An overview of User Experience techniques. No longer just web usability testing, there's a new much more human movement in UX. This presentation outlines the key components, with examples: ethnography, and human-centred design.

1. AND HOW CAN IT HELP YOUR ORGANISATION?
WHAT IS UX

2. INTRODUCTION: A UX PRIMER

3. In recent years the User
Experience in Libraries
movement (UX) has
spread from the US and
Scandinavia to the UK

4. Traditionally ‘UX’ has referred
largely to web usability testing; but
there is a very physical, human
dimension to it which the library
movement has focused on

5. UX has
become an
IBRARIANSHI
PUMBRELLA
term to
cover a
suite of
techniques
that can be
divided
roughly into
two parts:
ethnography
and design

6. SIMPLY PUT
Ethnographic techniques and observation lead to a
deeper and more complex understanding of user
needs and behaviour than traditional data gather
methods normally allow. (Examples follow)

7. Simply put,
HUMAN CENTRED
D
E
S
I
G
N
prioritises the end user, their
needs, and their behaviour, at
every stage of the design
process, with an aim to making
several small changes to
improve the user experience…

8. UX
is
not

9. UX
is
not

12. Libraries are
using UX to
make an
IMPACT on
their users’ day
to day lives

13. It’s not that quantitative user
data isn’t useful; it’s that
qualitative user data can be
incredibly rich, and can help
supplement what we
already have. But how?

14. PART ONE: ETHNOGRAPHY

16. 6 KEY ETHNOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES
Observation / Behavioural Mapping
Unstructured and Semi-Structured
Interviews
Cognitive Mapping
Touchstone Tours
Love Letters / Breakup Letters
Cultural Probes

17. 1. Observation / Behavioural Mapping
Note your users as
they move through and
interact with the library
space.

18. 1. Observation / Behavioural Mapping
Note your users as
they move through and
interact with the library
space.
What are
their paths?
What do they
see? What
do they use?
What do they
ignore?

19. 1. Observation / Behavioural Mapping

20. 2. Unstructured / Semi-Structured Interviews
Interview your subject about
their working LIFE, not just
the library. Ask open
questions, based on what
they’re saying rather than
based on a pre-prepared list.
For example ask not ‘what
e-resources do you use?’
but ‘what’s your process
when you’re set an
assignment?’

21. 3. Cognitive Maps
A brilliant jumping off point for the
interview is the Cognitive Map. Ask
your subject to draw a map from
memory – of the library, or of their
research process, or of completing
an assignment.
They have 6 minutes to do this,
changing colour of pen every
2 minutes.

22. 3. Cognitive Maps
Note what they put down first,
what’s a last minute addition, what
they leave out entirely. You can
code this later.
Then to introduce the unstructured
or semi-structured interview, ask
them to talk you through their
map. Use what they tell you
to inform your questions.

23. 3. Cognitive Maps

24. 3. Cognitive Maps

25. 3. Cognitive Maps

26. 4. Touchstone Tours
Rather than showing your users around, let them
take YOU on a tour of the library (and record
what they say). Does their understanding of
processes, systems and the space match your
expectations?

27. 5. Love Letters / Break-up Letters
Ask
your users
to write a letter
to a library service
(NOT a librarian!) –
either professing their love
for, or breaking up with, that
service. This seems very
gimmicky and won’t work with
everyone, but when it does work it
really allows you to understand the
emotion engendered by the user
experiences

28. 6. Cultural Probes
Give your users the
tools they need to take
ethnography home with
them – diary studies, a
voice recorder, the chance
to take pictures…
Encourage them to record
feelings, events and
interactions.

29. These methods for
feedback gathering
tend to reveal very in-
depth and varied
views, feelings and
experiences

30. The key is not to get stuck on
the ethnography phase – the next step
is to design changes to your service
based on what you’ve learned.

31. PART TWO: DESIGN

32. The aim is to tweak the
service to make the user
experience better. This may
mean a small number of large
changes – you never know
what the data will tell you –
but most often this will mean a
large number of small changes
that positively influence the
user day to day

33. The Design Thinking process first defines the
problem and then implements the solutions,
always with the needs of the user demographic at
the core of concept development. This process
focuses on needfinding, understanding, creating,
thinking, and doing. At the core of this process is
a bias towards action and creation: by creating
and testing something, you can continue to learn
and improve upon your initial ideas.
“
Stanford Design School

34. (In other words: it’s iterative.
Rather than saving up your
design tweaks for one huge
change, go for a rapid-
prototyping model…)

35. Make changes
early and often,
monitor your users’
responses, and
don’t be afraid
to fail.
Just make sure
you record and
learn from
failure

36. Perhaps it’s better to make something self-
righting than to aim for perfection. Can your
users find their own way out of difficulties?

37. Use design techniques to help structure your thinking
Examples courtesy of
Modern Human

38. So there’s a
whistle-stop
tour of UX,
ethnography
and design. Try
it out at your
library and see
what you learn.

39. GOOD LUCK!
So there’s a
whistle-stop
tour of UX,
ethnography
and design. Try
it out at your
library and see
what you learn.

40. PHOTO CREDITS

41. PHOTO CREDITS
All photos are CC0 (sourced via
Pixabay & Pexels) except the
Touchstone Tour pic, courtesy of
Georgina Cronin, and the Modern
Human design cards, taken by me.

42. READ MORE ABOUT UX

43. READ MORE ABOUT UX
UX at the University of York Library
libinnovation.blogspot.co.uk
a structured reading list: ned-potter.com
chat to me on twitter: @ned_potter

44. READ MORE ABOUT UX
UX at the University of York Library
libinnovation.blogspot.co.uk
a structured reading list: ned-potter.com
chat to me on twitter: @ned_potter
THANKS FOR WATCHING!