The application of user experience (UX) in libraries seems to have become really popular recently and there are and more examples of UX library projects that have resulted in service developments and improvements, or which have had a positive impact on user experience.
In a library and information setting, ethnography provides a way of studying cultures through observation, participation and other qualitative techniques with a view to better understanding the subject’s point of view and experience of the world. UX in libraries effectively makes use of these ethnographic approaches in order to see how library users actually use the resources, services and spaces provided by the library, which in turn can contribute to service improvement and development. UX goes beyond the quantitative measures with a view to obtaining a more illuminating and complex picture of user behavior and user need.
The presentation will illustrate some of the techniques and benefits from using UX approaches and will focus on some initiatives from the UK Higher Education sector to do so. A specific case study of a large scale UX project at the University of the Arts London will be presented in order to demonstrate how a mixed methodology was developed and implemented across all 6 UAL college libraries and learning zones in order to inform library developments with a particular focus on student behaviors and use of spaces.
Leo Appleton is Associate Director of Library Services at University of the Arts London and is responsible for all service management and delivery at the university’s six college libraries. His areas of responsibility include user services, academic liaison services and IT support.
He has worked in a number of universities and FE colleges where he has managed a number of services including libraries, IT Support, student administration and e-learning development. Leo is a chartered fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and has currently the honorary chair of the Multimedia, Information and Technology group (MmIT). He is the co-editor of UKSG eNews and associate editor of the New Review of Academic Librarianship. He has presented and published widely on several LIS areas but in particular Performance measurement in libraries, Space planning and User Experience and on the development and embedding of electronic library collections.