PLO 3. Organizing and Managing Information to Facilitate Access and Use

Course: LIBR 555: User Experience Design / Information Design I – Systems

Artifact: Building the User-Centered Digital Repository (group final project)

My role: Group member; contributed to user interviews, user journey mapping, visualization/prototype development, and the final presentation. The slide deck identifies interviews and journey-map creation as shared work across the team, and lists visualization as a contribution by Liuyu Li and Mingzhe Xue. 

This artifact reflects my achievement in PLO 3: organizing and managing information to facilitate access, reflection, and use in a range of contexts. In this project, our team designed a user-centered digital repository for historical materials related to the Wongs’ Benevolent Association. The core challenge was not simply to create an attractive interface, but to think carefully about how archival materials could be organized, described, and made more accessible for researchers and other users. The project began from a real information environment in which historical records were fragmented across systems, not always digitized, and often difficult for users to discover or interpret.

Our research phase showed that archive users often struggle with initial search orientation, site navigation, strict handling rules, and undigitized materials. In response, we developed a repository concept that aimed to reduce these barriers through better information structure. Our proposed solutions included a single platform displaying both digitized and non-digitized items, the use of standardized metadata schemas, searchable access points, filters for undigitized resources, and a tutorial video to support first-time users. These design decisions mattered to me because they revealed that information access depends not only on content being available, but on how information is organized, labeled, and guided into use.

My contribution to this project helped me better understand the relationship between user experience and information organization. Through interviews and journey mapping, I saw how users encounter friction when systems are fragmented or descriptive structures are unclear. Through the visualization and prototyping process, I learned that repository design is itself a form of information work: it requires decisions about categories, discovery pathways, metadata visibility, and the balance between archival standards and usability. This project is especially relevant to my professional interests because it connects archival access, digital systems, and user-centred design in a way that feels highly applicable to library and information settings. I assess this artifact as strong evidence of my development in PLO 3 because it shows that I can think beyond interface appearance and focus on the deeper structures that make information findable, understandable, and usable. At the same time, I would like to strengthen my future ability to test repository designs with a broader range of users and to work more directly with metadata implementation in practice. Self-assessment rubric score

Overall score: 4.5/5

Connection to PLO: 5/5Clarity of role: 4/5Depth of reflection: 4.5/5Relevance to career direction: 4.5/5Readiness for professional application: 4.5/5

Short rationale for score: This artifact provides strong evidence that I can connect information organization with user access and repository design. My role is meaningful and identifiable, though it should be framed carefully because this was a collaborative project. The project also translates well into future work involving digital collections, archives, and user-centred information systems.

Copyright and permissions note

This artifact was developed collaboratively as a course project in LIBR 555 by Philip Chung, Liuyu Li, Mingzhe Xue, and Jacy Cho. It is included in the portfolio for educational and reflective purposes with attribution to all contributors. Copyright in the group-created project content is shared among the student creators unless otherwise specified. Any third-party screenshots, news images, interface captures, cited studies, or other referenced materials remain the property of their original rights holders and should be used only in ways consistent with citation, educational fair dealing, or permission requirements.