Proposal Title
From Dandelion Seed to Cottage Garden: The Transformation of User Experience in the MSU Libraries
Presentation Type
Presentation (20 minutes)
Presentation Theme
Develop a forward-thinking organizational culture
Start Date
11-8-2015 10:00 AM
End Date
11-8-2015 11:00 AM
Description
The user experience movement is gaining momentum in public and academic libraries. While it is not a new phenomenon, its adoption and adaptation into a library’s organizational culture can bring unexpected challenges. In June 2014, the MSU Libraries created a User Experience (UX) unit in the Public Services division and in a short time, has established a solid and reputable team of UX practitioners. This success, however, was not achieved overnight.
The transformation of user experience at the MSU Libraries began as a solo effort of one librarian who understood the importance of assessment practices in library services. Through planting seeds, sharing results and advocating for a culture of “talking (and listening) to the users,” buy-in from library administrators was achieved, morphing the solo effort into a formal collaboration of local expertise.
Forming the UX unit was easy, but adapting to this organizational change did produce some challenges. Most of the work in UX is team-oriented and project-based, so it was understandable that unit members struggled to define their individual roles in the unit and the unit’s role in the organization. To guide the unit forward through these growing pains, the Head of UX (who was also addressing growing pains as a new supervisor and manager) planned an in-house retreat as a means to give the unit members an opportunity to meet as a whole in order to better understand each other as UX professionals. During the retreat, the unit conducted a skills audit and a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, and through animated, and at times, passionate discussion, arrived at a shared vision for the unit. Through these activities, unit members gained respect for each other’s skills, defined a mission statement, developed work flows, and outlined action steps for the unit. As a result, the UX unit now functions as a productive, collaborative, synergistic change agent, holistically integrating user experience into all services at the MSU Libraries.
Included in
From Dandelion Seed to Cottage Garden: The Transformation of User Experience in the MSU Libraries
The user experience movement is gaining momentum in public and academic libraries. While it is not a new phenomenon, its adoption and adaptation into a library’s organizational culture can bring unexpected challenges. In June 2014, the MSU Libraries created a User Experience (UX) unit in the Public Services division and in a short time, has established a solid and reputable team of UX practitioners. This success, however, was not achieved overnight.
The transformation of user experience at the MSU Libraries began as a solo effort of one librarian who understood the importance of assessment practices in library services. Through planting seeds, sharing results and advocating for a culture of “talking (and listening) to the users,” buy-in from library administrators was achieved, morphing the solo effort into a formal collaboration of local expertise.
Forming the UX unit was easy, but adapting to this organizational change did produce some challenges. Most of the work in UX is team-oriented and project-based, so it was understandable that unit members struggled to define their individual roles in the unit and the unit’s role in the organization. To guide the unit forward through these growing pains, the Head of UX (who was also addressing growing pains as a new supervisor and manager) planned an in-house retreat as a means to give the unit members an opportunity to meet as a whole in order to better understand each other as UX professionals. During the retreat, the unit conducted a skills audit and a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, and through animated, and at times, passionate discussion, arrived at a shared vision for the unit. Through these activities, unit members gained respect for each other’s skills, defined a mission statement, developed work flows, and outlined action steps for the unit. As a result, the UX unit now functions as a productive, collaborative, synergistic change agent, holistically integrating user experience into all services at the MSU Libraries.
