Brainery
Objective
For a mock project, my team of three designers was asked to strengthen the library's relationship with the communities it serves.The platform will allow professionals to learn new skills through an online learning community platform. Specifically, geared towards providing experienced professionals with 24-hour online library resources.
Team: Shalonda Forrest, Marc Burnett, Tyler Callahan
Roles: UX Designer, Interviewer, Researcher
Tools: Adobe XD, Sketch, Mural, Invision, and Xtensio
Understanding the Market
The research tool used to find our direct and indirect competitors was Owler.com. Owler is a database that allows you to put in an industry of interest and find similar businesses in that industry. Owler allowed me to decipher what direct competitors to use.
Getting to Know Industry Experts
SME, User Interviews
“How does the library remarket its existence?”
-Maya James, former NYPL learning fellow
“...I don't know what resources the library already offers…” “I would look into... what [does] the library have to offer in terms of like... things about technology... data science, or software or web development, you know?”
-Marcelino Velasquez, Georgetown student
Before figuring out who the library audience was we had to conduct subject matter expert interviews, to learn more about the needs of potential users of library services. During the SME interviews, we found that the library's hours of operation were not catering to the most affected audience, ages 40-50 years old. After conducting interviews we realized in order to solve the increasing unemployment rate, we have to offer users a 24-hour product that will service educational growth and career development.
Defining the User
We chose to use the affinity diagram method because it allowed me to have a clearer vision of who I was going to create for my persona. The method helped me be efficient and faster when it came to transferring information into Xtensio.
Creating A User
Through research, the team and I came to the conclusion 40-50-year-olds have the most trouble finding employment. The primary persona represents "The Lane Switcher. " Which is a working high school teacher trying to change careers, but struggling to find resources offered during his free time.
Problem
Online learning has become more common over the last few years for professionals. Experienced professionals are struggling to find a balance between working full time and cultivating new skills because there are no 24-hour educational resources available. They also cannot afford to spend time or money on university programs.
Sketching
Wireframes
Future Tasks
Finish Usability testing