Neilson Library Redesign: 2015 UX

Abstract

Programming activity for the redesign of Neilson Library at Smith College began in the spring of 2015, with data gathering and campus input from students, faculty, staff, and alumnae, and continued through the summer and fall of 2015. As part of the process the College engaged the services of brightspot to conduct user experience studies.

A Programming Committee was charged with identifying and prioritizing such building elements as user spaces, library services, physical collections, and academic support services and centers, and making recommendations to the president and board. Reports from the Programming phase are available on the Smith College Libraries website.

Goals/Questions

Understand how the library’s spaces, services, collections, tools and technologies are used in research, teaching, and learning

Explore the role that the future Neilson Library could play in supporting research, teaching and learning, as well as collaboration, creating community, and offering inspiration

Incorporate new user-centered insights into library planning and design

Methods

  • Campus-wide survey
  • dScout missions
  • User interviews
  • Observations
  • User Experience Workshops

Statistics/Data

Sample size: over 2000 students, faculty and staff participated in engagement sessions and user studies, including:

  • 956  Survey Respondents
  • 62 participants in “dScout ” app
  • 20 One-on-One interviews (5 Student, 15 Faculty)

Dates: 01/01/2015 – 11/01/2015

Campus/College: Smith College

Contact:  Sika Berger, User Experience Librarian, sberger@smith.edu

Team:   User/Study Spaces Working Group

  • Sika Berger, User Experience Librarian
  • Sarah Evans, SC ’18
  • Kimberly Kono, Associate Professor, (East Asian Languages & Literature)
  • Brendan O’Connell, Instructional Technology Librarian
  • Barbara Polowy, Head of the Hillyer Art Library (convener)
  • Maria Wood, SC Ada Comstock Scholar
Consultants: 
brightspot, www.brightspotstrategy.com
In order to deepen and diversify the data sets informing the Program Committee’s work, an anthropological consultant was engaged to implement a survey of faculty and students, interview a cross section of stakeholders, and actively observe the way the library is used today. Their work was focused on extracting more data driven findings that would support or potentially challenge the conclusions drawn from the collected narrative. This team also collaborated with an Anthropology class at Smith to generate their observations.
Files Used

Outcome

Key Performance Areas

  1. learning and research “ecosystem”
  2. user experiences and key moments
  3. opportunities and potential responses

brightspot’s research report described three key moments that emerged from the academic experience:

“a task-oriented approach to work, which influences how and where students and faculty get their work done, a highly valued complex research process, and a desire to make intellectual connections.”

Results  – Process and Outcomes / Transforming the library for users

Library users want inclusive, accessible, beautiful spaces characterized by:
• Natural materials, light, connection to the landscape
• Ease of navigation, access to library staff

The Library is a space for convening characterized by:
• INVITING, INCLUSIVE SPACES to gather
• CHOICE of individual or collaborative work spaces; varied, flexible, re-configurable
The User/Study Spaces Working Group created a Taxonomy of User Study Spaces.

Recommendation

The Library will showcase Resources, Research, Learning characterized by:
• Making activity visible
• Space for experimentation and innovation
• Formal and informal exhibit spaces
Important themes for further exploration:
• How do we provide desired visibility and access to staff and materials while maintaining security and space for focused work?
• What does it mean to make visible the full range of technology resources  available; both in the library and on campus?
• Providing the right range of space types for varying activity levels will be key to success.
• Teaching is an integral part of the library; the spaces to support this resource are desperately needed.
• How does the building design and program enhance the library’s “public face”?

Action Taken

Results of all user engagement sessions and the working groups’ research and recommendations were used to define the Neilson Library building program.

Program Drivers for Use of Space:
  • Study / reflection:  solo spaces, reading rooms
  • Convening:  café
  • Innovation / collaboration:  enclosed and open
  • Shared:  reservable not owned
  • Scalable / aspirational:  capacity range, evolving space

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *