PROBLEM
Patrons of the Seattle Central Library (SPL) are oftentimes amazed by its beautiful architecture and abundance of resources. However, given the complexity of architecture and resources, finding resources in the library’s physical space is difficult and confusing.
OUTCOME
In order to address this problem, we designed a mobile app to help the patrons of the Seattle Public Library easily explore and locate its variety of resources in the library space.
How might we design a mobile app to help patrons of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) explore and easily locate resources in the physical library space?
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Stakeholder Interview
Patron interviews
Observation, Patron Interviews
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Online research
Heuristic Analysis
Existing product sitemap
Analogous product analysis
Online Research: Each area of the library building has an assigned function, or contain only a specific type of resource.
On-site Observation: Because of the space-functionality connection discussed above, we had to travel back and forth to different areas in order to locate all the resources/information we were looking for. Above are photos of the brochures we gathered all over the library.
Current Website Sitemap: The current website of the SPL lists out all available resources but doesn’t show where they are in the physical space.
Librarian Interview: The librarians in smaller branches often need to direct patrons to the Central Library for resources. They encountered difficulties giving patrons directions to help them locate the resources in the Central Library.
Patron Interviews: The patrons still find it hard to locate resources even in the smaller branches.
DESIGN OPPORTUNITY
Based on research, we identified our design opportunity:
How might we design a mobile App to help the patrons of Seattle Public Library explore and easily locate resources in the physical library space?
Explanation of Indoor navigation powered by Bluetooth Beacon. Image sourced from kontakt.io.
OVERVIEW
After ideation, we decided on 4 main features for our app: Home, Map, Help, and My Library. I was responsible for designing the 2 main flows of the app:
Below is an overview of my building & refining process forthe 2 flows.
TEAM EFFICIENCY
I learned to use methods such as shared to-do-lists and critique documentation to organize the team's progress and improve efficiency.
COMMUNICATION
I matured my skill to assertively communicate with my team in a timely manner and address disagreement with mutual compromise.
COURAGE
I gained the. courage to give bold ideas that seem to be challenging but potentially fruitful a try.
LESS & BETTER
The initial project goal was to propose a comprehensive overview of the library app due to the demand of our stakeholder. However, I wish to focus on optimizing the 2 main navigation flows and really push for the details such as edge cases, affordance and transition.
IMPROVE MAP DESIGN
I wish to conduct more user testing and iterate on the map design including the label and graphics.
EXPAND THE SCALE
If we were to have more time, I wish to dive deeper into how to scale the design to more branches.