#NotOnlyIRead

A redesigned service to attract teenagers to libraries

INITIAL CHALLENGE

La Nave Nodriza, challenged us all: How could we increase the use of public libraries?

We had two and a half months to design or redesign a definitive solution, but we would make a first stop halfway, based on the first phase of the research, just before starting the ideation.

After a first group reflection and a guerrilla investigation in which we went out to ask different profiles of users on the street, our team decided to establish a group: teenagers, young people in transition from girls and boys to adults, which do not seem to have a clear place in libraries and which, given the importance of cognitive stimulation in these key years for their development, seemed to us to be a complex and stimulating challenge to be addressed. .

PROCESS AND STEPS

We did desk research, to be well documented, we chose a Library that would serve as a pilot and we went to visit it.

We interviewed some users and some librarians and organized a meeting with the Director.

THE PROBLEM TO SOLVE

Libraries seem to be designed for adults and children, but what about teenagers?

A key idea that clearly emerges from the first interviews indicates that there is a barrier related to image, with the perception of what a Library means and defines.

They do not seem to be attractive places for adolescents, they are even associated with negative or limiting aspects that clash with the needs and expectations of our users (boredom, seriousness, punishment, silence...) and it seems that it is taken for granted That it should be like that and that it is normal, but, are you sure? What could we do to break that stigma and encourage its use by kids?

OUR REFORMULATED CHALLENGE

How could we change the boring and serious image of Libraries?

INSPIRATION AND RESEARCH:

Benchmark: we investigated other realities in the world and we were clear that we were not alone and that this challenge has been and continues to be for many cultural institutions that, like us, have been and are aware of the opportunity and need for improvement in this aspect. Because there is no adequate offer for adolescents and the solutions involve empathizing with their needs to really take them into account as they deserve.

We interviewed 5 teenagers. In two phases. Wow, we met them on two different occasions, and on the second, we took them to the Thyssen Museum, to, in a cultural environment, delve deeper into what culture means to them and understand what interests them, what would have a place within a cultural offer. from the Library to achieve your interest, beyond books...

Focus group: And to confirm everything we have learned so far and try to refine it, we brought all of them together, our young people, to talk about all this, and understand how important it is for them the different aspects that the solution must address.

MAKING DECISIONS

The research focused us on several areas, but we had to decide on one in order to propose our design proposal. We decided that the first thing that could have a direct impact was space.

Because we understood that space was key to begin to break with the current image of libraries associated with a place made by and for adults, where the youngest children did have a place, but they did not... and where they were not They felt welcome.

SOLUTION:

More than a space: #nosololeo.

We re-design a new space for them, appropriate to their needs and coherent with their interests, which can perfectly connect with the interests of a Library, where culture and reading are beyond of (physical) books.

Where the rules must be few and appropriate to our users.

A friendly space, where adolescents feel that they are welcome and where they can go, to be with their peers and consume cultural content in accordance with their interests and motivations in his vital moment.

Because this way, we will support them on their journey to adulthood, and from here we can act positively on them, offering them a range of stimuli rich in creativity, learning and cultural entertainment.

NEXT STEPS: SOLUTION VALIDATION:

Our solution proposal was pending validation by our young users, and by the staff and managers of the San Fermín Library in this case. We would have loved to have been able to do a co-creation workshop with all of them and validate our proposal to iterate it until we reached the solution that was most feasible and desirable for all.

LEARNINGS:

MANY! But I will highlight these:

• Searching your life to connect with them, to go beyond the most superficial conversation and understand the deepest motivations has been hard and wonderful...

• Empathize with the users for whom you design, without bias.

• Sometimes, the solution may not be very innovative, but finding the key that makes it make sense and meets its objective is always synonymous with success.

• Not wanting to tackle everything at once, designing a global design, but phased to iterate each aspect, is also a “must”.

• Collaborate as a team, align agreed decisions, contribute to add to the group, I believe, is the great learning, forever.

MY ROLE IN THE PROJECT:

This was a team effort, where we all wanted to experience all the phases of the process, but, without a doubt, my greatest contribution focused on the research phase, in the search for suitable candidates for interviews, in the design of the interview scripts, the preparation of the focus group dynamics and the analysis and obtaining of insights.

Thank you -:)

www.rlopezvazquez.com

#InspiringPositiveSolutions🌱