Meet The Players
The Quest for UX Research in a Cultural Institution
The Austin History Center
The Austin History Center (AHC) is Austin’s local history collection and archives for the Austin Public Library (APL). AHC maintains its own facilities and has a separate website. Recently, they have been renovating their buildings and have experienced multiple closures. They would like their collection to be more accessible online so everyone can find the information they need during their closures.
UT Austin UX/IA Team
UT Austin UX Team We are a group of UT Graduate students in the School of Information taking the Information Architecture and Design Course. Our team consisted of :
1 UX Researcher (me)
3 UX Designers
1 Taxonomist
Fun Fact about our Team ➽ We all enjoy early morning team meetings!
Project Problem Statement
The AHC needs a website redesign. Their current website has a lot of text on each page, making it essential for improved organization and restructure. The Austin Public Library uses most of its resources to maintain its main website, but the focus now will shift to revamping the Austin History website to ensure their information is searchable & easy to navigate.
Project Goals
Optimize searchability for archives and collections
Implement accessibility elements for individuals with diverse disabilities
Improve information structure, labels, categories, taxonomy, hierarchy
Enhance seamless website navigation, readability, findability and user task completion
After the stakeholder meeting we developed these goals that would become the framework for our project.
Challenge # 1
After our stakeholder meeting, it was indicated that we could not engage with users at the Austin History Center. Additionally, their facility would be closed for a month due to construction.
Challenge # 2
In speaking to my teammates about my idea for user interviews, most of them felt that they were not necessary because we'd have data from card sorting and tree testing. Their point was valid, but as a researcher, I naturally sought more info. I'm genuinely passionate about being able to back up insights. I began brainstorming other ways to collect data to support our conclusions.
Challenge # 3
I developed a 5-7 min, 14-question survey with Likert, demographic, and open-ended questions to distribute to AHC users. Our point of contact indicated that sending the survey out was not possible. To top it off, analytics were no longer retrievable for the current survey on their home page. I began to experience a great sense of urgency! 🥺 It was time to move forward and focus on the quest to gather more UXR. As the team's sole UX researcher, I needed to find a way to make our recommendations based on decisions founded on plenty of facts.
Overcoming Challenges
After our presentation, the stakeholders mentioned that we hit the nail on the head with our personas. It felt great to have made a favorable impact on the stakeholders, strengthening the validity of our recommendations through compelling storytelling!
The New Me
The new me is confident in my abilities in finding effective way to complete tasks. I’m comfortable with shaping a project with what currently exists.
Project Timeline- 10 Weeks
Client Visit - 1 day
Website Content Inventory & Audit - 2 weeks
Card Sort Recruitment and Launch -2 weeks
Client Findings Presentation- 1 day
Global Navigation Design -1 week
Tree testing recruitment and Launch- 1 week
2nd round of tree testing and sythesis for New Labels- 1 week
Visual Design brainstorming, taxonomy, hierarchy of labels, language- 1 week
User Observations at the Austin History Center - 1 week
Synthesis and analysis 1- week
Final Presentation to Stakeholders- 1 day
Project Methods
Labeling & Grouping Tests
Current Home page and Collections category
Old Site Map
Personas developed on UXPressia and redesigned on Figma
Proposed: Collections
Our proposed megamenu for Collections & Archives via Figma prototype
Our card sort revealed that 94% of participants grouped oral histories, audio, videos and photo labels together.
When we performed our tree test with a new proposed “Multimedia” category, 65% of participants agreed that oral histories, audio, videos and photos belong in one subcategory.
Old Home Page: Collections
Proposed Site Map
Site maps created using Figma
Personas
My Recommendations
Revise label terminology for better user understanding
Restructure and simplify the "Collections" category
Rename "Collections" to "Collections & Archives" for clarity
Rename "Outreach" to "Community Collections" for improved comprehension
Nest "Community Collections" under "Collections & Archives" for better categorization
Merge Photos, Audio, Videos and Oral Histories subcategories in one group by creating a“Multimedia Collections” subcategory
Introduce "Community Resources" in global navigation to condense "Collections & Archives" for improved organization
All of these recommendations were based on UXR results.
Deliverables
Old and new site maps
Tree testing and card sort insights
Iterations of navigation design