The library had replaced their aging catalog search with a brand new faceted search catalog powered by Endeca. They suspected that interface design had some usability issues, and wanted someone to conduct user testing with patrons in the branches, and then make recommendations.
They’re a smart bunch, most of them highly educated library scientists. I was lucky enough to have been assigned one to conduct the user research and we sought out the library’s personas in person in order to observe them looking for the physical items they already had in hand.
For example, one student had a DVD of the movie Milk, and we had them search the catalog for it while we observed and took notes.
