From Customer Service to User Experience : Using Design Thinking to Exceed User Expectations Pioneer Library System November 21, 2008 Steven Bell – bells@temple.edu.

From Customer Service to From Customer Service to User ExperienceUser Experience: : Using Design Using Design Thinking to Exceed User Thinking to Exceed User ExpectationsExpectations

Pioneer Library SystemNovember 21, 2008

Steven Bell – bells@temple.eduAssociate University LibrarianTemple University

Even Our Students Know

Questions

What are challenges we face

Can design thinking help

How is UX different from customerservice

What would a great library UX be

OurOurEnvironmenEnvironmentt

The Age of User Experience

What Defines It?What Defines It?

• Make it simple

• Complexity/Confusion are deal breakers

• If you have to learn it – we have a problem

• Good design is critical

• Features get used if they provide a good user experience Source: EWeek.com -

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1914495,00.asp

SimpleSatisfies instant

gratificationNo unnecessary

featuresMillennial seal

of approval

ComplexTakes time to

learnMany featuresAdded valueBetter qualityPersonalized help

Google Experience vs. Library ExperienceGOOGLE LIBRARY

Simplicity – Complexity Conundrum – how to resolve the tension between the two yet encourage quality research and education

What Do Libraries Offer? Fear of Complexity

Marginalizing Trends

*2005 OCLC Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources report

http://www.oclc.org/reports/perceptionscollege.htm

Marginalizing Trends

*2005 OCLC Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources report

http://www.oclc.org/reports/perceptionscollege.htm

Source: BusinessWeek IN Supplement June 11, 2007 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038405.htm

From: Curran, Murray and Christian. “Taking the information to the public through Library 2.0.” Library Hi-TechVol. 25. No. 2, 2007 pp288-297.

Only The Paranoid Survive

Andy Grove, Founder of Intel, wrote this book about surviving competition and change

Wrote about the “inflection curve”

We have no control over the “forces of change” but we can control our strategy

Source: Moyer, Don. A Silver Bullet. Harvard Business Review, May 2008 p. 132

Library anecdote – “This is broken”

• See Seth Godin’s blog or his presentation at GEL2006

What’s Broken At Your Library?

What’s Broken - ActivityThis is a 2-4 minute activity

Think about something at your library that you think is broken. Either something that doesn’t work or a solution that has no problem attached to it.

Just jot down a description of that on a sheet of paper

Also – why do you think it is broken?

DesignDesignThinkingThinking

Word Association

Turn your sheet of paper over

What comes to your mind when you hear the word

DESIGNDESIGNwrite it down

Question

Do you think library workers are designers?

What is Design Anyway?What is Design Anyway?

What They Have in CommonWhat They Have in Common

The Design Approach!empathic thinkingidentifying the problem before

the solutionbrainstorming processprototyping processformative/summative evaluation

• Identify the problem before the solution• Understand the users• Work creatively to identify and develop the solution• Bottom Line – it’s how designers approach challenges

Key Points:

Design Thinking

Approaching library problems the way designers approach design problems.

“Librarianship by Design” draws mostly from instructional design for influence

How is it different? ◦Thoughtful process to create new

services◦ Integrates needs assessment and

evaluation◦ User-centered not technology-driven

Design Thinking

Empathic Design

Prototyping process

Formative and summative evaluation

Technology ImplementationWiki Case Study

1. Identify problem – possible solutions2. Wiki identified as technology with

potential3. Learn more about wikis4. Practice editing a wiki5. Obtain a wiki account for experimentation6. Show staff but allow time for acceptance7. Identify compassionate pioneer8. Allow pioneer to experiment and discover9. Develop strategy for implementation10. Incorporate staff training/learning11. Implement12. Evaluation

UserUserExperienceExperience

Designing A Better Experience: The Experience

Economy• Book about designing user

experiences

• Moving from commodities to experiences

• Make it different and memorable

• It has to work

UX: What is it?

A Definition:

UX is the quality of experience a person has while interacting with a specific design.

CaringNiceGo extra mileCourteousTrainingSatisfied PatronFast/

ConvenientAnswersRule Bending

HolisticTotality of ExperienceWoW Factor (not

broken)MemorableLoyaltyLocalizedDesign-basedWhat kind of

experienceUnderstanding user

Customer Service vs. User Experience CS

UX

UX: The WOW Factor

• One school of thought

• UX as highly unique

• UX as unexpected

• UX as impressive

UX: The Totality of the Experience

• Not just one fragmented experience

• More than one WOW

• Must be designed into the larger library service operation

• Creates equal expectations throughout library

From Customer Service to Experience

• Start with core values – design from there

• Focus on relationship design – build trust

• It’s more than customer service

• Must be useful and usable (simple/complex)

• Think about UX as the brand

• Design for local audiences

• Design for personal experiences

• Design for outcomes not features

• Design for success stories

• Design for user education

Design a Better Library User Experience

Next Steps

• Talk to the users

• Talk about the core values

• Talk about the design

• Talk about the “tolerance level”

Add Your Voice To The Conversation

Further Reading

“Academic librarianship by design is about more than confronting marginalization. It is about an approach to librarianship that is guided by creative thinking and contemplation about what we do and how we do it.”

“We anticipate that it is only a matter of time before design thinking appears in academic library job descriptions along with traditional qualities such as being dynamic, creative, innovation, and forward thinking. From our point of view, design thinkers represent all these qualities.” Academic Librarianship by Design: A Blended

Librarians Guide tothe Tools and Techniques. ALA Editions 2007.

Questions? Discussion!