The Background
The first time I used the Victoria University library website for requesting a book, I was disappointed by the overall experience. It was complicated and confusing. The library home page looked busy and cluttered with every element shouting for attention. The search field was hidden among all these. It took me some time to make sense of it. But, deep inside, it is a very powerful repository of physical books and eBooks, journals, research articles, databases, thesis, audio and video materials and much more.
As one of its users, I felt compelled to redesign the library home page, especially the search experience and accepted it as my academic project.
So, here it goes!!
Disclaimer: This project was an individual academic project and not sponsored by the Victoria University. Since the time I worked on this project, Victoria University has redesigned the library website homepage with a much improvised version.
What Users Were Saying: Then
Project Goal
Based on the feedback from users, I came up with the following goals:
- Re-engineer the overall experience of using the library portal by redesigning the home page by re-organising and prioritising the contents with a better focus on search
- Simplify book request
- Inform users of updates with a new notification feature
Problem Statement
Role
Client: Academic project
Role: Research, UX/UI Design, Interaction design, User testing,
Tools: Photoshop, Axure
Skills: User research, competitive analysis, affinity maps, journey maps, wireframes, interactive prototypes
Duration: 3 weeks
The Redesign Resolutions
Based on the issues and challenges gathered from user research, my final design solution addressed it with the following resolutions:
Focused search with auto-complete
The search is redefined as the primary component in the first-fold of the home page. Auto-complete feature is proposed for increasing search accuracy.
Introduced notification feature
Users can be kept informed and act upon any latest updates with the new notifications feature.
Booking study room made simple
Easy book request
Users can now request resources from the search list page itself in just two clicks. To make the process simpler and faster, location, date, and duration is pre-populated.
Categorised search results
Users get an categorised view of search results to help them narrow down resources
Chat-bot for help
Introduced a chat bot to help users with their queries, find resources and guide them to advanced features
What Users Are Saying: Now
The Solution Journey
Let’s examine the course of action I have taken to find a solution.
I started my UX journey by first defining the scope of work. I decided to focus on the user’s journey from searching for a resource from the home page till it is requested.
Understanding the Current State
To understand the user pain points and challenges faced by users in the current state, I conducted heuristics analysis and user interviews with 3 users.
Current State Analysis
Competitive Inspirations
Other University library portals revealed how search carried more focus than other elements.
User Research
There were 3 main user groups identified: undergraduates, postgraduates and staff/faculty. I defined my personas based on them. I looked for users who use the website on a regular basis and have been using it for at least 6 months.
User Insights
Here are the insights generated from the affinity mapping exercise:
Home
- Search field is hidden: The primary usage of all users’ is to perform a search. However, the search field is hidden among other elements
- The home page looks messy: With too much information, the home page looks busy and cluttered. A regular user would not want to see so much information on a daily basis
Existing Features
- Awareness of library features: There are lots of basic to advanced search features which most users are not aware of. They are looking for better onboarding and awareness.
- Inconsistent behaviour: During contextual enquiry, we experienced common features behaving inconsistently resulting in losing users’ trust
- Awareness of library features: There are lots of basic to advanced search features which most users are not aware of. They are looking for better onboarding and awareness.
Improve UI
- Inconsistent UI: The search result UI is inconsistent with the home page, having a different logo and colour theme
- Hierarchical information: Search results are random and unorganized
- Inconsistent UI: The search result UI is inconsistent with the home page, having a different logo and colour theme
Popular Features
- Helpful resources: Victoria library hosts plenty of diverse resources for different user needs. Users’ preferred the peer-reviewed meaningful results that are not mixed and cluttered like in Google
- Book Inter-loan: One of the highlights of Victoria Univ library is the interloan feature where any student or staff can borrow a book or journal from outside University or even outside New Zealand for free
- Helpful resources: Victoria library hosts plenty of diverse resources for different user needs. Users’ preferred the peer-reviewed meaningful results that are not mixed and cluttered like in Google
Feature Recommendations
- Better onboarding: Users’ are looking for a better onboarding experience to know how to use the library better
- Better interactions: Thematic categorisation of search results would help
- Better onboarding: Users’ are looking for a better onboarding experience to know how to use the library better
To further align these insights with the users’ needs and generate opportunities, I built personas, created empathy map and plotted the journey map.
Let's Sketch
Equipped with the user insights, I came up with a few sketches and tested with peers.
Design Solution
I developed wireframes based on the sketches and then interactive prototypes in Axure. I tested the design with 3 users and updated it with feedback received.
Design Proposals
| User Challenges | Design Proposal |
|---|---|
|
The home page looks messy |
Redesigned the home page with primary focus on the search field in the first fold of the page
Dedicated space for BrowZine feature in the second fold
Access to library information and popular links via list menus to make it compact and minimalist |
|
Wish there was quick access to book study rooms |
Access to book study rooms in the home page first fold |
|
I wish there was a better onboarding |
Introducted an AI based chatbot named "Vic Bot" to answer user queries on real-time |
|
I do not get any intimation from library if my book request gets cancelled |
Introduced notification feature to address such user concerns |
|
I just hate requesting for the book. It's so confusing |
Proposed an alternative easier way to request for book from search listing and resource detail page |
|
The sub-pages look different with inconsistent logo and colours |
Designed pages with consistent look & feel |
|
The search results are random and unorganised |
Categorised search results as books, articles, journals etc with numbers of results in each for better insight Search field is categorised and users can perform selective search |
|
The filter section takes too much space |
Designed a filter section to expand and collapse to be interactive and occupy less space |
|
The page looks so text heavy and boring |
Added icons and colours to make the pages look visually appealing |