Becoming a library member - transforming the user experience of patron self registration
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Becoming a library member - transforming the user experience of patron self registration
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For the National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) Visitor Experience community of practice I shared how we transformed the experience of becoming a Library member at State Library Victoria.
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Becoming a library member - transforming the user experience of patron self registration
- 1. Becoming a Library member: Transforming the user experience State Library Victoria, 2018-2019 Vernon Fowler Digital User Experience Manager 8 March 2019
- 2. Outline • Background • Before • Where we are now • Future challenges
- 3. Background
- 5. Underpinning principle: Patron registration → 1 of 2 groups Access eresources onsite Can also access eresources offsite • State Library Victoria to be satisfied patron is a Victorian resident https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/interact-with-us/become-library-member
- 6. Before … it was quite different Register onsite vs offsite
- 7. Single page web form • Capture worldwide addresses • Only Victorian addresses can access eresources offsite • Contact details not verified • Spam submissions rise and rise
- 8. Single page web form • Capture worldwide addresses • Only Victorian addresses can access eresources offsite • Contact details not verified • Spam submissions rise and rise • Unsuitable for use in touchscreen kiosks
- 9. Before A plastic card for each patron
- 10. Welcome letter
- 11. Registered onsite & offsite
- 12. Cost estimates Servicing patron registrations Image: Do I need to join the Library (YouTube)
- 13. A week in August: 33 hours staff time 6:45 staff assisting onsite registrations at desk 2:00 identifying & removing fake / spam registrations 3:30 processing & printing on envelopes 20:30 stuffing envelopes with the card and a letter 180 registration enquiries
- 14. Material costs per registration: $0.27 onsite vs $1.26+ offsite $0.27 member card $0.99 letter postage + paper + toner
- 15. Summary of prior situation Onsite • Patron fills out web form at PC on desk • Staff process registration (LMS) • Staff give patron: • plastic card (with or without access to eresources offsite) Offsite • Patron fills out web form on their own device • Staff process registration (LMS) • Staff post to patron: • plastic card (with or without access to eresources offsite) • generic welcome letter with URLs
- 16. 21st Sept 2018
- 17. Where we are now 5 months on
- 18. A multi-step form wizard •Only capture Victorian addresses for patrons who want access to eresources offsite •Email / SMS verified •Spam submissions = 0 Experience: Interactive prototype of Become a Library member
- 19. Link in email or SMS
- 20. Welcome email or SMS
- 21. Activation letter & QR code Experience: Interactive prototype of eresources activation
- 23. Register now
- 24. Mostly new parts SMS gateway (existing) LMS API (tweaked) PostgreSQL database (new) Form wizard (new) Email templates (new) SMS templates (new) Admin interface (new) Activation letter & form (new) Self service kiosks (new)
- 25. Cost changes Servicing patron registrations
- 26. A week in February: 4 hours staff time _:__ staff assisting onsite registrations at desk 0:00 identifying & removing fake / spam registrations 2:20 processing & printing letters for eresources by mail 1:45 stuffing envelopes with a letter and card 168 registration enquiries
- 27. Staff estimated time on patron registrations Staff hours per week 32.75 4.08 Aug-18 Sep-18 Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Staff time saving per week 28h 40m 87.5%
- 28. Material costs of patron registrations Plastic card cost removed $0.27 Sep-18 Saving extrapolated to 1 year ×21,000 $5,670
- 29. Material costs per registration: $_.__+ $0.00 member welcome email/SMS $0.99 letter postage + paper + toner
- 30. Improvements to experience & future challenges Photo by Geraldine Lewa on Unsplash
- 31. Improvements to user experience •Simplified user flow •Better meets expectations •Faster delivery of access to eresources
- 32. Future challenges • Renewal for SMS sign-ups by September 2021 • 1 line address lookup for Australia Post recognised addresses • Monitor new developments for long term improvements • Blockchain • Digital Identity
- 33. Recap
- 34. Thank you Comments & questions? @vfowler
Editor's Notes
- It’s my pleasure to share with you some of the transformation work done on Patron Self Registration here at the Library over the past 9 months. It’s been a collaborative effort bringing together skills and knowledge across the organisation. I’d like to acknowledge a few colleagues who’ve been instrumental: Troy Rasiah, Janet Austin, Robyn Kinsey, Suzanne Conkas, Carolyn Long, Andrew Nicholas, Stephanie Caruso, Rowan Seddon, Katie Scott, Leanne Easey, Jennifer Durran, Stephen Sayers, Karl Billeter, Alan Manifold, Lisa Peddey and Felicity Garrigan.
- After some background, I’ve divided the rest of this presentation into 3 chronological sections. Before – our situation prior, where registering onsite was quite a different experience to offsite. Where we are now, 5 months on after a self-service option was implemented in the Russell St welcome zone . - I’ll show 2 flowcharts to help illustrate (and contrast) the tangible artifacts, staff interaction, and systems & automation. Lastly, I’ll list a few challenges that lay ahead.
