Oh Users, Where Art Thou?Dan Newton & Keith Compeau, SUNY Potsdam

Techniques• Building Relationships• Employing Radical Trust• Enhancing User Experience based on

Feedback

Building Relationships

A Corporate Mindset of Feedback

• Traditional suggestion/comments box (less than 20 per year)

• Getting student input for decision on purchasing furniture 2007

• Honors students as focus group

Stressbusters• Started December 2006 by Jenica Rogers and

Keith Compeau• Games, toys, decorations, candy in our lobby

to give students a way to blow off steam during the cram of finals week

Inklings of Web 2.0Prior to the Fall 2009 semester the library’s application of web 2.0 technologies was limited to:

• Flickr • Wordpress blog

The idea to expand their use had surfaced, but it had not moved forward.

Web 2.0 Makeover• Creation of Facebook and Twitter

accounts• Centralized staff participation by

using RSS feeds to populate Facebook and Twitter automatically

• Benefits: Less for Library staff to learn, less maintenance for accounts, promotes interaction

Radical Trust

What is Radical Trust?• “…a term used to describe the confidence that

any structured organization…has in collaboration and empowerment within online communities.”*

• We took this definition a step further by applying it not only online but in person as well

*Wikipedia contributors, "Radical trust," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radical_trust&oldid=307959797 (accessed June 8, 2010).

Radical Trust & Your Environment• The workplace environment is the key to

making Radical Trust possible• Our director has created an environment that

allows us to think creatively, take measured risks, and not be afraid of failure

Mini Golf

• We are using a real putter and real golf balls despite the potential for golf related carnage

• After 4 years no problems have been reported, and nothing has been broken

Silent Study Room (fail)• The goal was to provide a space for students

who need an absolute minimal amount of distractions to focus on their studies

• This room has been a constant source of frustration for students and staff

Look for Inspiration Everywhere

Graffiti the Library Safety• Externally: Low VOC Paint (Campus Health and

Safety officer), Flame spread rating (Director of Facilities Planning)

• Internally: No ladders, limited number of participants at one time, ventilation, and optional gloves and facemasks

Graffiti the Library

Enhancing User ExperienceBased on Feedback

Gathering Feedback• Communicating outside the (suggestion) box• Student initiated• Library initiated

If students communicate creatively, why shouldn’t we?

I will make a suggestion…

Addressing User Complaints• Rearranged collections and study spaces for

better sound management• Increased seating space in both group and

individual study areas • Added group work computers and a quick

print station

College Library User Survey• Several years ago a LibQual survey

was conducted but they are too expensive to conduct annually

• At best we have relied on gross statistics and casual observations

• At worst we’ve adopted a “Father Knows Best” attitude

Creating the Survey• Set out to create one conceptually based on the

NACUFS Customer Satisfaction Benchmarking Survey

• Our students already familiar with the format• Ask for both satisfaction and importance• Assisted by our campus Office of Institutional

Effectiveness• IRB approval process• Achieved +95% confidence interval (n=406)

Link to survey

Satisfaction & Use

Study Spaces

Common Complaints

“Don’t ask a question you don’t want the answer to”

• We received 339 specific suggestions (or thoughts)• 17% (59) were requests for longer hours• The need for more computers made up the second

largest group of suggestions at 13% (45)• 7.5% complained about noise levels and 6.8% about

library temperature• Approximately 5% of comments were positive or

suggesting no changes

Conclusions

Conclusion• From 2008-2009 to 2009-2010 Library use was up by

17.5%• Yet some suggestions are still out of our reach…

Where are our users?

They’re Here…

Here…

…And Here!

Questions?

Contact Us:

Dan Newton - newtondt@potsdam.edu

Keith Compeau - compeakw@potsdam.edu