Riverton: User Personas
It will come as no surprise that the primary user persona is the Student. Secondary personas are the Teacher and the Parent. This data was worked out with the librarian, and while I came up with a questionnaire to get real user input, the librarian decided to send out the questionnaire but proceed with the website design before meaningful data came back. The questionnaire data may be used in a future design iteration.
Primary Persona: Student
Age: Kindergarten through 8th grade (5-14)
Access: desktop in school. Mostly desktop out of school, but mobile more likely at higher ages
Activities/goals:
Discover what the library can do - the site is an extension of the library
Find books, just to read - via the catalog, or searching other reading lists
Find specific materials for their class
Find specific materials based on subject matter, awards, other characteristics (different by age group). This can include websites and online games, though books and research databases are more important than fun.
Secondary Persona 1: Teacher
Age: 25-65
Access: mostly desktop, some mobile
Activities:
Access specific teacher resources
Review catalog and suggest changes - search for books, suggest books
Secondary Persona 2: Parent
Age: 25-55
Access: desktop and mobile
Activities:
Help child student perform student activities
Search catalog for a library book for their child
Engage with library on subject matter
I suggested a potential new activity that could involve all three personas: Book Recommendations. This activity could increase engagement and create somewhat of a user journey for the site (I consider the previously identified activities as individual, not related to each other in a journey, with the exception of the Parent activities). This "read a book" -> "recommend a book" -> "see salient recommendations" -> "read a new book" journey may come about through the library's purchase of a subscription to a facility called Biblionasium that includes recommendations and some gamificiation as well. Biblionasium will be incorporated into the previously mentioned Destiny Discover part of the site that is supplied by Follett and will only be part of this design with a link.