- The Library is currently in the midst of a major project called Vision 2020 which aims to transform its physical building - creating innovative new spaces and reinventing onsite services. One component of that shift is the introduction of self-service kiosks that allow patrons to sign themselves up for membership while onsite. We wanted to create a better membership experience for users that was more like what they’re used to in their everyday lives. We know: people are used to signing up for all kinds of memberships online using a digital device; many people have digital versions of loyalty & membership cards stored on their smartphones (using apps like Stocard, Rewardle, etc); people are starting to eliminate carrying plastic credit cards as part of the shift to digital wallets. To support the experience improvements, we needed to do some business process reengineering, and that included elimination of plastic library membership cards. [More on the business case in the next slide.]
- For the Library, patron registration is a prime candidate for digital self service. This Channel Sweet Spots chart from Gerry McGovern asserts that the case for self-service is where: The task is simple to complete. – people only need to fill out a web form to register. There is high demand to do it online. – about 21000 patron registration forms completed each year over the last 4 years. In an earlier form of this chart [reference below], the vertical axis plots staffing costs and the case for self-service is where: Current staffing costs to deliver the task by phone or face-to-face is high. McGovern, G. Web Self-Service Management Principles and Business Case, June 2014 http://www.customercarewords.com/webinars/web-self-service-management-principles-business-case.pdf
- At the Library, our patron registration gets people into 1 of 2 patron groups. Whether a patron has access to eresources from offsite, (or “home”), is the only membership benefit that differentiates these 2 groups. Everyone can access eresources onsite. For those also wanting access to eresources offsite, State Library Victoria must be satisfied the patron is a Victorian resident. Here we’re talking about onsite and offsite access to eresources as a member benefit differentiator between 2 patron groups. Next, I’ll move into our before situation which begins looking at the experience of registering onsite vs offsite. Let’s not confuse the 2!
- Before, whether patrons registered here at the desk onsite [point out computer on left with sign stuck to the top saying: Register for a Library Card Here], or offsite on their own device, made quite a difference to their experience, and our processes. One thing onsite & offsite registering had in common was that they both used the same 1-page web form [you can make it out on that computer screen].
- To register, a patron would complete a single page web form [August 2018]. Problems & opportunities here were: It’s difficult to understand what people were signing up for. The page lacks context. The Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) requires that we only collect and store personal data that is necessary for service delivery. Capturing patron addresses worldwide is unnecessary. We only need addresses for Victorian residents who want to access to eresources offsite. (Don’t need addresses for Victorians who don’t want eresources access offsite.) Contact details were not confirmed. When phone and email addresses were incorrect, we had no means of contacting (eg for postal address correction). This implementation of web form was more susceptible to spam bot registrations as it didn’t require any confirmation from the user.
- The form was also unsuitable for implementing in touchscreen kiosks [coming in September 2018].
- Before the 21st September, every registered patron received a plastic card with their barcode on it. Over 100,000 cards were distributed over the 4 years since 2014. [We still have a few cards left over that we can issue to those who can’t use our new system, ie people who do not have either an email address or a mobile phone – 1 or 2 people so far.]
- [Apologies for the low resolution of this image of the welcome letter.] Sometime between 2013 & 2015 we’d stopped personalising the welcome letter to streamline the envelope stuffing – one less thing to match up name and address on. If you registered offsite, you would have received a welcome letter together with your plastic card.
- Here’s what the flow looked like before. It starts with the Single page web form, one of the tangible artifacts shown in blue boxes; then Store in LMS in a red box indicating systems and automation; then staff interactions in yellow boxes which, as you can see take up the bulk of the steps. For offsite registrations, staff spent some effort determining whether addresses were complete, and whether patrons were indeed legitimate Victorians. Staff had to manually assign the relevant group to every patron. Onsite patrons were handed a member card on the spot. Offsite patrons had their member card posted to them, together with the welcome letter. None of the tangible artifacts indicated whether the member has access to eresources offsite.
- I have some of our cost estimates of servicing patron registrations that I’ll now share with you.
- For a week in August staff estimated they spent about 33 hours on new patron registrations. The breakdown: Almost 7 hours at the desk assisting with onsite registrations. 2 hours identifying & removing fake & spam registrations. (Spam registrations continued to rise right up to September 21st.) 3.5 hours processing & printing on envelopes – names and address. 20.5 hours stuffing those envelopes with the corresponding card and a generic welcome letter. Besides this, staff responded to 180 registration enquiries for the week.
- Per registration $1.26 (+paper +toner) isn’t that much. Every member gets a plastic card, 27 cents. In October 2017, only 23% of members chose to collect their card at the Library. The remaining 77% chose to receive their card by post. For these members, add the domestic letter postage cost, 99 cents; and envelope stock, paper and toner costs.
- [Run through summary on slide, then] Whether you could get access to eresources or not, the experience for offsite registrations was painfully slow. Not only did our processes take a long time, Australia Post delivering added days to the wait before users would get their membership and any benefits at all.
- That was our situation prior to the 21st September, and our old patron registration transformed, both onsite and offsite. Register for a Library Card Here at the desk ceased. This registration desk computer and the single page web form were decommissioned.
