Insights to Information: Enhancing Worthington Libraries’ Site Navigation

About this project

In this student project, I evaluated my local library’s website to understand how patrons interact with it and reorganized the navigation and homepage structure to meet those needs.

Project Duration: October-December 2023

UX Discipline: Research, Information Architecture, Usability

Methods & Deliverables: User interviews, literature review, persona creation, content inventory, site mapping, tree testing, wireframing, first-click testing

Context

Libraries are centrally important to communities, and the Worthington Libraries are no exception. Patrons look to libraries not only for information, but also for events, services, and collaboration space. Given most library information like catalogs, resources, and schedules are available online, organization is a paramount priority.

The library director has the following goals for the website:

1. Navigating: patrons can find the information they need, whether it’s the online catalog, event information, or additional library services.
2. Organizing: content on the site is organized logically for the context of use. For example, choosing between alphabetical and priority-driven organization depending on the patrons’ expectations.

Initial Site Review

Before beginning, I took a look at the existing site to see which areas could use more attention later on and found the following main areas of improvement:

• Mixed navigation scheme: the primary, secondary, and footer navigation use a mix of topical and task-oriented labels without committing to one style
  
• Inconsistent labeling: pages are listed in a menu by one label but the primary page’s heading is different, creating cognitive dissonance
  
• Absent homepage structure: the homepage has so many different content blocks without headings that it’s difficult to know where to find information
  

Users & Context

Expert Interviews & Literature Review

In lieu of interviewing individual site users, I opted for expert interviews to understand how librarians interact on the site with patrons. I interviews three librarians from Worthington Libraries in person for about 30-60 minutes each: two from the Worthington Park branch and one from the Old Worthington branch.

To develop a more comprehensive idea of library site users and their goals, I also conducted a literature search to create a complete picture of site users.

Context of Use

Many patrons are first directed to the site when visiting in person and guided by a librarian or library staff. All three librarians mentioned providing a significant amount of technology assistance as part of their roles, including help on navigating the online catalog and learning how to look up information on library services, since many patrons have limited technology and/or English literacy.

User Goals

Worthington Libraries’ patrons have several overarching goals when using the site.

Plan a visit

This includes physical branch addresses and hours of operation.

Ask a question

Many patrons seem to approach the library site in a similar fashion to visiting a physical branch: instead of searching for information themselves, they frequently reach out to ask questions by phone, online chat, or by submitting a question via the online help desk. These requests vary greatly in nature and can include recommendation requests, research topics, making a reservation on their behalf, reviewing a resume, or inquiring about a specific service.

Learn about free services

Public libraries remain highly relevant in a digital age by providing free services to the community, including reliable computer and internet access. All three librarians regularly coach patrons how to find information on the website for popular services, including:

• Study and meeting room reservations
• Printing, faxing, and scanning
• COVID-19 test kits
• Notary services
• English speakers of other languages (ESOL) classes
• Access to digital databases, like OverDrive (Libby)
• Voter registration information

Browse the catalog & reserve items

One of the library’s essential functions, patrons still make frequent use of the online catalog for materials in a variety of formats, including physical books, audio/e-books, and physical media (CDs/DVDs).

Personas

Most adults visiting Worthington Libraries have similar needs and can be broadly summarized in one primary persona, Priscila the Patron. Priscila’s goals are not mutually exclusive, and can apply to either secondary persona, Malika the Mom or Ignacio the Immigrant. 

Content & Taxonomy

Content Inventory

Having better understood the library site’s users and their primary tasks, I performed a content inventory on the existing Worthington Libraries site. This inventory tracked the site’s hierarchical structure, page titles, navigational link labels, URLs, and page headings or a summary of the page’s content in a spreadsheet. I also assessed what content needed to be added, deleted, moved, consolidated, pruned, or kept as-is.

Initial Sitemap

Based on my analysis of the content inventory, I proposed a sitemap to test against.

Assessing Proposed Changes

Assessing Taxonomy: Tree Testing

To evaluate my proposed navigation changes, I conducted a tree testing study using Treejack with 4 participants. This study was unmoderated and took less than 10 minutes to complete.

Successful tasks

• All 4 participants found how to reserve a study room, learn about printing services, and find a specific location’s address predictably
• 3 of 4 discovered how to find book recommendations, reserve an audiobook, and find the storytime schedule, and 1 went to the respective landing page 
• 3 of 4 successfully found how to schedule a notary appointment
• Half the participants utilized site search to check COVID-19 test availability
• Half the participants located the research guides section for helping a child with research on Native Americans, and 1 leveraged the database search

Challenging tasks

• All 4 participants assumed they could ask a librarian for a resume review under “Services” as opposed to “Help”
• Each participant took a different path to register for an event for their kids, and to find ESOL class schedules including, “Reserve a study room,” and “Today at the Library”

Recommended Revisions

• Add a link under “Services” to “Ask a librarian” to either redirect to the “Help” menu or relocate the information for contacting a librarian under “Services” instead of “Help.”
  • Alternatively, consider renaming the “Help” menu to “Contact us” or “Ask a Librarian”
• Feature site search more prominently in the masthead by changing the current dropdown that toggles between catalog and site search to something with a more visible label like radio buttons
• Consider adding audience-specific items under “Calendar” so users can find events without having to wade through every option

Homepage Wireframe

I implemented the changes from the tree testing by creating a wireframe of the homepage. This wireframe includes primary, secondary, and footer navigation, as well as content hierarchy using headings to group related content blocks, making it easier to skim.

