Simplifying the search experience – resisting the lure of shiny, new technology
Ronán KennedyMonica Crump
NUI Galway
School Institute Name to go here
• Why we did what we did• Some things we did, we shouldn’t have• Some things we didn’t do, we should have
• How we found what we should have done and what we shouldn’t have done
Early 2009• Primo Implementation Group
• Primo
Implementation
Group
• Interface Group• subject librarians; research librarians; e-resource librarian,
etc.
Early 2009• Web Group
• Primo to have prime real-estate space on the Library homepage
• ‘primo lite’
School Institute Name to go here
Initial Interface Work
• Demos of out-of-the-box version
• Examples of global sites – NYU, UAE, etc
• Interface Group members liaison role
Concerns – Radical Departure
• New interface could be radically different
• Big departure from Aleph (function & cosmetics)• Academic opposition• Possible training problems
School Institute Name to go here
School Institute Name to go here
Conclusion #1 – too conservative
• Concerns heavily shaped our vision- tried hard to integrate the past- fear of academics
• We tried to mould Primo into something it wasn’t
Concerns – Dumbing Down• One single simple interface = bad information literacy
• “Primo should be a flagship model of good pedagogical practise”
• Multiple tabs made sense to us
Lots of cooks in the kitchen
• Subjective opinions are always difficult
• “Is it exposing our resources appropriately?”
• Font sizes!
source
Mid 2009
• Interface group assembled the jigsaw pieces
• Model followed closely with NYU, Iowa, British Library, UEA
• Time to caress the divine details….
Error Checking
• Librarians love detail!
• A lot of librarians means lots of errors being found
• Sub-conscious opinions being formed?
School Institute Name to go here
Perfection at all costs?• Did we get bogged down in making sure it was perfect?
• Special CollectionsSpecial CollectionsSpecial Collections ReferenceStrong Room
• Librarians want perfection – users want good enough
• Risking not seeing the wood for the trees
Customisation – Tread Carefully
• Primo is *very* flexible – lots of options
School Institute Name to go here
Customisation – Tread Carefully• Primo is *very* flexible – lots of options
• Tempting to generate completely local feel- can be timely
Just because you can push a button, it doesn’t mean you have to
Customisation – Tread Carefully
• Beware of skills sabotage
Primo launched Sept 2009
New website officially launched Sept 2010
School Institute Name to go here
School Institute Name to go here
How was it used?• 80/20 Theory
• 1.5 million Basic Searches• 50,000 Advanced Searches• 14 reviews written• Several hundred items tagged
LibQual Survey• November 2010
• LibQUAL+® is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users' opinions of service quality.
• Global; great for benchmarking
IC-1 Making electronic resources accessible from my home or officeIC-2 A library website enabling me to locate information on my ownIC-3 The printed library materials I need for my workIC-4 The electronic information resources I needIC-5 Modern equipment that lets me easily access needed informationIC-6 Easy-to-use access tools that allow me to find things on my ownIC-7 Making information easily accessible for independent useIC-8 Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work
LibQual - Information Control Remit
minimum desired perceived adequacy superiority
IC-1 Making electronic resources accessible from my home or office Overall 6.42 7.84 6.49 0.07 -1.35
IC-2 A library website enabling me to locate information on my own Overall 6.53 8.00 6.49 -0.03 -1.51
LibQual - Information Control Remit
Let’s form a committee!!!
School Institute Name to go here
LibQual - Information Control Remit
Polarised Feedback
There was clearly a problem
What LibQual told us:
• We weren’t meeting our users’ minimum expectations of:
“A Library website enabling me to locate information on my own”
Comments Analysis
Navigation of the website is confusing
The website is difficult to use
The website is easy to use since the re-design
Access to e-resources needs to be more user-friendly
Online services are great!
Off-campus access works very well
VS
VS
More investigation was needed!
User Observation Study
• Real Users• Real Tasks• One user – One observer
We wanted to find out:
• where were users becoming confused• user interface features that users didn’t notice• whether and when users logged-in to enhance
search results• additional features/on-screen guidance that might
have benefitted users’ search experience• Any issues affecting the success of the users’ search
Structure of observation
• Pre-observation interview• Set list of tasks• Think aloud:
– Explain choices– Highlight anything that’s confusing– Express pleasure or frustration– Explain how you would carry out a similar task in real life
Key Findings
• Most of the problems, frustration and confusion seemed to arise from our links to our discovery tools and once they navigated into them.
• Some users went to our webpage about books to find the book they wanted rather than using the search box!
Users tended not to notice the ‘Get it’ and ‘Online Access’ links and there was some confusion about what the wording meant
Sources of Confusion
• FRBRisation posed great difficulties and caused confusion– Primo’s preferred record had only unavailable items –
short results showed only UNAVAILABLE– Available items on FRBRised records were hidden
• Journal article searching caused great confusion
Other findings
• Reliance on Google by all participants.• Prior attendance at library training hugely improved the
users’ success in completing the set tasks.• Several undergraduates were confused about references –
they were unsure what was a journal and what was a book
User Focus Groups
• Focus groups - for a wider perspective and to confirm findings
• Two groups – Undergrads; Postgrads & Staff• Caution – those willing to attend tend to be more library-
focussed, library-aware and therefore library-positive!
Primo-related findings
• Terminology used in online services is hard to understand – e.g. ‘currently unavailable’
• A simpler catalogue might be easier to use:
–“make it simple – more like Google”
• One user with experience of other libraries was emphatic that our online services were significantly easier to use than elsewhere.
Call to Action:
Simplify the Search Experience
Introduce a Single Search Box
Improve visibility of Login
What about the other options?
Find Databases
More Search Options
Journal Article Searching
Browse functionality
Other Improvements
• OPAC via Primo– Clearer
account information
– Clearer item/ holdings information
Not an easy journey!
• Planned for early summer go-live• Fixing minor bugs resulted in much bigger problems!• Upgrading to Aleph v.20 at the same time• Eventually went live on the very first day of Semester• Some ongoing issues
Feedback and Reaction
• Over-whelmingly positive:– “the new catalogue is amazing!”– “I like the new look - design and layout - it mirrors the
layout in many of our databases e.g., Ebsco, Proquest, Scopus.”
– “it looks very good – easy to search and smooth integration with SFX and OPAC”
– “an enjoyable and fruitful search experience”– “intuitive and intelligent layout and design”
Final Thoughts
• Very valuable to ask users what they think• Even more valuable to observe them using your discovery
tools• Primo v3 is a huge improvement on v2 and fulfills more of
the promise• Implementation can take a long time! Expect things to go
wrong!
School Institute Name to go here
Thank You!
• Ronán Kennedy [email protected]• Monica Crump [email protected]
School Institute Name to go here