Websites are for People

Library websites are notoriously hard to use. Librarians and library staff spend much of their time training our patrons to use our online tools, instead of helping to develop deeper skills. While our tools are often complex, they seem to have been designed for the computers they run on rather than the people who use them. This issue has rightfully come to the forefront of the library world in recent years.

The usual debate is between making our tools so simple that anyone can use them, or training our patrons to use the complex tools. But there is middle ground here. We can make our tools easier without losing the power that much of their complexity brings. But we need to shift the burden of teaching how to use the tools from our staff to the tools themselves.

Transcript

1. WEBSITES ARE FOR PEOPLE MATTHEW REIDSMA GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
2. http://sitorsquat.com
11. These wonderfully intricate things we build have become part of people’s lives, things they use every day. “ Trent Walton “Tongue-Tied,” The Manual, Vol. 2, 2011. p.70
12. “ Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is the one and only cardinal sin in design. Dieter Rams
13. “ Kendra Shimmell People may think that design is about screens, objects, or logos, but it’s actually about people. https://twitter.com/MrAlanCooper/status/263730888678993921
14. Your members don’t come to the library to find books, or magazines, journals, films or musical recordings. “ Hugh Rundle http://hughrundle.net/2012/04/04/libraries-as-software-dematerialising-platforms-and-returning-to-first-principles/
15. They come to hide from reality or understand its true nature. They come to find solace or excitement, companionship or solitude. “ Hugh Rundle http://hughrundle.net/2012/04/04/libraries-as-software-dematerialising-platforms-and-returning-to-first-principles/
16. PERSPECTIVE A BROADER
17. “The Space Between You and Me,” The Manual, Issue #1, 2012. The Web is people all the way down. “ Frank Chimero
18. https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
19. https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaFjNyLuENk
22. WHERE AM I? WHAT CAN I DO HERE? HOW DID I GET HERE? WHERE CAN I GO? HOW DO I GET THERE? Nievergelt, J. & Weydert, J. “Sites, modes, and trails: telling the user of an interactive system where he is, what he can do, and how to get to places.” Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1987.
23. WHERE AM I? WHAT CAN I DO HERE? HOW DID I GET HERE? WHERE CAN I GO? HOW DO I GET THERE? Nievergelt, J. & Weydert, J. “Sites, modes, and trails: telling the user of an interactive system where he is, what he can do, and how to get to places.” Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1987.
24. WHERE AM I? WHAT CAN I DO HERE? HOW DID I GET HERE? WHERE CAN I GO? HOW DO I GET THERE? Nievergelt, J. & Weydert, J. “Sites, modes, and trails: telling the user of an interactive system where he is, what he can do, and how to get to places.” Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1987.
25. WHERE AM I? WHAT CAN I DO HERE? HOW DID I GET HERE? WHERE CAN I GO? HOW DO I GET THERE? Nievergelt, J. & Weydert, J. “Sites, modes, and trails: telling the user of an interactive system where he is, what he can do, and how to get to places.” Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1987.
26. WHERE AM I? WHAT CAN I DO HERE? HOW DID I GET HERE? WHERE CAN I GO? HOW DO I GET THERE? Nievergelt, J. & Weydert, J. “Sites, modes, and trails: telling the user of an interactive system where he is, what he can do, and how to get to places.” Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1987.
27. JOURNEYS USER
28. Nievergelt, J. & Weydert, J. “Sites, modes, and trails: telling the user of an interactive system where he is, what he can do, and how to get to places.” Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1987. “ The order in which a user visits various sites is a rela onship among the sites which is likely to be important for the current task. Jürg Nievergelt
29. Even simple tools take me to master. ... Taming complexity is a partnership between those who design and those who use. “ Don Norman Living with Complexity, p. 60.
30. GUIDES AN INTERFACE THAT
32. French Meadow, MLPS airport. (Good food, crummy ordering experience)
34. Owen, David. “The Psychology of Space: Can a Norwegian firm solve the problems of Times Square?” The New Yorker, 88 (44), 2013. p.26 I have a friend who had a sheepdog, and he said whenever he had a party it would herd the guests. “ Craig Dykers
35. It would tap their ankles and their knees, un l, by the end of the evening, everyone at the party was in one corner. “ Craig Dykers Owen, David. “The Psychology of Space: Can a Norwegian firm solve the problems of Times Square?” The New Yorker, 88 (44), 2013. p.26
36. The dog was happy, but the important thing is that nobody no ced. As architects, I think, we have to try to be like the sheepdog at the party. “ Craig Dykers Owen, David. “The Psychology of Space: Can a Norwegian firm solve the problems of Times Square?” The New Yorker, 88 (44), 2013. p.26
37. https://twitter.com/johnmaeda/status/292249488876240898
41. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiny-tower/id422667065?mt=8
42. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM
43. http://tapbots.com
45. http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/nsmb/0/3 It’s designed so that whatever you do, you’ll get the mushroom. “ Shigeru Miyamoto
57. http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2322-design-decisions-new-basecamp-blank-slates
61. http://www.lib.uconn.edu/services/ill/AboutDDILL.htm
69. http://whitneyhess.com/blog/2012/02/27/don-draper-is-the-antithesis-of-user-experience/ User experience isn’t about expert intui on, it’s about expert listening. “ Whitney Hess
70. http://libtechconf.org/program_overview/early-bird-sessions
73. weaveux.org
74. THANKYOU