A Mobile Concierge Station as a Library Wayfinding

Solution

Beth.Filar-Williams@oregonstate.edu@filarwilliams

D4D 2016

Corvallis, OR pop. 56,000

From http://microbiology.science.oregonstate.edu/living-corvallis

OSU: land grant school > largest university in the state > over 30,000 students

The Valley Library

24/5 for 3 quarters, 6 floors, only library on campus

Make this a video of people entering instead and use this one later …. ??

3,000+ visitors/ day

wayfinding, n.

The act of finding one's way to a particular place; navigation.

This is a new entry. OED Third Edition, December 2015 http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/426203

Wayfinding: Basic Concepts

http://www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/

Wayfinding : Why do we care?

The FIRST impression sticks

Feelings matter (useful usable DESIRABLE)

Virtual and physical library = connected for users

USER centered service design

Wayfinding in Libraries: Basic Concepts

Discovering wayfinding issues

Entering our library

https://youtu.be/EUgE16_sEYw

Get some photos of misleading signs (EX: shows some of our photos and the entracnce way photo from earlier in the presentaiton - “where do i go??”

Low Cost Solution:The Valley Library’s Concierge

10-4pm, Monday - Wednesday1-2 people per 1 hour shiftFall term 2015 (pilot): 3 days, 3 weeksWinter & Spring terms 2016: 3 days, 1 week

Hours staffed54

1382 Questions answered

Busiest time of day11- 1 pm

printing!

1st Busiest day (218 ?’s in 6 hours)

Fall Term Pilot

Analyzed the data

Coded into themes

Looked for areas to improve

Gathered user questions

“At least 2-3 times per shift, patrons thanked me for having the service.”

“I received comments from students saying that it was nice to have a staff member in the library entry”

“Easy to spot, easy to understand for anyone looking for quick directions.”

“Feedback from patrons was fabulous and I learned some things as well!”

Staff Survey Feedback

Any Questions?