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Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners Resource Guide Collection

Elements of UX: A Librarian's Guide to User Experience Design

Draw a map of the library

If you're feeling gutsy, try this with your users. If you're not ready for that, think of some other places you could map (or just stick with your library) and try it out with colleagues.


Time commitment:
3 minutes

Ingredients:
3 different colored pens
Paper

Prompt for users:

  • Have three minutes? Draw me a map of the library.
  • Every sixty seconds, switch to a different colored pen (for instance: use red for one minute, then green for one minute, then black for the last minute).
    Note: Try to keep this consistent for everybody who draws a map. This way, you can color-code immediate ideas and last-minute thoughts.

cognitive map from a library in the UK
Example library map from a student in the UK.

What can be learned from this?

  • What's bringing people in?
  • What's most noticeable to them?
  • What do they use first (or most often)?
  • How do they interact with (or ignore) certain resources?
  • What aren't they using?