Starter League Project
Project Summary: As a group project for a Starter League course, my team members and I set out to make libraries interesting for millennials. Or at least we thought that would be a good starting point, and so we set out to interviews millennials on their library usage, library impressions, basically all things library. The millennials, as technically savvy users, only saw the physical space as a barrier to entry - leaving many of the offerings that libraries have going unused.
My Role: UX Design and Research
Team Members: Marissa Monson, Courey Gruszauskas
Tools: Balsamiq, Axure, Report building, Lots of Sticky Notes, PPT
Process: User Interviews, Persona Building, Comparative Research, Usability Research, Building Wireframes/Prototypes, Card Sorting

Our focus for this project was working through UX techniques to validate how they built on each other. We started with simple brainstorming ideas and competitive analysis, and moved into more structured interviews, and surveys to gather quantitive and quantitative data. After our interviews we went into Persona development and established rough work flows for each.

Wireframing started up to flesh out our ideas and to make sure we were all on the same page. It was then necessary to create a sitemap - and a card sorting exercise to help the team group different offerings on the site. Prototypes were built and tested on users with three simple tasks to make sure the flow of the site made sense, and to gather any early feedback.

Through research the group decided to embrace the idea of making millennials aware of all the free goods and meeting spaces that our city has to offer...not just in the library, but throughout the city. These are goods and services that people just do not know are out there for use, and the best part is that they are free!

"You have the idea – that’s the trickiest part. Or at least, that’s what you thought. In today’s sharing economy you can find and pay for goods and services all over the city, from bikes to car rides to a place to stay on vacation. But where do you go when you are looking for free resources or a place to create something -- a place to gather?Gather is a website to uncover shared services in Chicago. The search-based digital experience will help millennials find what they are looking for by geo-locating where they can find and use free things including events spaces, classes, goods, and services.”