First, sorry for the long absence. I spent my summer looking for jobs and various other panicky tasks. Thankfully, I am now fully employed. Hooray.
So, on to more interesting things. After looking at what how Apple approaches business and design, I’ll take you through a few ways to implement their approach in libraries (well, that is implement their approach without piles of money and a ravenous league of supporters).
Think Different
How have I not embedded this video yet?
The secret to the Apple approach is to look at ourselves differently. Whereas Google builds on a foundation, Apple makes radical changes in technology and design.
Examine Assumptions and Ask Why
The blessing of libraries is also its curse. Everyone knows about us. Everyone knows we have books. That’s it. To continue connecting with our patrons we need to examine our assumptions about what libraries are, why the are needed, how they connect with a community, and how they can enhance a community.
The easiest way to do this is to ask “Why”. I’ve found that asking three times is enough. Here’s an example:
Assumption: Our job is to provide articles and books for patrons.
Why? Because they need them to write papers.
Why? Because they want to get an A in their class.
Why? So they can get a good, interesting job. Or so they can advance in their education.
After two whys, there is a whole new way of looking at things. Our job is no longer to provide books. Our job is to help students succeed in classes so they can move on with their education or out into the world. All of a sudden our mandate has grown.
This sounds like it devalues our work. But it doesn’t. It’s this thinking that has encouraged libraries to begin classroom instruction. To develop document delivery services and course pages.
Polish and Simplify
This is, strangely, much harder. The ultimate design principle surrounding Apple products is simplicity. Ease of use. After we develop an idea, we need to go in reverse order and begin stripping out other needs and uses. Projects tend to become bloated as they develop and this is the absolute worst thing that can happen. With every additional step in a service, you will lose a percentage of users. And the users that drop out first are always the ones you need to connect with the most. These are the users that gave us a shot and will probably not come back.
Well, that’s the inaugural welcome back post from me. I’ll try to create a more regular schedule now that things are starting to settle down.
























