There are a handful of major libraries, including the Library of Congress (LC), which hold microfilm copies of the sensational tabloid, The National Enquirer. However, there is no digital index to this content. Researchers interested in searching the issues must travel to a holding library, and then search the microfilm frame-by-frame in the hope of finding an article of interest.

A small group of retired LC staff, National Library of Medicine (NLM) and other volunteers are interested in providing access to this valuable research material as a gift to LC. They developed a system to allow for volunteers working at home to create the index, and to date, they have indexed entries for nearly two years worth of issues. This index is available online to researchers in LC reading rooms.

The site where the indexers were working was experiencing data loss, which was not only damaging to the index, but discouraging to the users as well. When I heard that they were in need of a new site, I didn't just volunteer to build a more stable site for them. I saw this as an opportunity to use my skills as a designer to help enhance the site's design and user experience.

Responsibilities

• Research
• Information Architecture
• Visual Design
• Development
• Testing
• DBA

Tools Used

• HTML5/CSS + Javascript
• jQuery
• PHP
• Balsamiq
• AWS Lightsail
• LAMP
• MySQL

Part One - Indexing

In the indexing system, a National Enquirer issue will go through the following 6 stages:

• An administrator assigns an issue to an indexer
• The indexer will index the issue
• The indexer will submit the issue for review
• Another volunteer will review the issue, and make any comments as necessary
• The indexer will receive the reviewed issue, and correct any problems
• The indexer will submit the issue into the database, where it will appear in the public search site.

Part Two - Searching

Once issues are indexed, researchers visiting the Library of Congress can then search a database to find articles by keyword.

Researcher - "As a researcher, I would like to find metadata about National Enquirer articles relevant to my search topic."

Components needed

• A search page
• Intuitive way of viewing the article's information

Indexer - "As an indexer, I would like an intuitive way to quickly and efficiently index issues."

In addition to the components listed above, an indexer also needs:

• A page to view all issues that have been assigned to them
• A page to either add a new article or edit an existing article
• A page to index an article
• A way to conduct reviews of issues indexed by others
• A way to fix comments on their issue
• A way to submit an issue once indexing has been quality controlled and completed

Administrator - "As an administrator, I would like to be able to assign articles to indexers, have direct access to the database, and reassign any issue at any stage in the process."

In addition to the components listed above, an administrator also needs:

• Summary of all issues
• A place to assign and/or reassign issues to indexers

During testing and development, I constantly checked in with users to perform testing. In having regular monthly meetings with 7-8 users, in addition to ad hoc usability testing sessions, I received lots of valuable feedback when talking to users. Two points in particular stood out to me:

• The font was too small in places to comfortably see.
• Some users were unsure of how to efficiently use some tools, such as a multiselect

I iterated on this feedback to create designs that were more accommodating to the age and technological literacy of my users.

Users appreciated the minimalism of the designs, multiple CTAs, large font, and bright colors of the indexing site. Worrying about if they have saved their data or not is a huge pain point, and being able to click "save" at every step of the process relieves them of much anxiety.

The search website was also well-received. To quote one user:

"I like the shadow boxes used to display search results. It suggests a metaphorical 3x5 card, long the stable of researchers... I think [the search results page] has the look and feel of a researchers' work space."

By mimicking an environment and tactile artefacts that they were used to, library patrons felt a sense of connection with the designs presented to them.

The biggest lesson this project has taught me is that as designers, it is not our job to design for ourselves. Just because a design was intuitive for me, does not mean the same holds true for the users. I got to work very closely with users from a totally opposite demographic from myself, and I learned a lot about designing for them, and how to best suit their user needs.

The index and its search site are now a permanent collection at the Library of Congress, but I am still iterating on these designs to further engage more Library of Congress researchers at the library and foster serendipity.