Centralis and LexisNexis Academic launch new targeted website for library collection development
The Client
The Academic division of LexisNexis provides research and reference solutions to public, state and university libraries worldwide. The collections compiled by LexisNexis Academic are widely recognized as leading sources of news, business and legal information, as well as comprehensive congressional data and documentary research materials.
The Challenge
Feedback from librarians around the country was that searching for and evaluating collections on the existing Academic website was difficult. LexisNexis Academic wanted to update the look and feel of the site and optimize it for their primary user audience: college and university librarians browsing Academic’s vast catalog of print, digital and microform collections.
LexisNexis Academic asked Centralis to spearhead a total website redesign effort by conducting user research, interaction design and development management. The goal of the website redesign was to grow sales among current customers by providing richer product exploration and enabling cross-sell. The Academic Marketing Team also wanted to simplify their process for maintaining and updating website content.
Our Work
To better understand the goals of the Academic audience, we conducted field research with librarians, university faculty and administrative personnel around the country. From the research, we constructed a model of the collection development process and designed a website to meet the unique needs of the different roles involved.
After user research and design was complete, we partnered with a development company to build the site. During this phase, we actively managed the development process, including drafting requirements for a content management system and addressing the project management complexities of presenting over 10,000 products in an interactive format.
The Outcome
The end result was a fully functional website that offered targeted experiences for five key user types and presented the entire catalog of Academic resources online. Feedback from librarians using the site was overwhelmingly positive; they commented on the site’s updated look and feel and improved user experience. The Academic Marketing Team also appreciated the ability to add new collections online, make site updates and launch campaign landing pages via the new custom content management system.