User Experience in Libraries

How much do you really know about the user experience of your library spaces and services? Do you observe and record your users' behaviour? Do you gather as much qualitative data as quantitative? Are you engaged in user research beyond traditional surveys? In recent years there has been a growing interest in building a more complete picture of user experience, or UX. Following the lead of anthropologists and designers, librarians are now employing ethnographic and human-centred design techniques to explore how our users are interacting with library services. These methods involve us observing our users, participating in their environments and recording their choices, activities and culture in a more holistic and detailed way than ever before. They can help us to establish needs that users either do not articulate, find it difficult to describe, are unwilling to disclose, or don't even know that they have, and design or modify library services accordingly. This volume, which incorporates contributions from librarians, anthropologists and designers from the UK and the US, offers guidance, analysis and case studies of UX research and seeks to ignite interest and enthusiasm in this emerging and game-changing field that has the potential to make a significant impact on the way librarians currently deliver services. The book's editors, who were behind the inaugural UX in Libraries conference held at Cambridge University, set out a broad definition of UX which moves beyond its application to digital services, to incorporate library services and spaces too. They demonstrate how user experience research can be conducted on a large or small scale, and how these methods encourage us to consider our libraries as part of a wider learning landscape.