Nailing course resources management

Understanding the Landscape: Challenges in Course Resource Management

Before initiating the design of Leganto, the product team and I conducted comprehensive user research to deeply understand the existing challenges within the landscape of course resource management in higher education. These challenges encompassed inefficiencies, underutilization of resources, and barriers to access that created significant pain points for users.

User Pain Points with Traditional Methods

Our research highlighted several key pain points experienced by instructors, students, and library staff using traditional course resource management methods:

• For Instructors: The process of creating and updating reading lists was often labor-intensive and time-consuming. One instructor we interviewed shared the pain point of spending hours each semester tracking down links and ensuring materials were current, taking away from lecture preparation time.

  I spend hours each semester just trying to track down the right links and make sure everything is up-to-date. It takes away valuable time I could be spending on preparing lectures

  The research highlighted that creating and updating reading lists using traditional methods was a significant pain point for faculty. One instructor we interviewed at a large university shared this sentiment, underscoring the need for a more streamlined and efficient solution, which became a core design principle for Leganto.

• For Students: Accessing required course materials was frequently difficult due to broken links, paywalls, and the need to navigate multiple platforms. The high cost of textbooks, often when library resources were available but not easily discoverable, was another significant pain point.
• For Library Staff: Managing reserves, copyright compliance, and tracking the usage of resources across courses presented considerable administrative overhead and complexity.

Overarching Challenges in the Field

Beyond these individual user pain points, our research identified broader challenges within the field of course resource management that Leganto aimed to address:

• Inefficient Workflows: The lack of integrated tools and standardized processes led to significant inefficiencies in creating, managing, and accessing course resources across the academic institution.
• Underutilization of Library Collections: Despite substantial investments in library resources, these valuable assets were not consistently and effectively integrated into the teaching and learning process, leading to a lower return on investment and increased costs for students.
• Barriers to Access and Affordability: Ensuring equitable and affordable access to required learning materials for all students was a significant challenge. Traditional methods often created financial barriers and inconsistent access.
• Lack of Data-Driven Insights: The inability to easily track resource usage and student engagement hindered informed decision-making regarding collection development and pedagogical approaches.
• Engagement and Active Learning: Traditional reading lists often lacked the interactivity needed to foster deeper student engagement with course materials and promote active learning.

Introducing Leganto: A User-Centered Solution

Driven by these well-defined challenges and the associated user pain points, I led the design and development of Leganto with a central focus on creating a more efficient, affordable, and engaging approach to managing course resources for all users. This was also my first major project after joining Exlibris, providing a unique opportunity to shape a key product offering.

Streamlined Workflows for Instructors

To alleviate the pain point of inefficient reading list creation, I designed an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface for instructors to easily create and manage reading lists. This addresses the broader challenge of inefficient workflows by providing a centralized and user-friendly tool.

Enhanced Access and Affordability for Students

Recognizing the pain points of difficult access and high costs for students, I prioritized seamless integration with learning management systems (LMS) using LTI standards and focused on making library resources easily discoverable. This directly tackles the overarching challenge of barriers to access and affordability.

Improved Library Resource Utilization

A core goal of Leganto was to address the challenge of underutilized library collections. I designed the platform to facilitate the easy discovery and inclusion of library-licensed materials and open educational resources (OER) directly within reading lists.

Fostering Student Engagement

To address the pain point of static reading lists and the broader challenge of fostering engagement, I incorporated features that promote student interaction with course materials, such as annotations and the ability to mark readings as complete.

Addressing the Challenges of Traditional Methods

Leganto was specifically designed to directly address the usability issues associated with traditional course resource management and the broader challenges in the field. The following table provides a detailed breakdown:

Research and ongoing feedback

Our research process was largely a user-centered approach, employing a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to ensure the platform effectively addressed both the user pain points and the broader challenges in the field.

• Market Research and Competitive Analysis: Our analysis of the existing landscape helped us understand the gaps in how course resource management was being addressed, informing Leganto’s strategic direction to tackle the overarching challenges.
• User Interviews: These provided deep insights into the specific pain points of instructors, students, and librarians, allowing us to prioritize features that would directly alleviate these frustrations.
• Surveys: Surveys helped us quantify the prevalence of certain pain points and validate the importance of addressing specific challenges like accessibility and affordability.
• Feedback from Early Adopters: Working with early adopters allowed us to see how Leganto addressed both the daily pain points of users and the larger institutional challenges in a real-world setting.
• Usability Testing: Testing ensured that the design solutions we developed to address both pain points and challenges were intuitive and effective for the end users.

The collaborative approach with academic institutions was crucial in ensuring that Leganto effectively addressed the diverse range of user pain points and the complex challenges within the higher education landscape.

