We conducted extensive interviews and workflow analysis for the different types of patrons and the different types of libraries in the Pilot. These were drawn into Personas which were shared with all of the Pilot teams.
We facilitated concept and design workshops where we created preliminary concepts to begin putting in front of users for feedback.
After a prototype was created, we did a significant amount of usability testing, refinement, and re-testing to determine the best discovery experience for all kinds of library patrons.
Our testing included 1:1 usability testing with library patrons as well as eye tracking studies in the in-house usability lab at OCLC.
Once we were confident in the design direction, we refined the visual treatment which allowed for a significant amount of library branding and customization.
After releasing the pilot, we worked with partner libraries around the country to gather feedback and data on library patron requests and determined that the new search tool resulted in patrons discovering and requesting 114% more items through inter-library loan than before the pilot. This validated that our application successfully helped patrons find library items that they previously did not know where available to borrow.