Background: As part of my recent UX postgraduate studies, I undertook a project aimed at improving the usability of the RMIT library site and referencing tools using previous research, concepts and feedback to determine the best design solution for the RMIT library’s online user experience. Research undertaken identified the problem statement: Users need to efficiently and effectively access and cite resources on the library website, in order to successfully fulfil their studies.

Deliverables: The deliverable was a high fidelity prototype of the solution and a presentation of the research outlining the approach.

Research and Methods: My approach was based on the UK design council’s double diamond methodology and was worked through in phases starting with a general problem statement, conducting research of the user, client and product and using the insights and empathy gained from that research to refine a more specific problem.

From there, ideas were generated to provide solutions and these were refined into prototyping the strongest solution for review and feedback before delivering a final product.

Developing solutions started with research, ideation and feedback.

Client feedback was overall positive, but asked for some more interactive elements to be included to make the site more dynamic, which we have included in the form of buttons and dropdowns in new call to action boxes.

From here, I documented current and future state models of the site. Several rounds of ideation were undertaken to explore the best way forward and the future state model showed a vastly simpler process for the user.

The prototype developed from the modelling featured adding advance search options to the library home page, lessening the use of popups on the results page and offering a different experience when a user selects an individual result.

The decision to move on to prototyping this concept was considered within a desirability, viability and feasibility framework, which is outlined in the slides below.