tulika mohanti

sr experience designer, ux

Designing intuitive experiences that quietly do the heavy lifting to make users feel like everything was built just for them—no chaos, no guesswork.

on the clock

Potty with Pull-Ups

KC ft Disney Jr.

OFEV® (nintedanib)

Boehringer Ingelheim

JASCAYD® (nerandomilast)

Boehringer In...

Spark UI

Figma Starter File

Berkley Insurance

W.R. Berkley Corporation

MidAmerican Energy

Berkshire Hathawary

Library of Congress

LOC, Stacks & Catalog

Grace Hopper

AnitaB.org

Potty with Pull-Ups

KC ft Disney Jr.

OFEV® (nintedanib)

Boehringer Ingelheim

JASCAYD® (nerandomilast)

Boehringer...

Spark UI

Figma Starter File

Berkley Insurance

W.R. Berkley Corporation

MidAmerican Energy

Berkshire Hathawary

Library of Congress

LOC, Stacks & Catalog

Grace Hopper

AnitaB.org

off the clock

Lekha's Bakery

Chicago

Puppy Foster

Charlie Project Dog Rescue

Lekha's Bakery

Chicago

Puppy Foster

Charlie Project Dog Rescue

Integrated LOC, Stacks & Catalog

Library of Congress

Role

UIUX Designer

Timeline

Oct 2022 - May 2023

Scope

Iterative sprints for balanced UX solutions, driving work 0–1 across the process

Results

-- - - -

overview and process

The Library of Congress partnered with the University of Maryland iConsultancy replace its integrated library system: loc.gov, catalog, and Stacks. The work focused on improving the discovery layer by analyzing how users navigated across systems and identifying friction points in the existing experience.

The team conducted five iterative design sprints. Insights were translated into user flows, interaction concepts, and progressively refined from early sketches to high-fidelity wireframes and a clickable prototype. The process emphasized continuous validation with research and stakeholder feedback.

The Library of Congress partnered with the University of Maryland iConsultancy replace its integrated library system: loc.gov, catalog, and Stacks. The work focused on improving the discovery layer by analyzing how users navigated across systems and identifying friction points in the existing experience.

The team conducted five iterative design sprints. Insights were translated into user flows, interaction concepts, and progressively refined from early sketches to high-fidelity wireframes and a clickable prototype. The process emphasized continuous validation with research and stakeholder feedback.

stacks

Created and adhered to a comprehensive style and brand guide for the entire ILS system. Worked alongside the UX Designer to facilitate brainstorming sessions to generate innovative ideas and developed visual concepts that aligned with the established guidelines. Collaborated with UX researchers to ensure their needs were successfully integrated into the design.

Created and adhered to a comprehensive style and brand guide for the entire ILS system. Worked alongside the UX Designer to facilitate brainstorming sessions to generate innovative ideas and developed visual concepts that aligned with the established guidelines. Collaborated with UX researchers to ensure their needs were successfully integrated into the design.

how might we

User Flows and Pain Points

→ Poor visual design and visualizations, creating little enticement for users → No interaction for Stacks at a Glance → Lack of queue, resulting in users not being able to easily access currently unavailable resources

Sketches and Stakeholder Ideas

Based on stakeholder input, we identified the following necessities for our prototype: → Stacks: Side titles search needs to be reworked → Data Sorting: Figure out optimum data sorting → Visualizations: Optimize order for clarity and relationships

Storyboarding

Drew the storyboard for the Stacks system and collaborated with the team to brainstorm ideas and concepts that we wanted to incorporate . Through collaboration, we discussed goals, user experience, and key features. Team suggestions were incorporated into a visually appealing and comprehensive storyboard, serving as a valuable reference for proper platform implementation.

user testing

Collected qualitative data via three expert interviews and prototype tests. Created two affinity diagrams and two user journey maps based on our expert prototype testing and contextual interviews.

Collected qualitative data via three expert interviews and prototype tests. Created two affinity diagrams and two user journey maps based on our expert prototype testing and contextual interviews.

