Michigan’s rural libraries face challenges accessing out-of-state materials due to costly subscriptions. The White Pine Library Cooperative’s interlibrary loan website helps bridge this gap. A website redesign is needed to ensure the program’s longevity and guarantee equitable access to information for Michigan residents.

Key Findings

1. Request Visibility and Workflow Clarity

• Lack of easy viewing of current requests. Users must manually search by patron name or book title in order to view a request.

• No immediate confirmation: Users are uncertain if a request was submitted unless they check another page.

2. Notification Limits

• Over reliance on email: Alerts are primarily sent via email, often overlooked or missed.

• Desire for in-system updates: Users expressed a strong preference for internal notifications or a dashboard.

3. Confusing Status Labels & Navigation

• Users struggled with terminology like "request" vs. "loan" and what each action implied.

• Navigation to specific features (e.g., tracking past requests) was not intuitive.

4. Data Entry Issues and System Feedback

• Entering ISBN or OCLC numbers caused errors and required tab-switching from external databases.

• Lack of inline validation led to submission mistakes or uncertainty.

5. Accessibility and Interface Design

• Users expressed the need for a modern interface, better font sizes, improved contrast, and clearer layouts.

• The systems dated design limited ease of use, especially for new or infrequent users.

Lo-Fi Sketches

Mid-Fi Wireframes

Final Prototype

Presentation Slides