Module 4

Introduction

User Experience Design starts with research to understand the user perspective, so it will be helpful for you to complete User Experience Research and Civic Tech module before starting this module.

Now that insights from user research have helped clarify the problem from the user perspective, it is time to design a tool, system, or service to address their needs. This module walks you through the process of creating information tools that address those identified needs by applying the steps of generating ideas, prototyping, testing, and sustaining your work.

In this module, you will learn how to:

Convert user research data into design ideas
Leverage library resources to create and iterate a prototype.
Apply user testing methods with patrons to improve and revise prototypes
Define the practical limits of maintaining civic tech tools and services.

Lessons

These four lessons break down the design process. They will be most helpful if you take time after each lesson to complete the related step in the activity below.
Two case studies provide examples of applying UX design from student projects.

Lesson on Ideation strategies- how to have a really good idea

Get introduced to strategies for generating innovative solutions to design challenges through expanding and exploring the potential solution space before focussing on a specific solution.

Lesson on Prototyping- How to make an idea real

Learn how to start building a solution, even before you understand how it will work, by applying iterative cycles.

Lesson on User Testing- How to collect helpful feedback

Practice tactics that will help you collect the feedback you need to make iterative improvements on your prototype.

Lesson on Designing for Sustainability- How to right-size your solutions

Understand your org’s capacity for maintaining information tools; what can you invest in long-term and how can you apply those constraints to your design?

Case Study: Using information to keep drains clear in Lansing, Michigan

Students apply their user research outcomes to explore innovative ways to engage residents in an archive of public meeting documents hosted by the library.

Case Study: Fostering engagement with public records in Lansing, Michigan

Students apply their user research outcomes to explore innovative ways to engage residents in an archive of public meeting documents hosted by the library.

Case Study: Helping residents explore parks in Ann Arbor, Michigan

A student team incorporates feedback from residents to improve an app designed to help them find parks in their city.

Activity

This activity is broken down into four steps, each with a worksheet to guide you. We assume that you have a clearly identified, user-centered problem to work from. If not, module 3 will help you develop one that you can use in this set of activity set.

Two worksheets will help you generate lots of diverse ideas. Both are designed to be used in a team, so gather a couple people to help you ideate ways to address your “How Might We…” statement. You can try one or both of these activities. They take about 15 minutes each.
The prototyping guide will help you get started on turning an idea into something more tangible. Set aside about 30 minutes for this activity. It requires some preparation in collecting materials.
The User Testing protocol worksheet will help you identify the feedback you need and design questions and prompts to learn from people trying out your prototype.
The sustainability checklist ensures that you have considered the long-term requirements and expectations for implementing and sustaining your prototype.

Additional Resources

Here are a few additional resources for examples and guidance on designing civic tech for libraries.

A Civic Initiative About Information: The Civic Lab at the Skokie Public Library
Design Thinking for Libraries
A collaboration of Chicago Public Library and the Public Library of Aarhus to provide examples of design thinking in libraries, as well as pros and cons of this approach.
Library as Studio
A resource from Richland Library that shows how to think about the library as a space for creative problem solving.
Rapid Prototyping in UX Design
A long video that covers all aspects of prototyping.
The CUTgroup Book
Citizen User Testing (CUT) was pioneered in Chicago, but has become a standard for how to conduct user testing of civic technologies