Useful, Usable, Desirable: Applying User Experience Design to Your Library

Aaron Schmidt and Amanda Etches

ISBN-13: 9780838912263

216 pages • 6 x 9
Year Published: 2014

Useful, useable, desirable: like three legs of a stool, if your library is missing the mark on any one of these it’s bound to wobble. Every decision you make affects how people experience your library. In this useful primer, user experience (UX) librarians Schmidt and Etches identify 19 crucial touchpoints such as the library website, email, furniture, parking lot, events, and newsletters. They explain why each is important to your library’s members and offer guidance on how to make improvements. From library administrators to public relations and marketing staff, anyone concerned with how members experience your library will benefit from this book’s

• Coverage of the eight principles of library UX design, explaining how they can guide you to better serve your library's members
• Advice on simple, structured ways to evaluate and improve aspects such as physical space, service points, policies and customer service, signage and wayfinding, online presence, and using the library
• Scorecard system for self evaluation, which includes methods for determining how much time, effort, and skill will be involved in getting optimum performance

Easy to dip into as the need arises, this book points the way towards ensuring that your library is a welcoming space for everyone.