Usage of the Libraries Website on Smart Phones

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Usage of the Libraries Website on Smart Phones

• - Arpit Bansal
• - Richard Cau
• - Deepa Prabhu

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OUTLINE

• METHODS WE USED
• WHO WE INTERVIEWED
• PRELIMINARY RESULTS
• MOCK-UPS AND SUGGESTIONS
• FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
• TIME TABLE
• QUESTIONS

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METHODS WE USED

• INTERVIEWS TO OBTAIN USER FEEDBACK
• Generic questions about smart phone usage
• Attempts to find a book
• Ease of use and mobile site interface usability
• EXPERT ADVICE FOR INTERFACE EVALUATION
• Consulted with faculty member with real-world
  smart phone philosophy design experience
• COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INTERFACE
• Looked at other library mobile sites from UCR,
  MIT, NCSU, and Rice University

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WHO WE INTERVIEWED

• UNDERGRADUATES (2 candidates)
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• GRADUATES (6 candidates)
• ICS
• Education
• Art and Design
• International Students
• FACULTY (2 candidates)
• History
• ICS

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PRELIMINARY RESULTS - 1

• SEARCH OPTION FOUND AMBIGUOUS
• Difficult to differentiate between find books,
  databases, and search
• List of search results are difficult to sift
  through
• PAGES LINK TO FULL SITES (not mobile-friendly)
• Course Guides, Find Books, and some Databases
• Main page was not automatically formatted for
  mobile screen dimension on some smart phones
  (phone browser error?)
• HOW DO I OPTION (DISLIKE ?)
• Videos not preferred

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PRELIMINARY RESULTS - 2

• JARGON USED
• Not all users know them (i.e. UC E-links)
• FIND BOOKS OPTION LOADS WORLDCAT
• Mobile site exists as well as an app
• SOME OPTIONS SEEM UNNECESSARY
• We will go over them later in the presentation
• EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS FINE ?

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MOCK-UP GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

• NEW ADDITIONS
• Will go over later
• REPLACED
• Ask a Librarian
• How Do I
• Find Books
• Search
• Tell Us What You Think
• RETURN TO MAIN SITE
• Needed on each sub-page
• Should not rely on browsers BACK button

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SUGGESIONS FIND BOOKS

• REMOVE FIND BOOKS ICON
• User Melvyl or AntPac Search Bar on Top
• Search bar suggested by interviewees

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ODD ERROR WITH FIND BOOKS?
Smart phone loads Full WorldCat Site
PC Browser loads Mobile WorldCat Beta
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SUGGESTIONS HOURS AND LOCATIONS
UCI only lists TODAYS's Hours
Would be better if it listed Weekly Hours (from
UCR)
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SUGGESTIONS CONTACT US

• CREATE CONTACT US PAGE
• Can incorporate the Ask Librarians page
• Rather than sub-options, just lists out
  information
• Include information for Library Front Desk as
  well as Librarian
• INFORMATION NECESSARY
• Phones numbers (text and call)
• E-mail
• Option to chat

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SUGGESTIONS NEWS AND EVENTS
Have a News and Events feed which highlights
new book arrivals, events, and library related
news for interested users (idea and image from
Rice University)
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SUGGESTIONS DATABASES

• GENERAL TRENDS OBSERVED
• ICS majors do not use it as often
• Majors in the sciences and humanities use them
  more
• INCORPORATION OF MOBILE VERSIONS
• Some databases have mobile sites
• Build better interface for those that do not?

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SUGGESTIONS CONNECT FROM OFF-CAMPUS
INTERVIEWEES LIKE IT! Many use their own 3G/4G
Network, this allows them to use on-campus
resources from off-campus
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SUGGESTIONS COURSE GUIDE

• NOT MANY INTERVIEWEES USED THIS
• Not on their smart phones anyways
• SITE IS NOT MOBILE FRIENDLY
• Loads a page suited for a PC browser
• PROPOSED SUGGESTIONS FROM INTERVIEWEES
• Link to EEE
• This way, course information will be dynamic
• Can retrieve relevant course information without
  sifting through site

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SUGGESTIONS FLOOR PLANS AND SERVICES
Supply a general Directory floors of a library
Floor maps may be useful (idea and images from
UCR)
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SUGGESTIONS FAQ

• HAVE COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
• Have text questions and solutions
• INTERVIEWEES PREFER TEXT OVER VIDEOS
• Want to find answers to questions as soon as
  possible
• Do not want to watch whole video to find one
  point of interest

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SUGGESTIONS GO TO FULL WEBSITE
Hard to notice Does not
look clickable
Button is more noticeable
(idea and image from NCSU)
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FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

• BOOK CART
• Keep track of books of interest (i.e. using
  cookies)
• APP VERSIONS OF MOBILE SITE
• CHECK COMPUTER AVALIABILITY
• See what computers in the libraries are free for
  use
• CUSTOMIZATION FOR USER PREFERENCES
• Have only options that users want on their mobile
  page
• SPEECH TO TEXT/COMMAND FUNCTIONALITY
• Voice command interface

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REMAINING TIME TABLE
Week Activity Personnel
9 11/22 Pre-final Presentation All
9 11/23 - 11/24 Determine if additional surveys are needed All
9 11/25 11/26 Thanksgiving Break All
10 Final analysis on pilot test interviews Arpit
10 Final analysis on ICS student interviews Deepa
10 Final analysis on Faculty and remaining student inteviews Richard
Final Final report Section breakups TBD All
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QUESTIONS?