Listening to students: a UX approach to nursing subject guide redesign

Abstract

Introduction: Of the many Springshare-powered subject guides at our undergraduate, teaching-focused university, the Nursing Guide ranks as the most used, with over 30,000 annual visits, yet it has not undergone any significant revision in over 10 years. To that end, the Nursing librarian team, which includes our User Experience Librarian, are undertaking a mixed-methods, participatory research approach to redesigning the Nursing Guide that centres the Nursing student experience.

The primary research questions guiding our study:

1. When and why is the guide being accessed, for which contexts and purposes, and by whom? 2. How are students navigating and engaging with the guide? What are their challenges, blocks, unmet needs, or undiscovered gaps? What do students want from the Nursing Guide?

Methods: We are using a mixed-methods approach to data collection: Phase 1: Quantitative data will be collected via a survey sent to all Nursing students. It will collect demographic information, such as year of study and current courses, as well as questions related to the use and relevance of the Nursing Subject Guide. Phase 2: Applying UX principles through a participatory research lens, we will conduct think-alouds to collect rich qualitative data on how students navigate the guide in practice.

Results: We will share the results of our quantitative data analysis, as well as our experiences, observations, and preliminary insights from the student think-alouds. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about our student-engaged UX approach and how this can be applied to their own quality improvement initiatives for library users.