The first phase of redesigning our library resources is to identify the quality of the material we currently publish. I accomplished this by creating a content audit (an inventory a webpage’s elements including links, file formats, text, etc.) of our tutorials and research guides. A few examples include a guide for navigating our physical library, guidelines for avoiding plagiarism, and pointers on creating research questions. The content in our guides are delivered over multiple platforms and formats, including text, images, slideshows, and videos.
Despite the variety of mediums in our tutorials, they all have one thing in common: they are bite sized learning moments, usually honing in under five minutes to complete.
This may seem like a lot of information to pack into a small amount of time, but could this be the way students learn best in the digital age? There are countless studies showing the decline in attention spans (When’s the last time you read an article from title to finish?), and an increase in ADHD diagnosis. As a result, user centered designers are constantly updating best practices for keeping users engaged.
How long should a video be? Will this site work on a mobile screen? What happens when the user loses connection to the web? These are all questions that come to mind when designing a digital experience, and in order to validate them we’ll need to be willing to test our assumptions of what works best for our students.
