Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and Communication
Website redesigns can be contentious and fraught in any type of organization, and libraries are no exception. Coming to consensus on priorities and design decisions is nearly impossible, as different groups compete to ensure their subject or specialty area is represented. To keep projects on track a...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Code4Lib
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Code4Lib Journal |
| Online Access: | http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/12127 |
| _version_ | 1818279014087786496 |
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| author | Tara Wood Cate Kompare |
| author_facet | Tara Wood Cate Kompare |
| author_sort | Tara Wood |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Website redesigns can be contentious and fraught in any type of organization, and libraries are no exception. Coming to consensus on priorities and design decisions is nearly impossible, as different groups compete to ensure their subject or specialty area is represented. To keep projects on track and on time, libraries may give a few staff members the authority to make all of the decisions, while keeping user research limited to a small number of usability tests. While these tactics are sometimes necessary, at best they can leave many feeling left out of the process, and at worst, can result in major oversights in the final design.
Participatory design methods can bring users and stakeholders into the design process and ultimately lead to a better design and less friction in the project. The authors share their experience and lessons learned using participatory design techniques in a website redesign project at a large, multi-location academic library, and how these techniques facilitated communication, shaped design decisions, and kept a complex, difficult project on track. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T23:26:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-506236e226ab438585b15cdc7c07c2b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1940-5758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T23:26:35Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Code4Lib |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Code4Lib Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-506236e226ab438585b15cdc7c07c2b62022-12-22T00:08:02ZengCode4LibCode4Lib Journal1940-57582017-01-013512127Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and CommunicationTara WoodCate KompareWebsite redesigns can be contentious and fraught in any type of organization, and libraries are no exception. Coming to consensus on priorities and design decisions is nearly impossible, as different groups compete to ensure their subject or specialty area is represented. To keep projects on track and on time, libraries may give a few staff members the authority to make all of the decisions, while keeping user research limited to a small number of usability tests. While these tactics are sometimes necessary, at best they can leave many feeling left out of the process, and at worst, can result in major oversights in the final design. Participatory design methods can bring users and stakeholders into the design process and ultimately lead to a better design and less friction in the project. The authors share their experience and lessons learned using participatory design techniques in a website redesign project at a large, multi-location academic library, and how these techniques facilitated communication, shaped design decisions, and kept a complex, difficult project on track.http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/12127 |
| spellingShingle | Tara Wood Cate Kompare Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and Communication Code4Lib Journal |
| title | Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and Communication |
| title_full | Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and Communication |
| title_fullStr | Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and Communication |
| title_full_unstemmed | Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and Communication |
| title_short | Participatory Design Methods for Collaboration and Communication |
| title_sort | participatory design methods for collaboration and communication |
| url | http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/12127 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tarawood participatorydesignmethodsforcollaborationandcommunication AT catekompare participatorydesignmethodsforcollaborationandcommunication |