Service pages: a balancing act
Ever tried navigating a library website only to get lost in a maze of jargon and too much information? Stanford Libraries faced exactly that challenge, during a major website redesign project aimed at improving user experience.
My role? As a member of the library web team, I oversaw the migration of our service pages, and let me tell you, it was quite the journey.
At the outset, our leadership team identified over 100 service pages to migrate, emphasizing the need to showcase the library’s extensive range of offerings. But here's the twist: one of our major goals for the website redesign was to reduce our content. Sounds contradictory, right? Well, that's where our journey began.
To tackle this contradiction, I dove headfirst into addressing our assumptions. Did every service truly need its own page to showcase the library’s breadth of offerings? After reflection, our true priorities became clear: we wanted users to find what they needed quickly and we wanted users to know that the library offers a lot of amazing services.
Enter UX magic: heuristic evaluation and usability testing ✨
We utilized usability best practices to evaluate several of our most popular service pages and observed real users as they navigated them. It quickly became evident that users were grappling with two major issues: confusing jargon and information overload. Our pages were filled with terms that didn’t quite click and too much "just-in-case" info that buried the actions we wanted users to make. Want to hear my favorite user quotes, like ever?
“I have not the slightest clue what [connect to e-resources] means.”
“I don't want to read all of this. Where's the button?”
Our solution?
We translated library-speak into plain language and used iterative usability testing to really help us refine the language. "Interlibrary borrowing" became "borrow from another library." “Connect to e-resources” became “avoid paywalls”.
We revamped the service page layout to prioritize benefits. Take, for instance, our approach to the "Borrow from another library" service page. Instead of starting the page with a detailed step-by-step guide on how to request an item from another library, we began with
If we don’t have an item in our collection, we can often get it from another library. Libraries across the world will send books to Stanford for you to borrow.
Immediately following this introduction, we included a prominent button linking directly to the request form. This strategic layout effectively highlighted the service's utility from the start. While I wish I could take credit for this strategy, comparative analysis guided us to this effective layout.
Beyond simplifying language, we streamlined content by cutting redundancies while still ensuring users had control over the details they needed. We didn’t delete the detailed step-by-step guide on how to request an item; instead, we moved it down the page for those who might need it.
Navigation also received a makeover, with popular services upfront and a handy A-Z index for thorough browsing—striking the perfect balance between showcasing our full range and enhancing user-friendliness.
The results? Drumroll, please! 🥁
Users found the new layout easier to navigate and appreciated the clear, no-nonsense language. We managed to slim down from over 100 pages to a sleek set of just 30—talk about efficiency! Even our leadership team and content creators were impressed with our consistent gathering of direct feedback from our awesome users.
In the end, we successfully balanced user needs with the library's mission. So, next time you’re browsing Stanford Libraries online, know that behind every click is a dedicated team committed to making your digital library experience top-notch. Happy exploring!
