“User experience is the framework that allows us as librarians to think about our services from the perspective of how our communities interact with them. It’s this great but also common sense idea that people have needs and expectations. Instead of approaching our services, our buildings, and our websites to solve needs for the library, we need to flip that around and listen to our communities and design things for them instead of designing things for us.”

Aaron Schmidt
SJSU, iSchool Instructor 

iSchool instructor Aaron Schmidt says for him, there was a conversion moment that led to his path toward libraries.

“Like most people, I had no idea that you could go to grad school and have a career as a librarian,” he said. “I was in my undergrad in philosophy. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my career. And I happened to come upon a library science graduate school advertised from the University of Illinois.”

Aaron decided to look up the head librarian at Loyola University Chicago to go speak with them. In that conversation, Aaron received the answers he needed to water the seed that was already planted. After a bit more research, he decided on a program nearby, describing it as “a random Google search that really worked out.”

Library School and Beyond

Aaron started his grad studies at Dominican University right after finishing his bachelor’s degree —  and also found a job as a clerk at his local public library, jumping into his new field with both feet. 

The opportunities only grew from there.

“After my first semester, there was an opening for a reference position at the library where I was, so I applied to be a Reference/YA librarian [and] I got that experience. It was like all these things lined up and worked out for me.”

Two towns away from where he was living in the Chicago suburbs, a full-time reference librarian position opened after graduation; Aaron applied and easily transitioned into that role. On top of normal reference responsibilities and developing programming, this is where Aaron had a chance to explore new theories and technologies. 

“It was a super supportive environment in which I got to do whatever kind of cool experiments I wanted to do. I got into web stuff there. And so this was kind of the start, both from a technical perspective and physical building user experience perspective of me getting into UX.”

In healthy libraries, Aaron noted, librarians are encouraged to pursue their skills and interests, and for him, his interest was certainly in user experience (UX). 

Discovering UX

Aaron discovered UX in what he described as the golden age of blogs and an eruption of UX-centered content online.

“People were excited that they could make a website that people would read and follow and that’s something that I did well” and something that fellow SJSU instructor Dr. Michael Stephens did, too. 

But what is UX, really? 

“User experience is the framework that allows us as librarians to think about our services from the perspective of how our communities interact with them. It’s this great but also common sense idea that people have needs and expectations. Instead of approaching our services, our buildings, and our websites to solve needs for the library, we need to flip that around and listen to our communities and design things for them instead of designing things for us.”

As he developed his UX skills, Aaron soon found opportunities to apply that knowledge in other libraries and began consulting as well, which led to him starting his own consulting practice, which he still has today. 

Aaron also wrote articles for various publications including Library Journal, which developed into him writing a library UX book with Amanda Etches. 

Working widely as he did, Aaron was asked by SJSU in 2012 to teach, and he was able to develop a UX module for INFO 200: Information Communities and created a whole class on the subject, INFO 287: Seminar in Information Science: Library User Experience.

Libraries and UX 

A lot of people associate UX with websites, and a library’s website is an important part of any library patron’s user experience. Every aspect, from the language chosen to the design and layout of the site itself, impacts how a user interacts with the library online. 

A common flaw, Aaron has noticed, is when library websites mimic how libraries are organized – instead of how people instinctively use websites to find information. How many users know to look for something under a tab called “Reference”? 

Instead, libraries should, “approach the problem by being empathetic and thinking about someone from the community coming to the site and how they might be thinking about finding the information that they need. So instead of those categories that are organizational structure categories, you might have something like ‘Learning’ or ‘Finding a book,’ action-oriented things that would connect with users. That’s just one very small example and the other cool thing about user experience thinking as a framework is you can apply it to everything big and small in a library. It’s great that way.”

UX can also be connected to the physical space – often, Aaron has noticed, through interior design choices. 

“It is interesting to see how people are using furniture in the library. Sometimes that is really informative. People are commonly moving furniture to better suit their needs of how they want to use the library. Well, that can be an indication that the library can better design its physical infrastructure to meet these needs. It’s almost like guerilla user research, observing folks using the building and adapting the library to better support what they’re seeing, and I’ve seen tons of examples of this in public libraries and academics.”

A lot of libraries have traditionally bought large, heavy furniture so it lasts the wear and tear of time – but this can result in inflexible spaces which don’t allow for any adaptation or creativity. 

When considering a website or physical space from a user’s perspective, UX also can walk hand-in-hand with accessibility, and by empathizing with multiple perspectives and keeping them in mind, a library can create an experience that works for (if not everyone) a lot more people.

“I have heard a library director one time say, ‘Well, we don’t want them to be too comfortable,’” Aaron said, highlighting how there can be a lack of empathy in some library spaces when UX is not part of the design process. 

At the same time, it is not always easy to empathize with other users. Right now there has been a large wave of book bans and challenges across the U.S. 

“I think arguments can be made for thinking about this topic in a way that highlights user needs and libraries’ responses to these needs. Now, a hot topic in libraries is the censorship that is happening and logical arguments don’t really work in that situation. It’s really an emotional thing. So I think I gotta take that into account as well.” 

Looking Towards the Future

Aaron feels there’s definitely an increased level of awareness of UX today, especially when it comes to websites, where it’s ingrained in website development. 

Not all sites are as aware of UX principles as others. Many library sites, for example, are attached to city and county websites which can heavily limit what library professionals can do. “Back when I was writing for Library Journal, one of the columns I wrote was an open letter to city managers that a librarian could use to make the case for having their own website, separate from the city website,” Aaron said. “Because it’s a totally common cost-saving thing. It’s a control thing.” He further noted it is often not easy to navigate, either. 

As for the physical side of UX, the last few years have definitely had an impact that still remains to be fully understood. 

“From a physical infrastructure perspective, I really wish that I could have seen a lot of libraries as they first reopened after the first wave of COVID-19,” Aaron said. “It would have been interesting to document the different ways libraries attempted to physically distance and make people feel comfortable in the library and make workers feel comfortable in the library. I’m sure there’s a big variety of responses. I’m sure in some libraries, there are still some plexiglass screens in some places – I think of libraries as places for people to collect and gather and work and be communal, right? And so, the pandemic impacted that. And I wonder what the ongoing repercussions of that will be for the user experience and just attendance numbers in general.”

When he’s not teaching, Aaron continues to consult with libraries and all sorts of information professionals, which is one of his favorite things to do. 

“It’s cool to be able to learn from folks all over and connect people and cross-pollinate ideas. So it’s pretty great in that way. And it all came about – I didn’t intend to have a consulting practice, but it just kind of worked out that way. So I had opportunities and I went for it.”

If a library wants help making its website or its library more user-friendly, they can contact Aaron through his company, Influx.