often do you visit the District’s web site?

2. Where are you when you use the web site?

3. How often do you use your phone or mobile device to access the site?

4. I most often use the library web site to:

5. I also use the web site to:

6. What do you have trouble finding on the web site?

WE JUST SENT OUR PROPOSAL TO THE IRB

The January Survey:Patron Questions, 2/2

7. What’s one thing you would love to see on our

web site that we don’t have?

8. Are there any emerging trends in our community or beyond that the Library web site

should try to support?

9. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about our web site?

10. How old are you?

The January Survey: Staff Questions, 1/2

1. For our patrons, what’s the most useful thing on the web site?

2. What’s the most useful thing YOU use?

3. What are the top problems patrons have on the

site?

4. What are the top problems YOU have?

5. How could the site support your work better?

The January Survey: Staff Questions, 2/2

6. If you could change one thing about arapahoelibraries.org, what would it be?

7. What is going on at ALD or in the communities we serve that is under our radar— interesting or valuable—that the library should

try to support?

Processing the Results

• 354 patron results; 59(~/315) staff results• Print responses in English keyed into Survey

Monkey;• Spanish and Russian responses translated and

entered;• Categorized open-ended results: “account,”

“search,” etc.• Distilled categorized results via a group

discussion into five priorities for a new site

Patron Question 1: Responses

• How often do you visit the District’s web site?

Patron Question 2: Responses

• Where are you when you use the web site?

Patron Question 3: Responses

• How often do you use your phone/mobile device to visit arapahoelibraries.org?

Patron Question 10: Responses

• How old are you?

Patron Question 4: Responses(Primary Purpose)

• 55% use the web site to perform account-related activity

• 41% use the site to search for items• 8% use the site to access downloadable items• 6% use the site for readers advisory• 4% use the site for research• 2% use the site to find information about

programming and events

Patron Question 5: Responses(Secondary Purpose)

• 32% use the web site to perform account-related activity

• 26% use the site to search for items• 12% use the site for readers advisory• 11% use the site to find information about

programming and events• 11% use the site for research• 8% use the site to access downloadable items

Staff Question 1: Responses

• What’s the most important thing for our patrons?– 28% account features– 18% catalog/classic catalog– 18% ebooks/downloadables– 13% search– 5% information– 3% programming and events

Staff Question 2: Responses

• What’s the most important thing YOU use?– 40% catalog/classic catalog– 35% ebooks/downloadables– 11% databases– 10% readers’ advisory– 8% information– 6% programming

Staff Questions 3&4: Responses

• What problems do patrons have?– 27% catalog/classic catalog– 23% ebooks/downloadables

• What problems do YOU have?– 28% catalog/classic catalog– 22% ebooks/downloadables– 18% search– 15% site speed/performance– 8% cart/book bag

Staff Questions 5&6: Responses

• How could the site support your work better?– 18% “ok as is”– 14% improved search– 12% improved speed/performance– 12% visibility of X

• If you could change one thing…– 13% ebooks/downloadables– 11% catalog/classic catalog– 11% visibility of X– 9% “nothing,” “no suggestions”

The Five Things

• Rebuild the web site as a portal to the catalog, not web site-based discovery layer;

• Improve the III account experience;• Improve search function;• Keep exploring and expanding readers’

advisory opportunities;• Reconsider content refresh intervals of content

for web team workflow.

1. Rebuilding as a Portal

• Staff considerations: location information is NOT included in the current web site

• Catalog screens need updating (twice!) prior to Sierra, and this may well break the current site.

• Isn’t this a step backwards?!– Don’t be discouraged from trying this approach if

you have the resources!– Possibility of III’s Encore in 2013

2. Improve the III Account Experience

• Part of the rationale for creating the Drupal-based “web catalog” (with a “cart”) was what felt to be a poor user account experience in the III OPAC;

• As in the first “thing” above, the high frequency of responses in which users indicated account activity—renew books, view checkouts, etc.—made optimizing the III account functions, to include adding a link (or other integration, as much as possible) to user Overdrive accounts a priority.

