Short-Term Goals (6 months) - Analysis on Oct. 14

(See also the UX Systemwide Assessment 2011 for FY11.)

Virtual Site
  1. Create more intuitive connections between our varied collections and services
    • implement SFX buttons in Barton [done!]
    • improve SFX menu
  2. Search tools: make it easier for our users to understand which are best to use when. (Systemwide UX objective: Improve the Vera interface to help students find and use more and better resources to inform their library research.)
    • mockup new Vera design from heuristic tests
  3. Gather more WordPress expertise
    • establish best practices: UIG group meetings, hire outside expertise and/or involve Wendy
Marketing
  1. Make it easier for staff to market library services and events.
    1. The marketing team will develop a process that will allow staff to promote services and events to the MIT community easily.
  2. Identify and assess new and existing communication channels to reach our target audiences.
  3. Identify appropriate method(s) of communication for different user groups.
Space
  1. Build a working inventory of spaces (Systemwide UX objective: Gather baseline data about how our spaces are currently being used and how well they meet our users' needs.) including:
    • types of space, computing, group study, quiet study, etc. 
    • immediate needs of space
    • ideas for possible improvements
    • a brief history of past renovations
  2. Identify possible space collaborations on campus. 
    • think about our spaces more holistically
    • examine the interplay between our spaces and adjoining spaces. 
    • this could involve outside services in our spaces
  3. Enable users to be more confident and self-sufficient when using our physical spaces.  This may come through incorporating the virtual and physical worlds or through usability testing of our physical spaces.  
UX Assessment
  1. Assess our physical spaces for good usability.
    • See all of spaces section above.
    • The Patron-for-a-Day (PFAD) project is a good start on this.
    • The user needs study planned for Feb/Mar/Apr likely will encompass physical space needs.
    • Objectives in the systemwide assessment do include user needs analysis for physical spaces. Specifically:
      • ID&LA (plus others) objective: Evaluate user behaviors to inform space programming.
      • ID&LA/CSM objective: Realign the role and locations of tangible collections in our facilities.
      • plus our own, listed above
  2. Use our web statistics to learn more about how our tools/sites are currently used.
    • Examine SFX and Web of Science for what their reports offer. Share info with CSM.
    • Evaluate other programs (Google Analytics, heat mapping, etc.)
  3. Demo to staff how to effectively use qualitative data
    • Qualitative data includes stories, results of interviews and focus groups, studies of groups that are too small to be representative. Quantitative is numerical data.
    • Lisa H. may attend a week-long program in March that includes analysis of qualitative data. She will bring back to UX what she learns.
    • Stephanie's training at the CLIR workshop on gathering user needs may also contribute toward this goal.
    • A concern expressed by Nicole is that people are using qualitative numbers. (For example, if 33% of 32 people behave a certain way, it is not necessarily telling. If 33% of 1000 people behave a certain way, and 1000 people is a representative sample, then we can make conclusions.)
Updates for 12/9 meeting
  • There is no acknowledgement of the anticipated user needs studies in this set of goals. Add a goal to UX Assessment?
  • The systemwide objective, "Make recommendations about which services to discontinue (graveyard), based on what we've learned about user needs from current and past studies," is not logically represented in our goals, but should be. Incorporate that into the user needs studies goal?
  • I'd like to eliminate the UX Assessment goal #1 above, and incorporate it into the Space section, and eliminate the qualitative data goal for this short-term, and instead add the user needs studies goals. (-Lisa)

Goals (6 months) - Brainstorm on Sept. 8

* = a vote by a UX team member for an important goal

Virtual Sites 
      - Get more of our content into a CMS (content management system)
*     - Gather more Wordpress expertise
*** - Create more intuitive connections between our varied collections and services
*     - Experiment with mashups of our services/collections
     - Support goals of greater MIT in celebrating 150th anniversary
     - While working on "newer & better" be sure to continually evaluate what we are doing and why we are doing it, and impact it will have.
***  - Search tools: make it easier for our users to understand which are best to use when.
     - Continue to experiment, even when you're working on big projects.

Marketing 
    - use a variety of methods to get the word out appropriately
    - develop awareness and understanding of services:
    ----- with MIT users (students/faculty)
    ----- MIT staff (admin, other services, IS&T)
    ----- MIT Libs
* * *  - Make marketing easier for staff (and therefore more effective for users)
*       - Assess appropriate method of communication for different user groups
*       - Identify new and already used communication channels to reach our audiences (may vary, depending on audience)
      - With marketing team, develop workflow/process that will allow staff to communication effectively & appropriately to get the help/assistance they need to market/promote anything.
- Integrate w/community to see marketing effects from their perspective

Space 
** - build working inventory of spaces, needs, possible improvements, and brief history of past renovations
** - begin thinking/building relationships with other MIT depts. for possible collaborarion/idea creation/planning for future.
* - student space design competition for ideas and money to implement in experimental space
- work to blend virtual & physical worlds

** - provide variety/versatility of space types for different needs

*** - make users confident/self-sufficient, for easy tasks at least
*** - identify basic needs of each space (for improvement)
** - think about spaces more holistically as well as the interplay between our spaces and adjoining spaces

UX Assessment 
** - identify user needs in virtual spaces
*** - demo to staff how to effectively use qualitative data
*** - use our web stats to learn more about how our tools/sites are currently used
**** - assess our physical spaces for good usability
- assess virtual spaces for good usability, including mobile

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