UX Planning for Iteration: Valdosta State UniversityJeff GallantLaura Wright

Odum Library @ VSU Approx. 11,000 FTE (peaked at 13,000 in 2011) University System of Georgia institution, Comprehensive classification Member of GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library Current staffing: 18 faculty 7 Reference Librarians (1 is a 1-year temporary hire) Staff 26 Previously Historically 8 reference librarians, up to 9 reference

librarians in 2013

2010, Original Plan: Jeff arrived in 2010 and saw the original library website redesign and testing plan: Alternating years: 1) Usability Study 2) Redesign

Timeline 2007 Redesign, Move from books.valdosta.edu to

valdosta.edu/library 2008 Focus Groups, fall 2009 Redesign 2010 One-on-One Usability, Fall Website Survey (Automated Services)

Before 2008: books.valdosta.edu

2008 Website: library.valdosta.edu

2009 Redesign

2010 Testing: Only small changes… -Making library hours more up-front -Making library search box more clear that it’s a website search, not an article search

Should we redesign after 2010? Usability study did not suggest a full redesign, just minor changes Made those changes and reconsidered the redesign/usability study plan

New plan for 2011: UX Testing Every Year 1) At least one user experience test per year, formal one-on-one usability studies and focus groups

Integrate Camtasia recording of all tests External test administrators only – Office of Employee and

Organizational Development 2) Make changes based on tests each year 3) Redesign when needed (library only – IT redesigns would change this)

4) From “Usability” to “UX,” focus on both usability (one-on-one) and usefulness (focus groups, etc.)

Testing Timeline with Plan for Iteration 2011 Focus groups, Fall Due to focus groups, prototyping begins 2012 Focus groups, Spring (on prototype web redesign) 2013 No testing because of major IT redesign of institutional

website 2014 One-on-One Usability Testing, Fall (on new and current

website)

2011 Testing: Tastes changing Users saw the crowded boxes as useful, but not clear Looking at a visual redesign without much change to the information architecture Moving from skeuomorphic to flat Eliminate “tabs within boxes within another box within a frame” and free up space Prototyping begins

2011: Prototype 1

2012: Prototype 2

2012: Prototype 2 Focus Test Structure was appreciated Colors were not appreciated – one participant used “Preschool” to describe

-VSU is red and white, GALILEO is blue, made this difficult Fonts too large, too old-looking

2012: Prototype 3

2013: Two big changes happened! 1) IT full site redesign with consultants 2) GALILEO adopts EBSCO Discovery

Our decision… 1) Work with IT on new library website with the yearly UX data and lessons learned “Citable” evidence to support library needs on

the page Responsive design for mobile 2) Integrate new GALILEO Discover search bar as featured tool

2014: Usability Testing of New SiteLibrary hours needed even more coverageAnywhere Access was important, needed to be clearerFinding the “GALILEO Password” still importantGALILEO added Advanced Search

Challenges Changes in personnel and responsibilities Lesson learned: Assign responsibility for UX

testing to one person Figuring out what to test Especially true with focus groups Recruiting participants Working with IT

Recommendations Assign responsibility for UX testing coordination to a specific person Partner with outside office on campus to administrate tests Advertise extensively and request RSVPs Guaranteed incentive for all participants (pizza and $5 gift card) Solicited input from librarians and staff before and after testing Share and discuss results with librarians and staff, after testing and as you implement redesigns (small and large) Working relationship with IT