Indiana University Libraries - Bloomington
Usability Working Group

Purpose/Charge

The Indiana University Libraries Usability Working Group (UWG) will inform, facilitate and promote usability and accessibility initiatives for online services (e.g., digital collections, the Libraries' website and intranet, etc.) provided by the Bloomington Libraries in support of teaching, learning and research. The UWG will bring together usability practitioners from the Libraries and serve an advisory role for user assessment issues by providing guidance and coordination for usability and accessibility activities conducted to improve the online services offered by the Bloomington Libraries.

Goals

• Serve as a forum for communication, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing among usability practitioners in the Bloomington Libraries
• Promote awareness of usability concepts and techniques and foster a culture that values user-centered design in the Bloomington Libraries
• Develop effective strategies, policies and tools for ongoing user assessment
• Establish usability and accessibility guidelines and best practices
• Establish guidelines for Human Subjects Committee (HSC) approval
• Promote the publication and presentation of usability-related research within the Libraries and to the greater community of practice
• Identify and/or provide user assessment-related training needs and opportunities

Activities

• Compile a usability and user-centered design knowledge base to include:
  • Resources outlining basic concepts and techniques of user-centered design and iterative usability testing including methodologies, benchmarks and metrics, data analysis, etc.
  • Guidelines for needs assessment (pre-project) and outcome-based evaluations (post-project)
  • Example assessment evaluation plans, data analysis tools and final reports to share within the group and with others within the Libraries undergoing or interested in assessment
  • Documentation of HSC requirements for exempt, expedited and full review in a concise manner relevant to user assessment practices only and provide examples of the process
• Investigate ways to streamline HSC approval process such as a "blanket" approval for the Libraries if application meets certain criteria
• Collaborate with University Information Technology Services (UITS) Adaptive Technology Center for accessibility testing
• Collaborate with the Libraries Assessment Committee (Lynn Hufford, chair)
• Participate in existing outreach opportunities such as the DLP Brown Bag series or create UWG-focused outreach opportunities such as workshops, forums, etc.
• Identify and cultivate library employees who are interested in user testing and user-centered design techniques to assist or lead in library-wide testing

Membership

The Usability Working Group will consist of Bloomington Libraries and University Information Technology Services faculty and staff directly involved with online library services. Members will serve on an annual basis. Membership includes:

• Tara Bazler, tbazler@indiana.edu
  Manager, User Experience Group, UITS
• Michelle Dalmau (Chair), mdalmau@indiana.edu
  Digital Projects and Usability Librarian, Digital Library Program
• Julie Hardesty, jlhardes@indiana.edu
  Usability & Interface Specialist, Digital Library Program
• Mark Notess, mnotess@indiana.edu
  Development Manager & Usability Specialist, Digital Library Program
• Mary Popp, popp@indiana.edu
  Public Services Librarian, Library Information Technology

Administration

The Usability Work Group will communicate via listserv (lib_uwg-l@indiana.edu) and all working documents including meeting agendas and notes, reports, etc. will be posted to a wiki site hosted by the DLP (http://wiki.dlib.indiana.edu/confluence/x/tBo) and managed by members of the UWG.

The UWG will meet monthly.