UX Research / UX Design
Create a new feature for Libby that would be an enhancement and/ or aid the user.
The onboarding currently available for Libby is extremely limited and most public libraries have employed videos on how to use Libby for their patrons, created in-house. There are also numerous features that are not accessed by users that would enhance their experience while using Libby.
As we all know, great research projects start at the library! Since I am a Libby user, it was a matter of figuring out how to gather information and how to exhaust all options. I dug my heels in and got started on comparative analysis.
By running a competitive analysis of the competition I was able to see that there is a wide variety, but nothing that offers similar experiences for the same price point (free!). Each app has a specific market and target audience for the product so it wasn’t as cut and dry, as I thought. It seems that within reading apps most are affiliated with Amazon so there is crossover and internal e-commerce with the apps. However, I was able to see some possible areas for a new feature for Libby.
I built two surveys to introduce two different features that I thought would have a possibility for users: expanding tagging/saving ability to store the curated lists or creating a goal/ achievement feature(since it is introduced with the competition). Along with the separate prompts, the two groups had similar questions posed that were more observational about using the app and soliciting open-ended responses. I had staggered the questions to have a generic question with a more in depth question to see if that would provoke clarity with participants. I posted on social media, emailed contacts, and recruited strangers from various locations.
After reviewing the data from the surveys, I was able to start building my questions for the interviews. The interviews were conducted on Google Meet and were a mix of survey users and new recruits. I reviewed my survey data with the interviewees and addressed a few common areas for users. From my eight interviews, I got a more precise concept of needs vs desires for the project.
The data was sorted into themes: Recall (self-reported), User control, Icons, Book Tour, Misclicks/ Errors, Improvement(statements), and Head scratchers.
Libby gained users during COVID, but the onboarding was very limited. The majority of users used Overdrive before the switch and are finding the app switch not a smooth transition. Most users interact with Libby on their mobile, as a downloaded app. Along with this information, I gained some major insights into the Libby user.
These are the major jumping points to the user and the creation of the personas.
From my research, two distinct Libby users emerged in different age groups & different needs. Both had issues that could be addressed within the scope of the project.
After installing Libby on another personal device and taking screenshots as I went, I began laying out the additional (optional) onboarding that the research indicated. I reviewed and completed a design system analysis for Libby since there was nothing available online. Once I completed a rigorous sweep of preexisting Libby components, I started wireframes.
Sample of the Icons flow in Mid-Fi Wireframes
This is an additional flow from the final prototypes, of an optional onboarding for icons on the dashboard. (Click on images to view videos)
The wireframes were unmoderated and remote-tested using Maze. The focus was on recall and users' opinions using open-ended prompts, multiple choice, and scale with the new features. The majority of users had been recruited from the surveys and interviews portion of the research.
(Click on images to view videos)
The additional (optional) home page onboarding. The user is introduced to the features.
The new Libby user would have an optional onboarding tour of the various ways of selecting and viewing a book on Libby.
A revised introduction to tagging, since the current flow is awkward and stripped down.
