Tiny Studies

Maybe you’ve heard of or lived with a roommate who never washed the dishes, who talked loudly on the phone late into the night or who stiffed you on rent. Not fun. Bias in our research isn’t fun either. It distorts the nature of the data we collect, analyze and share.

It’s not uncommon for academic research libraries, especially large ones, to have multiple renovations that add a wing, a floor, or even a new building. The University of Michigan Library buildings on our central campus are no exception. Our undergraduate and graduate libraries form a complex whose structure is just that. Many times a day, staff members direct visitors, patrons, or even a colleague to their intended destination.

The words we choose matter and having a shared vocabulary around user experience research is an important component of the work. This post presents definitions of user experience, user research, and usability testing, while examining how they intersect and why determining the frame of your research is good practice. Plus the one phrase we try not to use...

Tiny Studies will feature informal notes and insights from research projects in progress throughout the University Library. This will be a focused place to consider how our individual inquiries contribute to the conceptualization of our organization as a whole. Posts by diverse authors will explore the connections in our work, especially during those ephemeral moments of growth or reflection, when whole new constellations emerge in our understanding of the library.