When I talk with librarians about thinking of themselves as designers, sometimes they demur. "Designer? I can't even draw a stick figure!" But you don't need to. Whether you know it or not, you're already a designer.
Every time librarians create a bookmark, decide to house a collection in a new spot, or figure out how a new service might work, they're making design decisions. This is what I like to call design by neglect or unintentional design. Whether library employees wear name tags is a design decision. The length of loan periods and whether or not you charge fines is a design decision. Anytime you choose how people will interact with your library, you're making a design decision. All of these decisions add up to create an experience, good or bad, for your patrons.
When we are mindful of our roles as library experience designers, we can make more informed design choices. This awareness can provide better experiences for our patrons and demonstrate that we care about them.
Really. People will notice, [CONJUNCTION] not necessarily consciously, if we [VERB] the time to think about them when we're developing our services. The secret here is not to think of library patrons, users, or customers: we need to think of people. We need to consider their lives and what they're trying to accomplish. This act, which can only be done by cultivating the skill of empathy, is the most important ? and perhaps the most difficult ? part of user experience design.
(Adapted from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6713142.html?nid=2673 &source=title&rid=1105906703)