Broken Tools
Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 2:21PM 
While reading (um...listening) to Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs I came across a quote of Lev Grossman writing about the first iPhone and was struck by it immediately. As I librarian I feel I'm surrounded by broken tools. From the user unfriendly databases, and the way we've handled web-design and research guides to the confusingness of having multiple student log-ons, and having 3-4 wireless networks we've given our students a lot of broken tools to work with.
Some things more easily addressed than others, and I've been working on a few. It's very important to fix the tools for the sake of our student's success and the success of libraries to connect people with information. It's so important that I decided to create a mini-poster of the quote to hang on my office wall. If you want a PDF copy, just ask in the comments or send an email.
The quote appeared originally in a 2007 Issue of Time Magazine.
Reader Comments (3)
Taking legacy systems and molding them into something that really works for users is the "next" task of information architects everywhere. The first step was to get things more accessible online, and we've achieved it, but it's been done in something of a backwards way -- the people with the technical knowledge making decisions a user should be involved in (like -- what would you like to DO? HOW would you like to accomplish it?) So we end up with multiple tools which have good intentions but lack unity of purpose and focus on the users.
Fortunately, as a librarian you are kinda uniquely qualified. You have your user base right in front of you all day long, you have a keen sense of pattern and how to organize information, and you have a growing sense of how things could be better. What else is there? :)
Shel, you are absolutely right about this. Our users are right in front of our eyes, day in and day out and there are many of us know that we can fix many of these problems. It just boils down to getting the buy-in of those around us to tackle these challenges.
Until recently there hasn't been much of a focus in UX in MLS programs. Luckily, this is slowly beginning to change. The more people we have thinking about it the better off we will all be.
I can tell from your posts that you do focus on the user experience. So it would seem you are quite well positioned. :)