CRS Researchers want efficiency.

1. Efficient info retrieval under deadlines 2. Speed up search with external resources 3. Maintain focus by minimizing system switching unless essential.

Casual Users wants differentiation

1. Differentiate between LOC systems 2. Direct users to suitable search systems through a clear discovery layer. 3. Clear and concise search results. → Stacks: Side titles search needs to be reworked → Data Sorting: Figure out optimum data sorting → Visualizations: Optimize order for clarity and relationships

Key Takeaway

We overcame limited system access to create a highly functional and visually appealing Stacks platform. The use of data visualization designs enhances user exploration and engagement. Throughout the development process, I learned the importance of intuitive layouts, considering visual aesthetics and usability, and prioritizing accessibility for all users. Developing the Stacks platform was both challenging and rewarding, resulting in a user-friendly, visually appealing, and accessible platform. These valuable lessons shape future projects, emphasizing collaboration, creativity, and attention to detail in digital platform development.

catalog

Created clear, visually-appealing layouts to show activities/services, differentiate search systems, and explain available resources to users in a non-intrusive way. Oversaw the planning, organization, and direction of the project's completion. Worked closely with the client, to ensure our work was delivered within the specified timeframe and met the agreed-upon scope.

Created clear, visually-appealing layouts to show activities/services, differentiate search systems, and explain available resources to users in a non-intrusive way. Oversaw the planning, organization, and direction of the project's completion. Worked closely with the client, to ensure our work was delivered within the specified timeframe and met the agreed-upon scope.

how might we
setting mental models

Users with a Correct Mental Model

Users with a correct mental model struggle with the explore functions due to information overload and images. Searching for collections exposes our platform's limitations.

Users with an Incorrect Mental Model

Users with an incorrect mental models of the navigation bar caused users to stop searching or turn to Google, assuming they had seen all search results or that the results included the entire LOC catalog.

Users that Don't Try

Users that don’t try and instead bypass LOC's search function and rely on external search engines like Google, Google Scholar, or Amazon Books by adding "LOC" to their keywords in order to find results.

lighting demo and user flows

Google Drive: Expandable menu on umbrella platform

Wikipedia: Homepage with varying extensions

NASA: Visualization showing contents of the database

EBSCO: Option to filter the search eliminates display

British Library: Explanation of people’s expectations

JSTOR: Search categories for narrowed search

Google Drive: Expandable menu on umbrella platform

Wikipedia: Homepage with varying extensions

NASA: Visualization showing contents of the database

EBSCO: Option to filter the search eliminates display

British Library: Explanation of people’s expectations

JSTOR: Search categories for narrowed search

user testing

We collected qualitative data via three expert interviews and prototype tests. We created two affinity diagrams and two user journey maps based on our expert prototype testing and contextual interviews.

We collected qualitative data via three expert interviews and prototype tests. We created two affinity diagrams and two user journey maps based on our expert prototype testing and contextual interviews.

CRS Researchers want efficiency.

1. Efficient info retrieval under deadlines 2. Speed up search with external resources 3. Maintain focus by minimizing system switching unless essential.

Casual Users wants differentiation

1. Differentiate between LOC systems 2. Direct users to suitable search systems through a clear discovery layer. 3. Clear and concise search results. → Stacks: Side titles search needs to be reworked → Data Sorting: Figure out optimum data sorting → Visualizations: Optimize order for clarity and relationships

Key Takeaway

We overcame limited system access to create a highly functional and visually appealing Stacks platform. The use of data visualization designs enhances user exploration and engagement. Throughout the development process, I learned the importance of intuitive layouts, considering visual aesthetics and usability, and prioritizing accessibility for all users. Developing the Stacks platform was both challenging and rewarding, resulting in a user-friendly, visually appealing, and accessible platform. These valuable lessons shape future projects, emphasizing collaboration, creativity, and attention to detail in digital platform development.

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