Library App Re-design

Improving the library going experience through service design

Duration 2 months

Team Solo designer

Tools Mural, Figma, Procreate, Maze, Otter AI

Skills Strategy, Research, UI, Prototyping, Testing

Challenge Examine current physical and digital systems to identify areas for improvement while integrating user feedback gathered from contextual interviews to improve independence in navigating existing resources.

Solution A web app for the library that allows people make suggestions for repairs, easily browse events in their community, and find new books.

Background

The Austin Public Library is thriving, but one branch, Willie Mae Library, receives notably less foot traffic than its sister branches despite its proximity to downtown Austin. This branch is in disrepair and often has to request loans from other libraries, as less inventory is returned to this branch.

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At the Willie Mae Library for contextual inquiry

Research

9 contextual interviews with library-goers and a librarian to better understand the pits and peaks of the library experience.

Library goers reported they had a hard time checking out and holding books online due to confusing navigation options, but they all reported they preferred just asking a librarian for help upon entry.

Navigating digital resources was an issue but it wasn’t the main complaint.

“The library is not that clean, and there's often this smell...I would stay in there longer probably if it was nicer.”

-Library user

“I feel like a library can be a great place for community, for older adults, maybe classes, lectures, information, but they don't do that, and I wish they did.”

-Library user

“We can't replace things on our own unless it's dangerous. It takes something, a complaint from a customer. It's frustrating...I mean, I know how this place looks."

-Dave, Librarian

Complaint card

The library was in disrepair, people weren’t staying long enough to complete complaint cards, and because nobody was filling out complaint cards, the library was remaining inhospitable. The lack of time spent inside the library led people to miss out on events that were happening, causing poor turn out, and fewer events moving forward, further limiting opportunities for community.

Synthesis

I didn’t want to leave the issue of digital sprawl behind, but I felt the new pain of making arriving at the library a peak rather than a pitfall, by designing a solution increased feelings of community and welcoming.

Mapping interactions of users with different systems in the library

Understanding the breakdowns when checking out a book

A quick comparative analysis of other book lending and reading services showed that the current library’s UI choices differ from expected and common layouts for book rental and purchasing systems, to be intuitive for most users.

Understanding the competition

Solution

An app redesign that improves the library web app experience and integrates analogue library features like community events and complaint cards to increase the autonomy, feelings of community, and confidence of library users

Vignette of solution in action

Testing

I used guerilla moderated testing on a low fidelity, paper prototype to optimize menu options and icon locations for user needs, then incorporated user feedback into a high fidelity digital prototype.

Early iterations of screens for guerilla usability testing

Users showing me exactly where they want icons on the prototype

Synthesizing usability feedback

Findings:

1. Users wanted a clean, and concise homepage

2. Language of some menu options was unclear and led to users getting lost

3. Users didn't want to search for the search bar

Adjusting for feedback

Homepage

Searching for books

Prototypes

Searching and adding events

Suggesting a broken chair should be fixed at Willie Mae

Search and check out a book at Willie Mae

A second round of unmoderated, round of usability testing was completed with a higher fidelity prototype on Maze, with 32 participants using:

Polls
Open-ended questions
Analyzing areas of interest

Each flow maintained a success rate over 80%. users reported confusion over language and locations of certain features.

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Users confused by filtering for "Save Event" flow

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Users expected the search bar to search the app

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Though there were no misclicks, users reported "Suggestion" language was confusing when filing a complaint

Outcomes

Users provided valuable feedback that would be integrated moving forward, to curate a more intuitive experience for people of all ages and for all uses:

Users appreciated:

High contrast
"Cheery" aesthetic
The reporting feature
"Uncluttered screens"

Opportunities for Improvements

Permit search for events in main page search bar
Change the language of the "Suggestion" flow
Re-organize the menu bar and hamburger menu to more closely resemble expectations
Create a typing/tag system for "Suggestions" rather than a scroll function

Reflections

I set out to create an app so easy and accessible to use, it would appeal to users of all ages, much like the library should. If I were to continue working on this project, I would complete a card sort to improve menu flows, a survey to test language with users, and conduct further testing of a low-fidelity, MVP. I would also continue to work more closely to the library to discover how we might incorporate lower technology, system changes that could be more easily integrated into their current systems.

Bench at Willie Mae Library

Miranda Capezzuto