Diversity Corner
FEATURE ADDITION
High Plains Library District
CHALLENGE AND OBJECTIVE
Local diversity nonprofits and community members struggled to find a central source of inclusive book recommendations and where to access them. Many had to rely on scattered blogs or navigate multiple library branches. The goal was to design a section within the High Plains Library District (HPLD) website that would surface curated diverse book lists and make them easy to find and use.
RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
I interviewed five library users including parents, librarians, and casual readers to understand how they searched for diverse titles. Key insights included the need for clear search tools, age-specific recommendations, and centralized access. A primary persona, “Josephine,” reflected a parent looking for culturally representative books without needing to search across multiple sites.
SOLUTION
I designed a dedicated Diversity Corner page within the “Services” section of the HPLD website to make curated diverse content easy to find and use.
Key features included:
Age-based booklists generated by the library to highlight diverse titles
Mobile-friendly Advanced Search redesigned for consistent functionality across devices
Advanced Search tutorial to help users filter by subject, age, culture, or language
Email sign-up for updates on new diversity books, events, and curated lists
The design emphasized ease of access, clarity, and empowering users to discover inclusive books independently, increasing both community reach and engagement.
FULL CASE STUDY
In 2020, following the George Floyd protests, Erie, CO saw grassroots groups and nonprofits mobilizing around diversity and equity.
That year, Being Better Neighbors, a non-profit organization, was established to embrace Erie’s growing diversity and ensure people can live in a welcoming and inclusive town. The Boulder chapter of the NAACP’s Education Committee formed the DEI Collaborative, a group of parent volunteers that served as DEI representatives in their children’s Parent Teacher Organizations in local schools.
?
In the midst of this momentum, a gap became clear: community members and volunteers lacked a simple, centralized way to discover diverse book recommendations or know where to access them through the library system.
This raised a design challenge: How might the library’s website help users more easily find, filter, and share these resources?
With familiarity in the problem space and after extensive research, I proposed Diversity Corner, an added feature concept for the High Plains Library District’s website to make diverse books easier to find and access.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Before speaking with users, I reviewed existing platforms that curate or recommend diverse books.
I conducted a competitive analysis of four diverse book discovery platforms: We Need Diverse Books, Social Justice Books, Goodreads, and Diverse BookFinder. This helped me evaluate their strengths, gaps, and opportunities for supporting families, educators, and readers.
Key Insights
Advocacy platforms (like We Need Diverse Books) support creators but don’t make it easy for everyday users to discover books.
Large-scale platforms (like Goodreads) offer broad reach but lack diversity-specific discovery tools.
Specialized databases (like Diverse BookFinder) provide valuable data for educators but are too technical for general readers.
Curated lists (like Social Justice Books) deliver strong content but lack interactivity and robust search options.
Opportunities Identified
Centralized access: Combine curated booklists, programs, and resources in one place.
Smarter search: Add filters like age, theme, or representation to help users quickly find titles that fit their needs.
Awareness & visibility: Surface diversity programming and events alongside booklists to make offerings more discoverable.
RESEARCH
THE WHAT
Objectives
Explore how people discover books that interest them.
Understand what drives searches for diverse books.
Learn how people currently get diverse book recommendations.
Identify frustrations with accessing titles.
THE HOW
Methodologies
To better understand how Erie community members accessed titles, I interviewed five people who regularly interacted with the High Plains Library District.
THE WHO
Participants
Occasional library users
Frequent library users
Librarians
Actively seeking diverse books
Curious about diverse books
Searching for themselves
Searching for children or students
INTERVIEWS
I wanted to understand how people search for and access diverse books, what motivates them to seek inclusive titles, and what challenges they face along the way.
I interviewed 5 participants, including occasional and frequent library users, parents, and librarians, to capture a range of perspectives. Through these interviews, key needs and goals around accessing diverse and inclusive titles began to emerge.
INTERVIEW INSIGHTS
Even motivated readers struggle to find diverse books.
Need: Clear recommendations and guidance for finding diverse titles.
"Even people who are interested, like myself, when I’m trying to look for diverse books, they are hard to find sometimes..”
-ANDREW
Diverse books help communities broaden their perspectives.
Need: Access to resources that feature perspectives outside of one’s own.
“If there isn’t a diversity of backgrounds, opinions, experiences… then books, movies, documentaries are a way to start to understand other experiences.”
-JAYLIN
Representation in reading matters, especially for children.
Need: Books that reflect children, students, and families in meaningful ways.
“I think it’s a big deal, kids need to see themselves in books. You know, if you can see it, you can be it.”
-CHRIS
I consolidated my findings into a representative persona.
PROBLEM
Community members like Josephine struggle to find diverse book recommendations in one place and to know where they’re available.
The overall problem surfaced…
Design a feature that makes diverse and inclusive books easier to access across the community.
This shaped the project’s focus:
This solution supports both non-profit volunteers curating book lists and individuals seeking representation in their reading and learning.
IDEATION
Reframing Josephine’s challenges revealed opportunities for the library to improve access to diverse books.
The first step was deciding where the feature should live on the HPLD site and how to present support areas for Josephine.
Placed Diversity Corner under “Services,” alongside existing programs and resources.
Explored a version consistent with how other Services categories were displayed.
Added summaries of the four key areas (Search, Booklists, Groups, Programs) for an at-a-glance overview.
Explored an alternate layout to highlight Advanced Search, Booklists, Groups, and Programs.
Age-appropriate content was a top priority for Josephine when seeking recommendations.
Icons let users choose an age group to see the most relevant booklist.
A modal could guide users to select an age group before opening a booklist.
Breaking content into categories gave users a clear visual summary of options.
