UXanalysis: University of Washington Library System online catalogue search
How I Got Here: I’m on this page looking for the e-copy of this book the library appears to have, based on this e-copy logo (1). There’s a problem with recursivity here: When I click on the “View all editions and formats” link (2) that I hope will take me to the e-copy version so I can actually view it, I’m taken to a list, as expected, of the print and e-copies (see second image). When I click on the e-copy list item (3), it brings me back to this page. My best guess is that UW Libraries does not have an e-copy, so, as with print copies, instead of a UW Libraries listing (because there is none), the system provides only a link to other libraries from which I may borrow it on loan through UW Libraries. In short: It doesn’t really make much sense to the user.
What I Don’t Like About It: “User-contributed reviews” (4). While I may be using this website, what I am trying to do is check out a book from the library. I am a library patron. I am a reader. This is a problem the dominant (though not only) view of humans interacting with computers, and of a lot of mediocre UX: that people are there to use the system. They are there to do something else. I am not here to use this online catalogue search; I am here to get a book to read. This “Be the first” flag (5) also smacks of attempts at “Internet culture” or, vaguely, of gamification. Certainly of manipulation, like the Dollar Menu at Burger King. But I am not here to be on the internet. I am here to get a book to read.
Etc.: I kinda like this many-linked footer (6), though the “Languages,” “You,” “Worldcat,” and “Legal” categories have a sense of one-of-these-things-just-doesn’t-belong about ‘em.
Are those really the only related subjects, though?