Design Thinking in Action: Changing the Public Service Model
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1865Keywords:
Stephanie Chase, subject matter, ideo toolkit, six sigma, Hillsboro, design thinking, dri ralph, prototype, ideating, innovation, team, Oregon, Oregon libraries, academic library, libraries, librarians, northwest, information science, information literacy, social media, writing, library trends, books, donors, library funding, Oregon library association, quarterly, Oregon library association quarterly, American library association, ala, ola, reading, library success, success, evolving roles, UX, user experience, user services, OSU, Lane county community college, Linn Benton county community college, Reed, Reed college, Oregon state, University, library service design, Joe, Marquez, web services, bees, picture book topics, cataloging by, public, fiction staff picks, new discipline, changes in libraries, career, careers, library careers, library career, new department, student workers, fall, 2016, access services, professional journal, scholarly, academic, circulation, Portland, Multnomah County Library, personal librarian, innovative, inventive, Washington county cooperative library services, user, users, solutionAbstract
While the concept of design thinking is not new, in the past several years, it has emerged as a concept of interest for libraries, placed firmly in our sights through a high-profile collaboration between the Chicago Public Library and DOKK1 in Aarhus, Denmark, supported by the Gates Foundation.
Design thinking—or human-centered design, as it is also known—is most closely associated with design consultancy firm IDEO, and is simply a method of creative problem solving that starts with reaching a goal, rather than a solving a problem, in mind.
For the Hillsboro Public Library, our intention was to use this process to develop a new collaborative and patron-focused service model. In Hillsboro, we knew we wanted to reduce service points and make it easier for patrons to get the help they needed in whatever form they preferred. We also knew that we needed to be clearer about the roles of our Library Assistants and our Librarians, and to find ways for the staff to work together, rather than be siloed. Rather than thinking about our current service model as a problem that needed to be fixed, we wanted to explore ways to improve the patron experience and bring more value to staff.
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