Assessing Wireframes: First-Click Testing

Using the homepage wireframe, I conducted a first-click testing study using Chalkmark with 4 participants to evaluate the proposed menu and homepage structure. This study was unmoderated and took less than 10 minutes to complete.

Successful tasks

• All 4 participants successfully completed all but one task as predicted
• 2 of 4 participants or more used the links or sample featured content on the homepage itself to complete tasks like finding a research guide, learning about printing services, finding a book recommendation, finding the ESOL class schedule, accessing free COVID-19 tests, and reserving a study room
• When they didn’t use the homepage, participants frequently checked the pull-out links in the footer to find keywords that matched their needs

Challenging tasks

• Participants had different ideas of where they would find an audiobook they wanted to check out: 2 of 4 looked under “Resources & Databases” instead of simply searching the catalog or looking under “Books & Media”

Recommended Revisions

• It isn’t incorrect to find audiobook information under “Resources & Databases:” currently, the Worthington Libraries includes the Digital Downloads Collection as a database since it’s accessible through OverDrive’s Libby digital library app. Therefore, It’s unclear whether including a specific call-to-action for audiobooks would be beneficial to users.

Results

Finalized Content Analysis & Proposed Navigation Scheme

Repurposing Existing Content

Though the current site is up-to-date and well maintained, there are several places where content could easily be consolidated to keep navigation predictable and simple, especially for patrons that may lack computer literacy.

• Combining the “Download” (digital databases organized by format) and “Explore” (digital databases organized by topic) from the primary navigation into one entity that houses all digital databases.
• Putting “Staff Picks,” “Picks of the Year,” and “Title Lists” (groups of related titles for a specific purpose like preparing early readers) under one “Recommendations” page that describes each.
• Uniting “Schoolwork Guides” (resources for students on a topic) and “Subject Guides” (resources for adults on a specific topic) into one “Research Guides” page with the ability to filter by audience.
• Consolidating individual pages on ways to contact the library (like text, call, chat, and online form) listed under “Services” into one “Ask a Librarian” page
  • Updated from Treejack study: originally planned to move consolidated contact pages under “Help,” but all four users anticipated librarian contact information under “Services”

Reworking Content

Since the Worthington Libraries site has existed for some time, existing content can naturally lose its relevance and create additional “noise” for a user.

• Listing services that are implied as a separate page within the “Services” page, including entries for Bathrooms, Drinking Fountains, Vending Machines, and Outdoor Seating
• Separate page for “Locations” when they’re listed on the “Visit” landing page alongside the library hours
• Rework footer links to more closely mimic the primary navigation, providing exposed, redundant points-of-entry
  • Updated in Chalkmark study: though not reflected in the sitemap, the links represented in the homepage wireframe footer performed well with test participants, as they naturally gravitated towards the exposed child pages

Adding New Content

While most of the content could be repurposed and consolidated or pruned and reworked, additions came in the form of categories and chunks of content.

• Adding a new primary navigation element to highlight library services, since patrons consistently struggle to find it in its current place under “Visit.” This simple but significant change will allow for greater visibility and empower patrons to find their answers independently.
• Enhancing primary navigation landing pages by adding content that points to each child page in its hierarchy. For example, creating a landing page for the new, consolidated “Databases” that highlights different formats and topics, as well as the consolidated “Research Guides.”
• Changing the “Calendar” subcategories from topical event types like “DIY and Crafts,” or “Games” to audience-based categories including “Storytimes,” “Kids,” “Teens,” and “Adults”
  • Updated from Treejack study: originally planned on eliminating the subcategories and allowing users to filter from the primary “Calendar” page, but users had a difficult time finding where event information for kids was

Navigation

Keeping the site top-down and focusing on its hierarchy, the main point of focus is the primary navigation. Instead of the current hybrid scheme of task-based browsing using verbs like “Visit,” “Browse,” “Explore,” along with topical nouns like, “Calendar,” and “Help,” it’s recommended to use an ambiguous, topical scheme that uses simple vocabulary as compared below:

Despite appearing more verbose, this approach will benefit the wide variety of patrons, including those with minimal technology or English proficiency. It also reduces ambiguity of labels like “Explore” which could refer to exploring the physical library, exploring the world around with borrowed library gear,or exploring databases. Additionally, all primary navigation labels are nouns, creating unity between each unique section.

Finalized Sitemap

The final report with detailed synthesis can be found below, in the link and the document viewer.

Final Report

The final report can be found below, in the link and the document viewer.