EDITOR'S NOTES
Giving Users a Say
by Dick Kaser
When we use terms such as “usability” and “user experience” when discussing library website designs and discovery systems, what we are actually saying is that users, patrons, and students should have a say in the design of the interfaces that exist to guide them in their intellectual pursuits.
As the authors from the University of Georgia’s Alexander Campbell King Law Library observe in their case study, not all users are alike and do not necessarily approach search with the same level of understanding about what lies behind the search boxes or how best to get to it. In the past, we might have tried to teach them, but today, we have the ability to guide them in real time, if we just take into consideration how they see the interface.
Brittany Richardson, web services librarian at the University of Tennessee–Chattanooga, describes her experience trying to solve what has become an age-old problem: how to get students to use databases—indeed, how to let them know the option is even there. You will be surprised at what a couple of tweaks in the web design can do.
From Ohio State University Libraries, authors Mary Beth Snapp and Michelle Henley tell how they have embraced user experience concepts and methodologies in the process of overhauling their entire library services platform and discovery layer.
Listening to the user is a great start in making system improvements. But as Cal LaFountain reminds us, the discovery systems of the future may also need to take into account the actual voice of the user who may wish to speak to the system rather than click.
Discovery and the user experience is a big topic that a single issue cannot possibly cover in depth. To learn more, I would encourage you to attend the upcoming Computers in Libraries conference, where this is a core topic on the agenda.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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