Access Services and User Experience: How complementary roles result in user compliments

Abstract

As the first point of contact for many users, virtually and physically, collaborations between Access Services and User Experience departments are a natural fit, and have the potential to greatly improve users' experiences. This program will demonstrate the value in collaboration between traditional Access Services departments and emerging User Experience departments. Several recent collaborations between NYU's Access Services and the User Experience (UX) department-including an upgrade of a room reservation system and a re-imagining of NYU's borrowing and access privileges databases- will be used to illustrate the value in these departmental collaborations. Tools and methodologies for successful collaborations, including guerilla user testing and agile frameworks, will also be discussed.