{"id":349,"date":"2018-01-27T23:06:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-27T23:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robertvnewell.com\/?post_type=portfolio&p=349"},"modified":"2018-05-27T18:42:14","modified_gmt":"2018-05-27T18:42:14","slug":"discovery-phase-uh-libraries-website-redesign","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/robertvnewell.com\/?portfolio=discovery-phase-uh-libraries-website-redesign","title":{"rendered":"Discovery Phase – UH Libraries Website Redesign"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In 2014-15, I managed the UX for UH Libraries\u2019 ongoing public website redesign. The project\u2019s vast scope touched all areas of the site and included Drupal 8 migration. I was charged with planning and implementing a UX program that integrated user-centered design principles into the department\u2019s redesign process.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]What I did<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1) I created a roadmap that broke the overall project into smaller pieces to allow more manageable design and a potential phased release. I used Omniplan to track project dependencies and resource allocation. The UX plan I developed included a rich discovery phase supported by stakeholder, competitor, and user research.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) Web Services conducted 14 stakeholder focus groups. I led the team in consolidating all notes and building an affinity diagram to pull insights from the data. I then designed and produced a report of our findings<\/a> for library stakeholders.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”306″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114764588{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]3) I led the team in a review of peer and aspirational institution websites to understand key best practices and domain-wide design challenges. I developed review criteria with the department head and coordinated collaborative review and recommendation-generation sessions with the four-member team, illustrating our findings in a<\/span> report to stakeholders<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”307″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114647939{margin-bottom: 1px !important;}”][vc_column_text]4) UH Libraries has historically relied on surveys and focus groups for collecting user data. We wanted richer data and insights that reflected the library website users’ contexts. I developed and led the Libraries\u2019 first formal contextual inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rachel Vacek, the Head of Web Services, and I interviewed 11 users (undergrads, grad students, and faculty) at locations on campus where they often conduct research.<\/span><\/p>\n

After each interview, we held interpretation sessions with our team and stakeholders, and followed these with a series of affinity diagramming sessions.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”311″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114666963{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”317″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114685291{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The front end developer and I consolidated sequence models.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”314″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114700148{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Finally, we \u201cwalked\u201d the diagrams, annotating them with design ideas.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”315″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114713817{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”316″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517198487829{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

I communicated our\u00a0findings through\u00a0a<\/span> contextual inquiry report<\/a> that included personas I had developed.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”331″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114742459{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”323″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1517114783997{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]5) To help assess improvement post-redesign, I developed and conducted a usability benchmark with 20 users.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Outcomes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n