designing The Library Experience

20Apr08

Brian Matthews of The Ubiquitous Librarian has what may be one of the most radical jobs in librarianship.  In fact, I may even relinquish my new dream of becoming an elevator consultant in favor of finding a position just like his.  Matthews is a User Experience Librarian at Georgia Tech.  At last week’s conference of ACRL’s New England Chapter, he described how his role is one of user-centered advocacy and service without the baggage of “thinking like a librarian.”

The User Expereince Librarian is not interested in using traditional assessment tools and statistics to make decisions for patron populations.  Instead, librarians like Matthews build their collections, websites, programs, hours, and promotional activites in ways that increase patron satisfaction and build loyalty.  Basically, they use applied marketing theory in the library environment. 

This means that the User Experience Librarian is fascinated by space and its uses.  Matthews considers how students use physical, social, and digital spaces in their interactions.  He then designs services that make the library visible, engaging and accessible within these spaces.  For instance, Matthews follows his students on Twitter to better understand their behavior at different points in the semester, instead of calling a focus group, leading him to create programs (study groups, eat-ins, instruction, etc) that address needs at that particular moment.

Of course, on a diverse college campus various social groups will use library services differently at certain points in time.  The User Experience Librarian recognizes these differences, tapping into multiple “user segments,” in order to reach-out to everybody and even make connections between them.  I do this at my library too, only I never thought of it as user segmentation analysis.  I call it “sitting on the couch with the Peace and Social Justice Group.”  Trust me: I discover opportunities for collaboration with students and faculty using my honed technique.

In his talk, Matthews compared his thinking to that of the US milk industry, which presently conducts research to determine what America wants from its beverage experience or in layman’s terms why people drink stuff.  As the job title states, user experience librarians seek to perfect and promote The Library Experience by discovering how and when students use services so that they may transform spaces and market accordingly. 

The concept of the User Exprience Librarian reminds me of an excellent article in the May issue of I.D. The International Design Magazine.  Rick Poyner argues that in today’s business culture, design has become unpoular and elitist, while innovation (i.e. design thinking) is all the rage.  Old-school designers think that they know best, putting their ideas out there and hoping that people get it or at least use it.  Innovators study consumer behavior, leaving no stone unturned, to learn more about the psychology of brand loyalty.  Poyner quotes the innovationist’s approach:

Customers seek beautiful everyday experiences. To be moved. To grow. Laugh. Cry. Discover. Move beyond their basic needs.  Surprise them – maybe throw in a bit of suspense…inspire, educate, involve, and entertain.  The right combination creates insane loyalty.          

Seen within this context, Matthews may be onto something.  In my opinion, libraries could use a shot of “insane loyalty” as our role continues to shift in the 21st century.  That is not to say that we should disregard the significance of our leadership skills and expertize, especially in academic libraries where professionals often hold multiple advanced degrees for subject specialization.  On campus it is our obligation to lead students to better information.  However, I do believe that academic libraries could gain a larger following by making room for a position that is something akin to the User Experience Librarian.  Shall I quietly begin to don that hat tomorrow?  Perhaps, I’ve been wearing it all along.         

Filed under: By: Librarian About Town, change or die   |  3 Comments
Tags: academic libraries, marketing, space, user experience librarian