Josephine needed clearer communication about diversity offerings and better support for independent search.
Options to stay connected and learn about HPLD diversity programs.
Email sign-up lets users customize notification preferences.
Initial concept for an Advanced Search Tutorial modeled on the current HPLD design.
From research and ideation, I identified the following must-have features to improve Josephine’s access to diverse books and programs.
TASK FLOW
This task flow helped users access age appropriate book recommendations.
UI CONSIDERATIONS
I modeled the Diversity Corner page on existing HPLD design patterns to ensure consistency, then iterated to improve clarity, categorization, and usability.
These iterations demonstrate how I balanced consistency with the existing site and improvements that made the experience more scannable and user-friendly for people like Josephine
Original HPLD design: Oversized text and multiple categories on one page created an overwhelming scroll experience.
First wireframe iteration: Decreased text size and aligned with HPLD’s style, but the single-page layout still limited scanability.
Updated wireframe: Introduced categorized summaries and replaced links with buttons for clearer hierarchy and improved user flow.
The mobile site lacked the full functionality of the desktop Advanced Search, limiting users’ ability to filter effectively.
On mobile, users were limited to a Basic Search or an ill-fitting desktop form. Redesigning Advanced Search for mobile became a priority to ensure users could filter effectively on any device.
Desktop: Full Advanced Search form with multiple filters.
Mobile (current): Limited filters available, but missing full Advanced Search functionality.
Mobile (form view): Desktop form did not adapt to mobile, creating usability issues.
EARLY USER TESTING
Early user testing shaped the format of the Advanced Search Tutorial.
I tested multiple versions, from icon and arrow based guidance to contextual storytelling, and users preferred the cartoon conversation that combined step by step instructions with relatable examples.
Version 1: Information tooltips highlighted key areas and displayed supporting details when tapped.
Version 2: Arrows and outlines guided users through the tutorial.
Versions 3: A cartoon conversation paired with a numbered step by step guide provided both context and structure; this was the preferred solution in testing.
Testing showed that “Diversity Groups” was unclear to users. Instead of creating a new category, I streamlined these options into HPLD’s existing newsletter sign up and footer links, making it easier for users to find and select the notifications they wanted.
Diversity Groups was integrated into HPLD’s existing newsletter and contact features to improve clarity and usability.
Originally placed as a separate category on the Diversity Corner page.
“Join Group” CTA linked to this new page for sign up.
Users could specify which notifications they wanted to receive.
Final design integrated options into existing site features, simplifying navigation and reducing redundancy.
HI-FIDELITY DESIGN
After defining user needs and content pathways, I built high-fidelity desktop screens for Diversity Corner.
I utilized the existing HPLD design for a seamless integration of the new feature while making a few updates like decreasing the size of font headings to increase access to content on each screen. I also incorporated the category groupings for content that were validated in early user testing.
VIEW SELECT DESKTOP SCREENS
PROTOTYPE
Then I developed a fully functional mobile prototype incorporating booklists, advanced search, tutorial, and event listings.
I tested users on two task scenarios:
• Find a diverse book recommendation for a 10-year-old.
• Find a Chinese fantasy novel for an adult audience.
The Diversity Corner acts as a central hub where users can find diverse booklists, search more effectively, and stay connected through library programs and communications.
Curated booklists organized by age help families quickly discover inclusive titles.
Advanced Search with tutorial and programs page expands ways to explore diverse stories.
Stay connected through email updates and social channels for ongoing engagement.
Booklists were organized by age and category, helping Josephine quickly find relevant and inclusive recommendations.
Users can browse age-specific booklists for children, teens, and adults.
Each booklist highlights new titles first for quick discovery.
Sections showcase diverse characters and seasonal collections.
Archived lists give ongoing access to past recommendations.
Title pages include cover images, summaries, and format options.
The redesigned Advanced Search feature ensured that mobile users had the same full functionality as the desktop version.
The Basic Search view now links to Advanced Search and includes helpful search tips.
The Advanced Search view provides filters and direct access to the tutorial for guided support.
The Advanced Search Tutorial, presented through a relatable example and step by step guidance, gave Josephine the confidence to search for diverse titles independently with greater success.
Users immediately see how to exit the tutorial if they wish to start searching on their own.
A real life scenario makes the tutorial relevant and easy to connect with.
A friendly library staff character provides guidance through each step.
Circles and underlines highlight key fields to focus user attention during the process.
TESTING & REVISIONS
Usability testing revealed issues with discoverability and additional support, which I addressed through targeted improvements.
Diversity Corner was difficult to locate under the existing “Services” nav.
REMEDY
Highlight it via the homepage hero carousel & rename “Services” to “Resources & Services.
Highlighted in the hero section
Change in navigation language
Users often stopped at basic search and didn’t know about advanced search or its tutorial.
REMEDY
Add a link from basic search to advanced search, and include a link to the tutorial within the advanced search interface.
Link to Advanced Search
Link to Advanced Search Tutorial
LOOKING BACK
The Diversity Corner was a successful feature addition that helped users like Josephine access diverse books through:
DIVERSITY CORNER PAGE
Created a central hub where users could access inclusive resources.
ADVANCED SEARCH + TUTORIAL
Provided full mobile search functionality with guided user support.
BOOKLISTS BY AGE & THEME
Empowered users to find diverse titles quickly and meaningfully.
LOOKING FORWARD
While the core features were successful, the Diversity Corner offers further opportunities to expand programming and improve navigation.
Programs & Events: Developing the “Programs & Events” category on the Diversity Corner page
Expanding Booklists: Adding “Booklists” to HPLD navigation to include genres like “Diversity”
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