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25/03/2014

By | Digital Developments

Camera in a display box

Ricoh advertisement from This Week in Tokyo, 27 Jan 1964. From the Francis Crick papers (Wellcome Library reference PP/CRI/E/1/12/1)

“When you see it: you’ll Love it”: a fitting sentiment for the mid-1960s tech consumer, but you have to ask: how was it to use? Taking Ricoh’s advertisement as inspiration, we are hoping to take this strapline a bit further with the Library’s range of websites, catalogues and other online tools:

When you use it you’ll love it.

While ‘love’ might be too strong a word, we want all of our website visitors to have a good experience, whether searching for an archive, paging through digitised books or registering for a Library card. We want to better understand the challenges you encounter when using the Wellcome Library online: what works for you, what doesn’t and what is just plain incomprehensible.

The Wellcome Library User Panel

And that’s where you come in. We are looking for willing Wellcome Library and Wellcome Images users to join our user panel. The panel will receive occasional invitations to participate in a range of regular surveys, quick online usability activities and on-site observations. We will run these tests to help us understand where our users are feeling most frustrated with our online services, and to generate ideas to solve the problems that are causing less-than-lovable experiences.

As a user panelist, you will play an important role in improving the Library’s online services for all. While we can’t promise huge incentives for participation, we will occasionally offer perks by way of Amazon vouchers, prize drawings or chocolate.

Becoming a user panelist

  • When you sign up to our user panel, you are opting in to receive email from the Wellcome Trust no more than once a month.
  • These emails may contain a link to a very short, 5-minute online survey or usability test, or we may invite you to participate in an hour-long usability test in person.
  • There is absolutely no requirement to participate, and you can remove yourself from the email list whenever you need to.
  • You do not have to be present in London to participate. All online usability tests will be open to any of our website visitors.

Sign up now by filling out this short survey.

Jenn Phillips-Bacher

Jenn Phillips-Bacher

Jenn Phillips-Bacher is Web Manager at Wellcome Library, where she spends her days working on projects to improve the Library's online user experience. Jenn studied Medieval History and Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then went on to become a librarian. She can be found on LinkedIn and Tumblr.

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