The document advocates for libraries to conduct user experience (UX) research to better understand user needs and behaviors. It notes that traditional surveys are limited and don't capture real user experiences. The author details several UX research projects they conducted at Cambridge University Library that identified unmet user needs and led to new services. The document argues that UX research provides richer insights than surveys, helps create services that users want, and that libraries should "just do it" to learn directly from users.

1. User Experience Research: ‘Just do it!’
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Priestner
Cambridge University Library
Andy Priestner Training & Consulting

2. Travelled 40,000 miles in the past 2 weeks.
And whenever I travel I am plagued by truly
awful user experiences of services.
And yet… apart from some terrible emailed
surveys I have not once been asked about any
of the services I have used.
Represents a massive missed opportunity.

4. https://flic.kr/p/rkdtcT
My ‘Road to Damascus’ moment…
I had discovered methods that revealed the real experience of my users and
wanted to share them with other librarians.

5. User Experience is everything
that happens to your users when
they interact with your service in
any way (physically or remotely)
It includes everything they see,
everything they hear, everything
they do, as well as their
emotional reactions
Crucially its about examining
behaviours as well as needs
It is definitely not just about
asking people about their needs…
https://flic.kr/p/fuGmBy

6. “If I had asked
people what they
wanted, they
would have said
a faster horse.”
HENRY FORD

7. “It's not the consumers’job
to know what they want”
STEVE JOBS

8. We are very poor at
predicting our future
behaviour and at
knowing what services
or products we will
end up using
If someone had told me a few
years ago that I would send
most of my emails via my iPad
or iPhone I would not have
believed them

9. Household energy conservation study (Wes Schultz and Robert Cialdini)
Which of the following messages would persuade householders to conserve energy?
1. You will be helping the environment
2. You are protecting future generations
3. You will save money
4. Your neighbours are already conserving energy
Meter readings were taken after
householders received each
message

10. After all the messages had been relayed, householders said the least persuasive was…
4. the fact that their neighbours were already conserving energy
However meter readings showed this message to be
the MOST effective in changing behavior

11. It would appear that it is also not the
consumers’ job to reliably know
how they behave

12. And yet, in libraries we are constantly asking our users: “How we can improve the
services we offer?” and whether they will use new services…
Are we wasting our time?
I would argue that we are.

13. We are regularly asking our users what they think and what we can do to make our services
better – and this tends to ONLY be through surveys and focus groups.
How do they react to these questions?
https://flic.kr/p/57H7r4

14. What we ask
How would you rate the library?
How would you rate library staff?
What library service need to be improved?
Would you use the new ‘X’ service?
Have you got any other comments?
Library survey responses translated…
Score
9
8.5
What they say:
‘It’s good’
‘They’re really nice’
‘More books‘
‘No’
<Blank>
What they may be thinking:
They’re nice I don’t want to upset them
I’m not sure what they do beyond shelving
I can’t think how else to answer that question
I don’t think I’d use that
I don’t really think about the library
https://flic.kr/p/8Frrtm

15. “Users don’t think about
libraries all that much. They
use them but they don’t think
about them. They have got
much more interesting things
to think about than how to
help us improve our
services”
Andy Priestner

16.  What are the main problems with surveys?
https://flic.kr/p/brnnFP
• only reaching a percentage of users
• largely filled in by pro- or anti-library users
• mainly quant data, comment boxes left empty
• self-reporting is unreliable
• closed or leading questions
• frustrating to complete
• too many of them
• too long
I am not saying abandon surveys –
senior management will always
require them and they offer some
useful baseline statistics, but they
actually reveal very little about the
behaviour or real needs of our users.

17. https://flic.kr/p/nT2iC4
An embedded User Experience (UX)
research programme delivering new
library products and services in response
to behaviours and needs

18. ‘SPACEFINDER’
UX research and learning:
Observation, interviews, and card sorting revealed that
library users were not aware of the library spaces available
to them and that they had diverse study needs that
regularly changed.
What Futurelib did next:
Create a web-based product to help Cambridge library users
to identify study spaces inside and outside of libraries that
match their specific study and facility requirements at any
one time.
Reaction:
Rave reviews and heavy usage: ‘you might be amused to
know that the Students Union are astonished that the
University has built something so up-to-date and relevant to
student life’ – SU Welfare Rep.

