User Experience Community of Practice (CoP)

Co-Chairs

The group is co-chaired by Jenny Morgan (Leeds Beckett University) and Caroline Barratt (Open University).

Jenny Morgan is Student Engagement Manager at Leeds Beckett University.  Jenny has worked in Academic Libraries for over 20 years and currently works in Student Engagement. Her work involves promoting the support and services provided by the library, recruiting and supporting Student Library Interns and using UX techniques to gather feedback about all areas of library services. 

Caroline Barratt is the Engagement and Insight Officer at The Open University Library working on evaluation of community perceptions and experience of Library Services to inform our service development. She is a Librarian (MLIS, University of South Carolina) and is UX Certified with a specialty in Research from the Nielsen Norman Group. She loves talking to students and learning about how what the library does supports their academic goals and dreams!

Definition of UX

UX is finding out about the behaviour and experiences of our users as they interact with our libraries.  It uses ethnographic methodologies to give us information on how our services and resources are being/not being used, highlighting not only positive experiences but frustrations and dissatisfaction on behalf of the user, pinpointing why this might be so.  Through data analysis, ideation and protyping we can then start to identify and make the necessary changes or come up with new designs to ensure our services, products and spaces are truly user centred.

Remit of the group

The UX Community of practice is more than just sharing knowledge, good practice and ideas.  It aspires to be a learning partnership amongst practitioners with a common interest (UX) who share experiences, learn from each other and build a sense of community.  We are open to library staff from a range of backgrounds, whether that be in academic liaison, customer services, systems, metadata and collections and also a range of experiences.

• To be a learning partnership amongst practitioners with a common interest in UX.  It will be a forum to share experiences, knowledge, learn from each other and build a sense of community.  This will be achieved via
  • The ALN UX JISCMail group
  • Meetings to be held at least three times a year, hosted and chaired online; virtual coffee meetings held between meetings and one hour training sessions on UX methodology.
  • The ALN UX CoP Teams channel through which members can share documents, ideas and experiences
• To explore, share and learn UX techniques which would enhance the library experience for users and customers using a shared learning approach
• To act as an advisory group ALN projects on UX, as required
• To share expertise from other relevant groups e.g. UXLibs
• To publicise the work and expertise of the group at a national level

Membership

Individuals from libraries within ALN who are involved with or have an interest in User Experience UX within their institution and who are responsible for reporting back on activities of the group. The group aims to create a supportive atmosphere underpinned by honesty, trust and confidentiality with the ethos of “No question is too stupid”.

The Group is open to individuals from a range of backgrounds including discovery interfaces, customer services, faculty librarians etc. All levels of experience in UX are welcome.

Joining a Group

If you are interested in joining one (or more!) of our groups, please check with your line manager first and then get in touch with the Development Managers. We can also let you know whether your institution is already represented on any of the groups.