Outside in

Understanding the user’s viewpoint is crucial so that any website be considered successful. Many organizations pay attention to their internal concerns first at the expense of the user. Libraries as service organizations should be committed to understanding the top-level tasks of their stakeholders by engaging in both cognitive and hierarchical task analysis.

One of the primary purposes of a library is to act as a facilitator to information. One way to accomplish that is via the library website. For the website to be effective, it is necessary to understand the top tasks that the user needs to engage in so that they can accomplish their goals.