19. ‘PROTOLIB’
UX research and learning:
Intensive observation and interviews in four different
environments across Cambridge – two in libraries, two
outside. Modification of the layout and furniture in the
spaces in order to reach an optimal environment for users.
What Futurelib did next:
Identified different working patterns in different
environments including a gradient of working intensity.
Recommended a better balance of different types of study
spaces across Cambridge, specifically more low and medium
intensity environments.
Reaction:
Users happier with the space options; departments
purchased furniture we recommended; architects adopted
our intensity gradient finding for their redevelopment plans
for a large site of University buildings/libraries.

20. ‘SNAPSHOT’
UX research and learning:
The creation of a cultural probe for postdocs and PhDs: a
pack of materials, including a research diary and a series of
tasks: draw a cognitive map; write a love or break-up letter
to a library space; take photographs of your study routine
and tools. We gathered a huge amount of data on routines
and behaviours.
What Futurelib did next:
Mapped all of the data in order to discover emerging
themes. Identification of the need for a service that details
library staff expertise; the need for a service which
promotes support and understanding of the University’s
statistical packages. Evidence that suggests embedded
librarian roles might be very valuable to these users.
Reaction:
Green light for a new ‘embedded librarians’ project.

21. Projects have also generated ‘quick fixes’ e.g. door stopper on the gent’s toilet, cushions for
longer stays, blankets for warmth, adding hyperlinks and buttons to websites, signage etc.
https://flic.kr/p/5UfoRG

22. BUSTING SOME UX MYTHS…
https://flic.kr/p/fTNFJk

23. Just because some methods are fun and sound a but strange, does not mean they
do not have a serious purpose. Library users find them attractive and engaging.
https://flic.kr/p/63YJkd

24. This is not about a choice between quantitative and qualitative data: it’s about
a better balance of both. The value of the latter is often ignored.

25. I’m often told that these methods are not scalable. We’ve disproved that by
producing products and approaches that are used across Cambridge University.
https://flic.kr/p/3kxfp

26. https://flic.kr/p/nPjyQr
UX research is not only about behaviours, it also involves using better methods
than librarians have used before to uncover real needs, chiefly through interview.

27. https://flic.kr/p/dKRumu
UX research is not always time-consuming. Lean projects and quick wins are
entirely possible. Select smaller samples and don’t try to be too completist.

28. UX is not a fad, nor is it going ‘out of fashion’ any time soon. How can it when it’s
about discovering the behaviours and attitudes of our users?
https://flic.kr/p/7FUbtT

29. “You don’t need to be an
expert in something to try it”
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
UX does not require you to be an expert in the field. You may wish to seek advice
on method but there is now more than enough out there to get you started.

30. User Experience research reading list: books by Aaron Schmidt and Amanda Etches;
by myself and Matt Borg; and the reports I write on Futurelib Programme projects.

31. KEY BENEFITS OF CONDUCTING UX RESEARCH…
https://flic.kr/p/fTNFJk
https://flic.kr/p/dJvgNh

32. Excellent for personal & professional development and teamwork/collaboration

33. UX can depict library as leading the way - at the forefront of innovation
https://flic.kr/p/u9DjnK

34. Better dialogue with students – UX helps to prove that we do understand them
https://flic.kr/p/oUdvHw

35. Far richer and more meaningful detail about our users and their needs
https://flic.kr/p/cXxRRb

36. UX approaches uncover complexity – accepts that the world is not black and white

37. If UX is supported at notoriously conservative Cambridge, it can succeed anywhere!
https://flic.kr/p/pUik5K

38. UX can make a real impact as it responds to real behaviours and intervenes
https://flic.kr/p/7d68ku

39. It is pragmatic, evidence-based and the goal is fuller information: therefore reliable

40. You don’t need expensive equipment.
Start watching, start listening, start recording, start learning…

41. Just do it.
https://flic.kr/p/qxiHBk

42. User Experience Research: ‘Just do it!’
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Priestner
Cambridge University Library
Andy Priestner Training & Consulting