In 2013, a group of Mount Holyoke librarians made significant changes to the reading room space in the library. We gathered student input by hosting several participatory design sessions for students. Students were asked to draw their ideal reading room, or describe it if they were not comfortable drawing, and librarians would ask students to describe their vision. We drew students in by offering free treats – we made chocolate kiss trails on the floor of the building to the workshop room, and went around the library with a tray of brownies and strawberries announcing the opportunity to participate and inviting students to the sessions.
We analyzed the student input by naming different features, then categorizing and ranking them (see the results in the attachment). While we couldn’t incorporate every suggestion (like a giant aquarium, for example), student input played a huge role in the changes we made to the space.
RRParticipatoryDesignResultsSpring2013