Workshop 2.1 | Using Customer Experience to Strengthen the Library Brand at the University Library of Debrecen
Date: Thursday 3 July 2025
Room: TBA
Speaker(s): TBA
As service providers, libraries need to pay specific attention to their users’ experiences. Customers compare their involvement with any brand and services they have engaged. This means customer expectations are high, and libraries, just as any other business, must provide speedy responses to these expectations. Customer experience cannot be ignored, it is a strategic factor in the operations of libraries. It can be optimized which, in any competitive environment, ultimately contributes to the development of services and to a way moving forward.
At the University Library of Debrecen we have started working with “customer journey mapping”. Our primary goals with this method are (1) to look at our services from the customers’ perspective, and (2) to understand our target audiences better, and importantly (3) to identify needs behind the experiences which advances a more conscious adjustment and enhancement of services. Understanding customer behavior helps our library to develop a strong awareness of how customers experience our services and environment. The optimization of customer experiences enhances positive reviews, recommendations, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Basically, our customers using our services and visiting our library spaces are the best resources to grow our library brand.
Within this process of customer experience mapping, on the one hand, we are establishing a stronger connection with students and researchers in our libraries, getting feedback from them and consequently we are building a community. On the other hand, it has a significant effect on the working culture and value system in the library in the sense that we learn to think, operate and plan with a user centered view in mind.
At LIBER2025 we are proposing a workshop with two specific goals in mind:
(1) sharing our experiences with this method of brand building and service development, and
(2) offering a practical insight on how this primarily business process can be transferred to an academic environment.
In the workshop, participants will be guide through an online service development process which includes a user experience test and a heuristic test and evaluation. This workshop will also provide an opportunity for the participants to share their experiences and methods in library service development. Engagement with our users and collaboration with other libraries through sharing experiences leads to innovation in services and operations.