Killing two birds with one stone: how to conduct UX research during library instruction

Abstract

Several user experience (UX) studies that the authors conducted reveal that library instruction affects not only students’ web behavior, but also improves their digital user experience on the library website. Few studies have investigated this important connection. In 2014 and 2015 we incorporated a variety of UX study methods into library instructional sessions. For a portion of each instructional session, students were asked to complete a series of information seeking tasks while a usability tool tracked and recorded individual student behavior. As expected, the this provided valuable insight which directly influenced improvement of the website. Additionally, the usability tools served as an assessment tool of information literacy skills. This presentation introduces several possibilities of merging UX research with library instruction. Methods of two separate studies, tools used, brief results and possible applications are discussed including practical tips that can be applied to both conduct UX research and assess information literacy skills.