Summary
Since 2017 I’ve served as UNC Libraries’ Product Owner of the new Library Catalog. This collaborative project, known as TRLN Discovery and built through cooperation with Duke and NCSU, replaced the libraries’ aging public catalog back end and interface. Try it yourself. The catalog is used by almost two million visitors per year to find Library materials.
My Role
As UNC’s Product Owner for the catalog, I work closely with POs at our partner institutions to gather and evaluate user needs, prioritize development tasks, and communicate with stakeholders. Under my leadership and advocacy, project staff built a roadmap of twice-monthly usability testing with results communicated to stakeholders and integrated into development. Our research reports, pulled from a variety of methodologies, always make practical recommendations to stakeholders and administration. Whenever possible, I invite those stakeholders to witness a test in progress. I find this invaluable for building a case to make a change. Since the product launch in 2019 I’ve worked to prioritize fixes & improvements, gather continual stakeholder input, and manage complex software updates.
Methods & Tools Used
- Agile workflows
- Qualtrics: Surveys to gather feedback and user needs.
- Optimal Workshop’s Chalkmark: First-click testing on UI concepts
- Observational Tests
- Interviews
- Log & Analytics Analysis
Sample Research Report
Final report of an observational study
Representative of many other studies from this project.