Impact and Results

The implementation of Leganto has yielded significant positive impacts across various aspects of higher education, demonstrating its success in addressing both user pain points and broader challenges:

• Significant Student Savings: One university reported saving students over $6.1 million in a single academic year by using Leganto to generate course lists primarily from the library’s existing collections. This outcome directly reflects our design focus on promoting the use of library resources as a cost-effective alternative to purchasing textbooks, alleviating a major student pain point and contributing to the challenge of learning affordability. Another customer reported that library collections are saving their students about $1 to $6 million a year thanks to Leganto.
• Increased Faculty and Course Usage: California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) experienced an increase of nearly 50% in the number of faculty members and courses using Leganto compared to their previous library reserves method. This significant adoption rate highlights the success of our user-centered design in creating a platform that is both intuitive and valuable for instructors, directly addressing the pain point of time-consuming traditional methods.
• Substantial Overall Savings: In the first three years of using Leganto, CSUSM achieved potential savings for their student body exceeding four million dollars. This long-term financial impact underscores the effectiveness of Leganto in tackling the challenge of underutilized library resources and reducing the financial burden on students.
• Growth in Faculty Adoption: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile reported a 40% growth in the number of faculty members using Leganto within a three-year period. This demonstrates the increasing recognition and value of Leganto among educators, indicating that it effectively addresses their needs and pain points.
• High Usage of Library Materials: At one university, over 53,000 library-provided materials were used through Leganto in a single academic year, serving more than 73,000 students. This high utilization rate directly reflects our design goal of connecting students with valuable library resources, addressing the challenge of underutilization.
• Data-Driven Collection Development: Leganto provides data on resource usage within courses, allowing libraries to identify frequently used materials and make informed decisions about their collections. This feature, driven by our understanding of librarian needs, empowers libraries to optimize their resource allocation, directly tackling the challenge of a lack of data-driven insights.
• Comprehensive Usage Metrics: Alma Analytics, which integrates with Leganto, provides detailed student usage metrics such as the number of active students, courses, reading lists, citations, full-text views, and file downloads. This comprehensive data allows institutions to track student engagement with course materials accessed through Leganto, addressing the challenge of measuring the effectiveness of course resources.
• Learning Affordability Analytics: Leganto includes a “learning affordability analytics dashboard” to help libraries track and report on their impact on the cost of learning for students. This feature directly supports the institutional goal of tackling the overarching challenge of making education more affordable for students.

These compelling results demonstrate Leganto’s effectiveness in alleviating user pain points and addressing the broader challenges within course resource management in higher education. The success of Leganto also highlighted the importance of end-user focused design within Exlibris, which subsequently led to my involvement in the redesign of Primo, their flagship product.

Exlibris has demonstrated a commitment to continuously improving Leganto, ensuring that it continues to address both evolving user pain points and the ongoing challenges within the academic landscape.

Afterthoughts

Being the lead product designer for Leganto was a fantastic experience with some real takeaways. The biggest one was just how crucial it is to really get under the skin of the users. All that research we did – the market stuff, the interviews, surveys, and testing – wasn’t just ticking boxes; it genuinely shaped every decision. Understanding what bugged instructors, what made life tough for students with costs and access, and what librarians needed to work better was the key to building something that actually worked.

Teaming up with everyone – the product folks, the engineers, and getting feedback from universities like Clemson and Coastal Carolina – was also huge. That early adopter program and seeing the Leganto community grow showed me the power of working together to build something useful. Sure, juggling everyone’s needs had its moments, but it made the platform way better in the end.

Seeing Leganto out there making a difference has been super rewarding. When you see the numbers – millions saved for students, more teachers using it, and libraries getting more use out of their stuff – it hits home. Knowing that what we designed is helping make education more affordable and accessible, and giving instructors and librarians better tools, is a great feeling. Plus, the fact that Leganto’s success helped Exlibris see the value in user-focused design and led to me getting to redesign Primo, their main product, was a pretty awesome outcome.

I also learned the importance of keeping it real. We had big goals, but we focused on getting a solid product out there and then making it better based on what people were actually saying.

Looking back, I’m really proud of what we did with Leganto. It hammered home for me how design that puts people first can solve big problems and have a real impact. It definitely made me a better designer and gave me a deeper appreciation for the challenges and opportunities in educational tech.

Lastly

Leganto has emerged as a valuable and impactful tool in higher education by effectively addressing both the critical pain points of instructors, students, and libraries and the broader challenges in managing course resources. Its user-centered design, seamless integration with existing systems, and focus on affordability and engagement have led to significant positive outcomes for academic institutions worldwide. By streamlining workflows, improving access, and maximizing the use of library resources, Leganto continues to enhance the teaching and learning experience in higher education.