The University of Alberta Library website got a major refresh with a new look and feel that aligns with the university’s web style and brand standards.
Overview
Until very recently, the Library website looked very different from the rest of the University of Alberta sites. Library staff have maintained the site independently for many years, which has evolved organically to serve the library’s complex and unique needs.
The challenge
However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the site looking modern and fresh. The outdated look and feel of the library website also created a jarring user experience for our students, faculty and staff as they moved between our site and the majority of others that had adopted the university’s web brand standards. It was time for a change.
Our goal
Recognizing the need for alignment, this redesign was a crucial first step in fostering a sense of belonging within the university community. By creating a cohesive look and feel, we aim to encourage engagement and collaboration, reinforcing the library’s role as a central and inclusive hub on campus. This effort also marks a significant step forward in our commitment to improving the visibility and accessibility of library services and resources. By embracing a more accessible design and adhering to university-wide web standards, we are making it easier for all users to find and utilize the library resources available to them.
Over the course of 6 months and with the support of library colleagues and campus partners, the User Experience (UX) unit implemented a lightweight redesign of the library homepage, introduced new local navigation and updated the overall look and feel of the website to align with the UofA brand.
Information architecture, site structure and embedded functionality were not included in the project scope. This work involved collaboration with subject matter experts, wireframing and prototype design, user research, and gathering input from staff and community members.
How We Did It
- Initial analysis
The design ideation and initial content analysis that informed the project scope was primarily conducted by members of the WebUX team. They carried out a detailed environmental scan of library websites at peer institutions and noted key content and design themes.
- Web analysis
During this early stage, we also identified significant gaps in the library’s web data that limited our ability to inform content decisions through analytics. This led to a separate, parallel project to implement an updated instance of Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, which was deployed at the time of the website launch with the technical support of the Digital Strategy team.
- User research
We gathered feedback at pop-up user research table sessions at the entrance of Cameron Library in spring 2024, asking students to share what the most important elements of the library homepage were for them. We had conversations with students and also asked them to add their feedback on sticky notes, which we analyzed for key themes.
We also attended a Student Library Advisory Committee (SLAC) meeting and guided students through a free-writing exercise. They responded to the same prompt about what parts of the website were most important.
The combined results of these consultation sessions helped us decide which elements to prioritize so the resulting layout and design was impactful but would avoid removing access to high-value content.
- Campus partnerships
The User Experience unit initiated a partnership with the Digital + Creative Centre of Expertise to leverage the University’s shared brand assets and style guidelines. From those discussions, we determined that these assets could be successfully applied to the library’s existing content management system (CMS) without requiring a full-scale migration to Cascade, the university’s CMS.
By using existing resources, rather than creating our own from scratch, we were able to fast track a lot of the preparatory work. We also benefited from the technical support of the Digital + Creative team as we explored the options for our library content in the new web style environment.
- Designing wireframes
We focused on the library homepage for most of our design and prototype iterations since it’s the most visible and highest profile page on our site. Here, we incorporated elements from the WebUX team’s meta-analysis and environmental scan, insights from our user sessions and recurring web feedback from our colleagues.
We used an online whiteboard tool, Miro, to develop progressively higher fidelity prototypes starting from basic wireframe sketches and eventually moving into fully-rendered mockups and clickable prototypes in our website sandbox environment.
- Staff input and prototypes
Approximately two months prior to our internal launch date, we shared a homepage design with all library staff and invited our colleagues to provide their feedback via a brief survey. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive and constructive. With their input, we continued to refine our prototype in preparation for launch.
- Content updates
Once we had a final design, the WebUX team worked diligently to update our web templates and adapt existing content into the new design system. These changes were relatively minor but numerous and included extensive review of site breadcrumbs, navigation menu formatting, and URL updates. Other features – like Dark mode and the French version of the site – required more focused development efforts to update. In addition, the WebUX team updated other library applications to use the new layouts (ie. Library Guides, EZProxy).
- Going live
The updated library website was soft launched in July 2024. Following a period of post-launch testing and review, the site was officially launched in August 2024.
Thanks to a coordinated effort between the Library Applications Development Team and External Relations Digital Strategy, we also deployed additional code to implement enhanced Google Analytics and heat mapping on the site. This will allow us to closely monitor site performance and refine the design as needed going forward.
We also introduced a non-intrusive web survey to capture user feedback in the immediate post-launch period and throughout the Fall 2024 semester.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Student Library Advisory Committee for their feedback and for bringing an invaluable student perspective to this work.
Supporting library strategic goals
This web redesign project aligns with the following library strategic goals (2024-25):
- Augment our commitment to student learning and experience by strengthening visibility and improving learning and teaching resources through an enhanced lens of accessibility, and inclusion.
- Nurture the recognition of the Library as a space (virtual and physical) of belonging for students, faculty, staff and all community members by providing and promoting opportunities for engagement and collaboration.
Results
- University of Alberta Library
- Web Archive snapshot of the University of Alberta Library website homepage on August 12, 2024
Project team
- Natasha Nunn, Jane Banks, Sonya Leung, Junelle Mah, Bernard Offengenden, April Drew, Kristina Klinge, Sarah-Jeanne Bélec, Neil MacGregor, Caeleigh Steier, and Weiwei Shi.
Contact
Caeleigh Steier, Head, User Experience Design & Planning.
Contributing departments
- External Relations, Digital + Creative Centre of Expertise
- External Relations, Strategic Communications
Date
Project was soft launched July, 2024 and completed August, 2024.
This content is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons licence.