- I’ll now turn to our current state and describe the main components for patron self registration without any plastic cards. Pictured here in the new Russell St entrance are the self service kiosks mentioned earlier.
- This screenshot shows the first step in our multi-step form wizard (Feb 2019). When a user completes the form, an email or SMS is sent to them (their membership is pending).
- The email or SMS contains a link for the receiver to verify. Clicking the link creates the patron record in our LMS and sends a welcome message.
- Their welcome message contains their pertinent information (barcode and family name) along with relevant call-to-action links. For those who’ve requested access to eresources from offsite (“home”), one option is to show proof of address to staff onsite.
- The other option is to receive a letter with an activation code, much like the bank sends a PIN with your new debit / credit card. On the left is our activation letter template. In the 5 months since the change, 2,762 patrons have upgraded their membership to access eresources offsite. Of these patrons, 45% had staff assistance with upgrading, 55% upgraded themselves via scanning the QR code in their letter. For international students, receiving a letter is an easy option as often they don’t have any document with their name and Victorian address.
- When a patron fills out this form using their barcode, family name and the activation code from their letter, they immediately gain access to eresources. Behind the scenes, activation moves them from the patron group without eresources access, to the one with access.
- Let’s walk through the flow of registering now, where offsite & onsite is now one process. It’s the same colour scheme as before. This time a user starts by filling out the web form wizard. Their membership is pending (stored in a new database). Once the user clicks the link in their email / SMS, then systems & automation kick in. If the user requested eresources access offsite, they’ll have provided a Victorian address, and given the appropriate patron group when stored in our LMS. Otherwise, no address is captured and they are assigned the other patron group. Either way, we welcome them with an email or SMS with their pertinent membership details. The steps so far are all self-service, and members can start using most benefits in what’s taken them about 2 minutes. The dotted line to the lower flow follows extra steps for access to eresources offsite. Starting from right, these patrons chose to prove their Victorian residence either by: Showing proof to a staff At the Library (to ← upper yellow box labeled Sight Victorian address); Having an activation letter posted to them (to ← lower yellow box labeled Post activation letter); The final activation form is slightly different for staff completing it with the display of address and a checkbox asking if we’ve sighted proof.
- For a week in February staff estimated they spent 4 hours 5 minutes on new patron registrations. The breakdown: _:__ hours assisting with onsite registrations at the desk. The desk from before is gone and now there’s no equivalent staff time cost. 0 hours identifying & removing fake & spam registrations. (Down from 2 hours.) 2 hours 20 processing & printing letters for eresources access by mail. (Down from 3 hours 30.) Under 2 hours stuffing those envelopes with an eresources activation letter. (Down from 20.5 hours stuffing with the corresponding card and a generic welcome letter.) In February, staff responded to 168 registration enquiries (a similar number to the 180 in August 2018).
- In August 2018, staff estimated they spend nearly 33 hours per week processing patron registrations. In February 2019, they estimated just over 4 hours per week on patron registrations. This change represents a saving of 28 hours 40 minutes of staff time per week, 87.5%.
- Eliminating the plastic card saves 27 cents per patron registration. Based on the average of 21,000 registrations we’ve had for the last 3 years, we’ll save $5670 just by eliminating the plastic cards.
- Material costs per registration have decreased. Levering off the existing SMS gateway & email servers makes it close to $0 to welcome new members. [compared with $0.27 per plastic card] Letter postage is still $0.99 but we no longer need to post outside of Victoria, and we’re only posting to those who want access to eresources offsite [no letter is necessary for Victorians who want eresources and show proof of address to staff onsite]. Likewise our paper and toner costs per unit haven’t changed, but again, we’re now posting to a much smaller subset of members.
- That’s where we are now. Next I’ll list some improvements to user experience and future challenges.
- We’ve made a number of improvements to the user experience: Logic choices the user makes determine their simplest flow through the registration process. Presenting related form fields in discrete screens reduces cognitive load and gives users a sense of progress/momentum. The simplified user flow: Surfaces the previously unasked question of access to eresources [helps raise awareness of eresources]. Only asks for a residential address if users request access to eresources offsite. Validation at each form field helps prevent input errors as the user completes each step. Modernising patron self registration better meets user expectations. Signing up from your own mobile device is familiar and easier. Confirming your subscription to services is a normal practice. We’re able to deliver access to eresources faster than before, now that staff spend less time processing registrations.
- Challenges for the future include: Enabling membership renewal by SMS (since we now have people registered by SMS). 1 line address lookup simplifies and speeds up address recognition benefiting both users and staff processes. Monitoring technology developments such as blockchain and Digital Identity may offer future improvements for purposes such as verifying residence, and proving of-age.
- To recap: The background leading up to this change including introduction of self-service. I covered our before state of patron registration, where there was lots of staff intervention, and the experience of registering onsite was vastly different to offsite. Where we are now described some of the streamlined processes we’ve achieved along with digital distribution. It’s quite the contrast given the tangible artifacts, staff interaction, and systems & automation. Last, while I look forward to our future challenges at the Library, I’m also keen to hear whether going cardless is appealing at your libraries.