Kent Gerber's List: Web redesign

• Johns Hopkins University:  Website Redevelopment Task Group:
  https://wiki.library.jhu.edu/display/WRTG/Home

  • Excellent example of the fact gathering process and raises good questions.
  Add Sticky Note

• An excellent presentation    of this aspect of information architecture is a book, Information    Architecture for the World Wide Web (see Endnote 6), written by    two librarians, Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville, who have built    a business, Argus Associates, that specializes in the design of Websites.    In their book, they emphasize that they "talk about web sites.    Not web pages, not home pages. Web sites." They do so    because they are concerned with the presentation of information in    the whole of a Website, with how the pages within the site relate    to each other, and with how the viewer is permitted and/or directed    to navigate his or her way around the site.

    

  Despite their concentration    on the Web, much of Rosenfeld's and Morville's advice applies not    just to Websites but to all collections of information. For example,    they say that the first consideration in designing a Website should    be to prepare a definition of "what the site will actually    be, and how it will work" (their italics). Continuing, they    declare that formulating such a definition is

    

    

    

  the main job of the    information architect, who:

    

    

      
  • Clarifies the mission and vision for the site,   balancing the needs of its sponsoring organization and the needs   of its audiences.
    
  • Determines what content and functionality    the site will contain.
    
  • Specifies how users will find information in the site by    defining its organization, navigation, labeling, and    searching systems.
    
  • Maps out how the site will accommodate change and    growth over time.

• Melding foundational practice with the growing interest in creating positive emotional interactions with various services prepares future grads to guide libraries into a user-focused future. This may even yield new certificate programs or pathways to becoming a UX librarian. LIS schools reviewing curricula may want to shift some of the focus placed on materials and process to user needs, behavior, and creating experience. Coursework might include the following:

  • This doesn't need to be a full position but can be addressed by current staff in the library who have interest.
• LIS schools reviewing curricula may want to shift some of the focus placed on materials and process to user needs, behavior, and creating experience. Coursework might include the following:
• • Interpreting & Employing User Research:
• • Usability Testing:
• • Focus Groups:
• • Library Buildings:
• • Graphic Design for Libraries:
• In the debut column of The User Experience (ow.ly/5jAvW), the core value of empathy took center stage: “You need to listen to and observe your community in order to develop an empathetic focus on people.” Designing the user experience via empathic listening and observation is best done with a focus on the heart, as described in “Office Hours: Heretical Thoughts” (ow.ly/5jABj). Understanding, kindness, and warmth are key ingredients as well.

  • This fits with Bethel's concentration of Empathy as strengths.

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