UNT LIBRARIES APP
How to Attract Students to the Library
Back
The app is not a real product. It's my personal idea on how to make a working tool if UNT Libraries had an app. Currently UNT Libraries has a mobile website not an app. I realized UNT Libraries had a lot of potentials to enhance the ability to assist students with new ideas that I'll introduce here.
In many people's mind, library can be a boring place. But what happens if we add something fun? My Accounts page can be a place full of joy. Doing different things from the library, checking out certain amount of book can trigger fun badges. The badges are given to reward students' achievements. Students can have fun collecting different badges throughout the year. Having a visual graph from the data can excite students as it's a proof of their hard work. It could motivate students to come to the library.
Found out many students come to the library to check out a laptop. But without stepping in the library, there is no way to find out how many laptops are available. This student can come to the library and find out there's not enough Macbooks for them to check out. What happens if they could check this status from their phone in advance? It could solve some frustrations who enjoy using the library's technology. Furthermore, they can reserve the laptop! Same goes with using the computer stations in the library. It is difficult to see which station is already being used by someone or not. The app could eliminate this confusions by showing which computer is open for usage.
This was a wishful thinking back in time, but it is slowly starting to become a real technology. Many students seem to be daunted by a book's call number. How helpful would it be if the app can help students navigate the book? According to the librarian from UNT Willis Library, they told me the books don't get moved for at least 10 years. Meaning, they'd have a designated area for 10 years. Helping them find the book without frustration, students would be able to enjoy getting books from the library.
App is a digital tool. It has to be functional and it requires the right users. Without them, the app will sink in the vast sea of dead apps. For this project, I spent time doing some research by asking various librarians and staff members. Ask students about their frustrations of using the libraries. By getting the real number, and pin pointing some frustration marks, I was able to come up with some ideas that could solve the problem. But this was just a project, that was not implemented at all.
