From Indifference to Delight: Gauging Users’ Preferences Using the Kano Model

Introduction The library user’s perspective and experience are an essential component in the design of services and spaces in libraries. User involvement and feedback during the planning and development process ensures that our spaces, websites, and services meet user expectations through the best and most suitable solutions. As a result of this emphasis, there has been an increase in the number of studies and projects under the user experience umbrella that detail qualitative research assessment methods utilized in libraries. Prominent in recent library literature are those that are broad in scope, such as those aiming to detail the various aspects or steps undertaken by patrons (students or faculty) in their research process.1 There are also many examples that describe and illustrate methods utilized to answer very specific research questions, such as usability testing for websites2 or those utilized to reconfigure library services or library spaces.3