Tripsaver + Tiny Café: a pop-up usability testing event
In November 2018, we launched a pop-up user research station event, Tiny Café, where we found out about our patrons’ knowledge of and experience with Tripsaver services.
Overview
Tiny Café invites our library users to get more involved with shaping library services and resources. During this pop-up event, we ask patrons to spend five to ten minutes answering usability questions or completing monitored tasks in exchange for free snacks and beverages. For the first Tiny Café, participants tested online services related to the library’s interlibrary loan and document delivery service, Tripsaver. Usability testing was conducted on November 9, 2018 in both Hill and Hunt Libraries.
Questions we asked and what we found out
Have you ever heard of Tripsaver?
Out of 24 participants, 8 of them had heard about Tripsaver and/or its services. 5 of the 8 participants who had heard of Tripsaver were graduate students.
Have you ever used Tripsaver services?
5 of the 8 participants who had heard about Tripsaver had also used Tripsaver services before. 4 of the 5 participants who had previously used Tripsaver services were graduate students.
How do library patrons interact with locating different types of resources that the Libraries do not have in our collections?
-
Books: 11 of 24 participants would use library services to request a book, with almost half of those participants using Tripsaver services. Others might locate a copy with help from the Ask Us staff (either online or in person) or use Amazon or Google for their searching. Participants also had varying ideas of how long the item might take to reach their preferred library for pick-up, ranging from one day to three weeks.
-
Articles: When the participants found an article the Libraries did not have access to, they were taken to a page that gave them the option to “Request a PDF via Tripsaver” of the article or “Chat Now for immediate assistance”. Most participants were able to discern the difference between the choices and remarked that their choice would be dependent upon the urgency of need for the article. Some participants also remarked that they were unfamiliar with the term “Tripsaver”.
Recommendations and Changes
-
Incorporate an information tooltip on all pages referencing “Tripsaver” to clarify what it is and promote better awareness and understanding of its services.
-
Consider adding an estimated delivery time for all items requested via Tripsaver.*
*We acknowledge that estimating delivery times for items of varying formats being delivered from different geographic locations might be somewhat tricky to do.
How We Did It
We conducted brief usability tests with 24 participants in both D. H. Hill, Jr. and Hunt Libraries lobbies near the Ask Us single service points. We set up the Tiny Café at D. H. Hill, Jr. Library in the morning and at Hunt Library in the early afternoon. Participants stayed between 5-10 minutes to complete testing and interviews and were incentivized with coffee and pastries. One staff member recruited patrons as they passed by. A second staff member facilitated the session, while a third recorded notes and asked occasional questions.
Tiny Café is an idea we have enthusiastically borrowed from the University of Arizona Libraries, who borrowed it from the University of Houston Libraries and from Penn State University Libraries.
