UX in the Stacks: A wayfinding and usability study at the University of Michigan Library

• Attendee level of knowledge: Beginner
• Session goals: Attendees will gain an understanding of how non-web interactions can impact the web user experience; Using academic library wayfinding and online library tool/resource use as a case study, speakers will discuss the types of UX methods that attendees can implement to understand how non-web interactions impact the user experience of their web-based products.

Getting lost in Hatcher Graduate Library is a rite of passage for many students at the University of Michigan. 

Michelle Jackson, Christina Czuhajewski, and three other University of Michigan School of Information graduate students conducted contextual inquiry research on wayfinding at the University of Michigan to understand how patrons find their way in and out of the Hatcher Graduate Library.

What tools, services, and cues do visitors use? Where are the information breakdowns? Why do patrons get lost? What can be done to improve the user’s experience in the library?  These were just a few of the team's research questions.

Students use library resources without even knowing that they are library resources. They may never step foot in what is fondly know as the "Grad," but may "IM" library staff for help using the "Ask a Librarian chat service." Students may access articles via links in their Learning Management System, using the University of Michigan library proxy server.  

For those students who do visit, their physical experience at Hatcher Graduate Library is not wholly separate from their digital experience with ArticlesPlus, which is powered by Summon, with ERIC, with Historical Newspapers or any of the hundreds of databases available throughout the University of Michigan library system.

Speaker 1 Michelle Jackson username: mj-19

Speaker 2 Christina Czuhajewski username: christinacz