User Research and Personas for BARD Mobile
Details
BARD Mobile provides access to tens of thousands of books to patrons with disabilities including blindness, low-vision, and cognitive disabilities. BARD Mobile is a native app used on iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire devices provided by The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), part of the Library of Congress (Library). BARD Mobile expands access to NLS content which also includes large print, physical and digital braille, and audio content. Over the last 2 years, a cross-department team at the Library has conducted user research and developed personas to improve BARD Mobile and other NLS services. In this presentation, we will talk about what we learned about the diverse needs of NLS patrons and why that matters for BARD Mobile. We will present the resulting personas along with insights that can be applied to other contexts.
