PurposeThis paper aims to describe the process, testing, and data analysis of redesigning a library's homepage to create a more user‐centered experience.Design/methodology/approachA survey and a usability test were conducted to collect data on users' interactions. The goals were to make design changes catered to users' needs, prior to migrating the site to a content management system.FindingsRecommendations are made to improve the usability of the Ursula C. Schwerin library homepage, as well as considerations for future testing.Originality/valueThis case study will be useful for librarians and web programmers implementing usability tests for the first time. It will also be useful for those focusing on developing a more user‐centered homepage.

Objective -This article describes a mixed methods usability study of research guides created using the LibGuides 2.0 platform conducted in 2016 at an urban, public university library. The goal of the study was to translate user design and learning modality preferences into executable design principles, and ultimately to improve the design and usage of LibGuides at the New York City College of Technology Library.Methods -User-centred design demands that stakeholders participate in each stage of an application's development and that assumptions about user design preferences are validated through testing. Methods used for this usability study include: a task analysis on paper prototypes with a think aloud protocol (TAP), an advanced scribbling technique modeled on the work of Linek and Tochtermann (2015), and semi-structured interviews. The authors introduce specifics of each protocol in addition to data collection and analysis methods. Practice 2017, 12.4 63 Results -The authors present quantitative and qualitative student feedback on navigation layouts, terminology, and design elements and discuss concrete institutional and technical measures they will take to implement best practices. Additionally, the authors discuss students' impressions of multimedia, text-based, and interactive instructional content in relation to specific research scenarios defined during the usability test. Evidence Based Library and InformationConclusion -The authors translate study findings into best practices that can be incorporated into custom user-centric LibGuide templates and assets. The authors also discuss relevant correlations between students' learning modality preferences and design feedback, and identify several areas that warrant further research. The authors believe this study will spark a larger discussion about relationships between instructional design, learning modalities, and research guide use contexts.

Libraries are developing mobile Web sites to keep up with the dynamic landscape of emerging technologies. However, the development of a mobile Web site is not as simple as serving the existing desktop Web site on a handheld device. Library developers can use analytics software to better understand users and to develop a user-centered mobile Web site. This case study explores the use of a library's traditional desktop Web site's analytics information in creating a mobile interface. 2 Although Web analytics can provide a great amount of information about users, data should be used as supplementary information. Usability testing, focus groups, and surveys are other methods that can be conducted to understand users. Analytics cannot be a substitute for these types of user input, yet it may be useful for the initial development of mobile Web sites.

This article examines the usability testing of a responsively redesigned library website. Responsive design provides a unified user experience regardless of the device used to view a site. The study's aim is twofold: to determine if the responsively designed site and its external 2 online services supports users' information seeking needs, and to discover if there is a singular experience across different devices. A cognitive walkthrough was the main testing instrument used in gathering input. Over two rounds of testing, students of various class years and technological skill from the New York City of Technology (City Tech), CUNY participated in the study. The first round of testing for this usability study on the library website was previously documented (Tidal 2015). This paper presents the findings and comparisons between the first and second round of usability testing. The study found not only numerous improvements that could enhance the library website, but also the lack of a unified experience between tablet, smartphone, and desktop users, despite using a responsive design. Smartphone users were at a disadvantage in utilizing library resources. The study also found there was a significant usability impact in using a mobile-optimized discovery tool among users in comparison to its web OPAC predecessor.