In November 2018, the Library and Information Service hosted its 15th Stellenbosch University Library Symposium, themed “Smarter libraries: User experience (UX) in action”. A focus on user experience ensures that products and services are designed to meet users’ needs. 
In his keynote address, Mr Ned Potter shared information and experiences of UX research and implementation at the University of York Library.
The Library and Information Service of Stellenbosch University is now taking UX forward. A UX Research Task Team has been formed. The Team has worked on a proposal on how UX research will be conducted in the Library over the next two years. Concise descriptions of the many available UX methods have been compiled, contributing towards a “tool box” for the Library. Principles which Potter shared, which the Team is keeping in mind, are that time is important for UX (for training, doing, analysing and implementing), that one should go beyond the walls of the Library and learn what others are doing UX-wise, and that one gets more impact from quality than one does from quantity. 
An example of a UX method is conducting focus group discussions. In 2019, the Library and Information Service will be conducting focus group interviews to investigate our clients’ attitudes and perceptions of our research support services. Other UX methods are being investigated too.
The Team is excited to get all Library staff learning, thinking, doing and implementing UX research.