Baltimore County Public Library

Summary

The redesigned Baltimore County Public Library website was created using a lean UX approach. Due to this type of approach being more focused on experience design than on deliverables, it required a high level of collaboration.

The previous BCPL website was in desperate need of an overhaul, as many users found it difficult to navigate. Information was buried in some instances more than three levels deep; something that should not be the case for a public library. In accordance with the request from our customer, and feedback we gathered in surveys and card sorting exercises, we found it absoulutely necessary to overhaul the website's navigation.

Testing Our Hypothesis

With this project being our first dive into Lean UX, our team did some low cost quick user testing based on the assumptions we established at the beginning. Each team member created rough wireframe sketches and tested them on family and friends. Questions posed to those participating in the testing included questions like:

• How would you find out how to obtain a library card?
• How would you find information for checking out a digital device?

With everyone participating in conducting testing tasks, we found that it significantly descreased the possibility of bottlenecks, and increased everyone's level of understanding.

Refinement

Taking in all of the feedback from testing, I created a refined wireframe that addressed all of the issues we found in testing.

Launch Time

The redesigned Baltimore County Public Library website debuted in April of 2018 and featured numerous enhancements to usability and premiered the library's new branding. The site utilizes a responsive framework that facilitates a seamless experience across all viewing devices.

View the BCPL website.