We’re gearing up for a website redesign at Queens Library, so I headed to hear Jeff Wisniewski, Web Services Librarian at the University of Pittsburgh, speak about things to avoid and things to embrace in the overhaul process.

Wisniewski started off by noting bad reasons and good reasons to initiate redesign. Bad ones included boredom with current site and “my boss says I have to” while good reasons included:

• navigation is dysfunctional
• difficult to update
• “hopelessly sick” code
• poor usability
• site not performing according to goals and objective

Wisniewski stated that users typically dislike redesigns, citing Facebook as an example, and  work through the five stages of user grief (denial, anger,  bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance).

Libraries often fail to account for assessment time before redesign. Where do users go on your sites? He suggested checking out Google Analytics and Clicky.  If a usability study hasn’t been done recently, do one now. Find and document current page rank. And while he suggested reaching a consensus on goals, he advised: “If you can avoid committees, do so.”

Wisniewski discussed that users and librarians have different expectations for sites. It makes more sense to design for the user and expect the librarian, an information seeking pro, to adjust.  He also advocated exploring “outside the box” options like content management systems, blogs, and wikis. (I later attended a “tiny tech” session where many smaller and rural libraries in Kansas are using WordPress blogs as library websites, but more on that later.)

It’s also a good idea to look at sites other than library sites because user expectations of what library sites should do are based on the web as a whole.  Further, make sure to have specific measurable goals of what the site should do.  Define clear paths: what are the primary functions of your site? Design around these tasks.

I was scribbling down the previous sentence when I heard, “Is anyone here from Queens?” I looked up and it took me a few seconds to register that I was looking at my library’s website.  I raised my hand and said, “Oh! Um, uh … yeah!” It then became somewhat mortifying when  Wisniewski said, “What? You don’t know?”  I was surprised the site was mentioned and that surprise grew when Wisniewski held it up as a good example of a site that defined its primary function as finding materials and then designed around supporting that task.

As an institution with a staff of experts, we should draw on our remarkable capacity for content. Wisniewski also said, “Cut and paste should die” and libraries should make sure all text and content is written in such a way that it is optimized for the web. Don’t be lazy! Rewrite and tweak.

Lastly, be as transparent as possible, and consider communicating about the process through a blog or wiki (example: Cook Library Website Redesign).

Usability links:

• Useit.com
• Usability.gov
• User Interface Engineering