3. Improve Search Function, 1/2

• On legacy site, the search box is in the upper right and very small

• After “account”-related responses, “search”-related responses were the most common from patrons (44%).

• This also corroborates anecdotal evidence about making the search box more prominent and centralized.

• Using embedded <form> code from the III system, an improved search that does not use screen scraping to present results, can be achieved.

3. Improve Search Function, 2/2

• Inspiration for an improved search came from the Columbus Metropolitan Library:

www.columbuslibrary.org

4. Readers’ Advisory Opportunities

• “Readers’ advisory” was categorized in the survey results as any mention by patrons of “browsing” or use of the word “new.”

• It came in fourth, after “account,” “search,” and “downloadables.”

• Two Drupal module options:–Millennium: to pull/feature items from III– Goodreads: to pull/feature ALD librarian reviews

5. Reconsider Content Refresh Intervals

• Any site improvements should consider streamlining and simplifying workflow for those who spend most of their work hours on it

• The first question—how often do you visit the library’s web site?—suggests that Web Team members could perhaps update content less frequently (as just over half of users indicated that they accessed the site one per week).

The Design/Build Process:Drupal Decisions

• Responsive build using an Omega subtheme, (complements existing Boopsie app)

• Key modules:–Millennium: sto import MARC records as nodes,

just not THE ENTIRE catalog– Evanced Importer: pulls events in as nodes– Dynamic Display Block: for home page slides– ShareThis: for social media integration

The Design/Build Process:Responsive Web Design

http://designmodo.com/responsive-design-examples/

The Paper Prototyping

• Working with our graphic designer in communications, we developed a paper prototype for usability testing;

• In spite of layout similarities, a marked change in site architecture was occurring;

• The design was to be “an evolution, not a revolution,” with a very similar overall structure/layout.

The Paper Prototyping: 7 Questions

• How would you renew your library materials?• How would you search for and reserve the movie The

Lorax?• How would you find what to read next?• What would you expect to see if you clicked the Books

button (and Movies, Music, Downloads)• What would you expect to see if you clicked on a slide?• How often do you visit our website?• What do you have trouble finding or doing on our

website?

The Paper Prototyping: What We Discovered

• People expected the Books/Movies/Music/Downloads bar to act as a search filter because of its proximity to the search;

• People read the slideshow of library programming and events as ad space because it has no context within the rest of the page/design;

• Only one person saw the user account log in box; everyone else went to the link in the upper right.

Revision Ideas, 1/3

• Since patrons expected tabs to filter by search type, they will!

• Barnes & Nobles’ site search:

• Main site navigation UNDER search box• Adding dropdowns to search for quicker

access to branch, class, research/database info

Revision Ideas, 2/3

• Add calls to action to programming/events slides;

• Use a section header with a catchy label to anchor it within the rest of the design;

• Set a specific template to the slide area content to categorize what type of “thing” it was (author event, featured resource, program)

Revision Ideas, 3/3

• Patrons expected the log in to be in the upper right, and it was—kinda…a link, anyway

• Moving/embedding the form elements for the III patroninfo (log in) page:– Matched their expectations – AND satisfied Thing 2 (improve account

experience)

Adding the Human Element, 1/2

• Getting help: – In one usability session, a person answered the

question, “Well, I guess I’d call the library”—but then couldn’t find any contact info.

– The account info box was replaced with a feature for the “Answer Squad.”

– Features phone, text, tweet methods to get in touch with a person.

Adding the Human Element, 2/2

• Reconsidering featured books for the home page carousel:– Consultant: “It looks like these were machine-

selected.”– We needed to develop a rationale as to WHY those

items were featured;– Internet (content) librarians spend a lot of time and

effort on featuring this content (loading cover images);– The only thing that patrons can do is put themselves

on a waitlist.

The Present

• Launch date: November 4th

• Communications plan:– Advertising changes in advance– Language for responding to negative criticism,

external AND internal– Sharing our research methods and results

• Post launch usability:– In-person testing in branches– Tracking kudos and criticisms

TIME TO BUY SKI PASSES

Questions? Comments?

Nina McHaleninermac.net@ninermac