User Experience in Libraries III Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, June 6-7, 2017. Co-presenter, Madeline Mundt, University of Washington Libraries.

1. Shifting Focus: UX to Foster
Interdisciplinary Scholarly
Community
Lauren Ray & Madeline Mundt
University of Washington, Seattle, USA

2. > Public university, Seattle, Tacoma & Bothell
> 40K undergraduate and 16K graduate students
> 4,500 faculty
> 16 libraries
– 5 million users annually
– 70 subject librarians, 300 staff
– Active assessment program, chat service
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

3. > Opened in 2010
> 15000 sq ft/1400 sq m space
> Collaborative, flexible, prototyping services and space
> Foster interdisciplinary collaboration
> Services and programs for student researchers
RESEARCH COMMONS

5. ASSESSMENT TO DESIGN THINKING
> In-Libraries Use Survey (every 3 years since 1992)
> Triennial Libraries Survey (every 3 years since 2002)
> Student Discussion Groups (2011)
> Design Charrette for New Spaces (2012)
> One-on-One Interviews with Grad Students (2012)

6. Facilities and Staff Data
• User Observations
• Focus Groups
• Equipment Checkouts
• Gate Counts/Headcount
• Room Reservation System
• 2011 In Libraries Use Survey
• DeskTracker Survey
Communication Data
• Website and Social Media Statistics
• Graduate School Digest Email Data
• Research Commons Newsletter
Listserv User Profiles
Programming and Services Data
• Graduate Student Interviews
• Graduate Student Workshop
Evaluations
• Peer-Led Workshops – Instructor
Feedback
• Scholars’ Studio Feedback Report
• Design Help Desk User Profiles
• Graduate Funding Information Service
Data User Profiles
• Libraries Triennial Survey of Graduate
and Professional Students 2013
AND EVEN MORE DATA….

8. > What specifically does the space enable people to do?
> What is the best way of reaching graduate students to
promote services and programs?
> Are we fostering interdisciplinary connections? If so,
how?
WHAT DID IT NOT TELL US?

11. Contextual and One-on-One Interviews with past
presenters:
> What was their experience?
> Did it support their ability to present their research?
> Did it make them think about their own research differently?
> How can we facilitate cross-disciplinary connection?
SCHOLARS’ STUDIO

12. “Five minutes was really tough. It makes
you rethink how to present your material
concisely.” – PhD Student, Humanities
“It changed the way I classically thought
about my own work.” - PhD Student, Social
Sciences
“I think it makes a big difference when the
people at the top really care about what
you are doing...It makes you feel more
empowered.” - PhD Student, Medicine
SCHOLARS’ STUDIO

15. Hacking the
Academy

16. Outreach Assessment
Toolkit:
> Mix of quantitative and
qualitative methods
> Observation
> Informal interviews at event
> Photographs
HACKING THE ACADEMY

17. Storytelling
Fellows

18. Graduate Students Want:
> Interdisciplinary community and connection
> Ability to participate remotely
> New modes of presenting their work
> Public scholarship
STORYTELLING FELLOWS

19. Observation in Fellows cohort
> Community
> Interdisciplinary nature
> Final viewing party
> Slack channel
STORYTELLING FELLOWS

20. UX principles allow us to:
> Uncover hidden needs in student research process
> Take a holistic look at our data
> Help tell the stories of students as researchers and
who they are
> Experiment with new types of interaction with users
TAKEAWAYS/QUESTIONS

21. Madeline Mundt mundtm@uw.edu
Lauren Ray olray@uw.edu
@uwrescommons
www.lib.washington.edu/commons
All Images UW Libraries Research Commons unless otherwise noted.
THANK YOU!