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Using both informal and formal feedback methods can be useful to ensure the family room meets the needs of its users. Informal feedback can be gathered through verbal comments or creative outlets like whiteboards, while formal feedback includes structured surveys and focus groups. By combining these approaches, the facility can continuously improve and adapt to user requirements.
Informal Feedback
Verbal feedback
Many users will provide ad-hoc informal feedback, both positive and negative. This might be showing appreciation for the room, through to pointing out damaged or missing equipment, making a request, or any other similar suggestion. It is a good idea to ensure this feedback is logged just as formal feedback would be.
Whiteboards or drawings
Another route to gathering feedback in an informal way is to encourage the use of a whiteboard or drawing paper. While parents or carers may add notes or suggestions to a whiteboard, encouraging the children to add their own ideas and impressions is a great way of getting involvement from the room’s other key users.
Formal Feedback
As with many aspects of an academic library or similar facility, gathering data to demonstrate the use of the room, as well as whether it is meeting the needs of users, is often essential.
Time of booking
Adding a few additional questions on to a booking form can be a very time-efficient way of collecting essential data, both for the library and the user. These might include basic elements such as what faculty or course a student belongs to, how many children they are bringing, and what age they are.
Surveys
Sending out a formal survey is also beneficial for gathering a wider impression of the user experience. This could be done periodically, such as annually or at the end of every semester, to create a snapshot of the room’s usage and user experience. This can include requests for feedback, such as rating the facilities of the room.
Multiple Formats
Providing surveys in multiple formats is recommended, not only for accessibility issues, but many parents or carers may find it easier fill in a paper copy than use an online one. It can also mean staff can more readily suggest users fill in the survey. An online survey still has advantages; it requires less printing, the data can be collated more quickly, and it does not need to be physically submitted. Providing both options is a good balance.
Incentives
Providing an incentive may prove to be necessary to encourage more users to engage with the survey. While this is of course true for any survey or feedback exercise, those using a family room are often more pressed for time than other library users and may be reluctant to engage with evaluation activity without some form of compensation. A cafe voucher, a shopping voucher, or an opportunity to win one via a lottery, are all easy options, where budgets allow.
Focus Groups
Inviting users to participate in a focus group is another way of gathering useful user experience data. This may prove challenging to arrange due to users' schedules, but preparing a reasonable amount of time in advance and giving users the opportunity to feed their availability forward can mitigate this. While this more likely to yield qualitative data than a survey, it can also lead to more prolonged conversations between users, as well as knowledge sharing and the suggestion of solutions instead of just identifying issues. As with a survey, an incentive for participation is likely to encourage wider involvement.
Student feedback at Bradford
Student and single mother, Mary Udoka, who is in the first year of a BSc (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health), uses the facility with her daughter Adaora, aged four.
Mary, who previously studied for a MSc in Management at the University of Bradford in 2018, said: “I used to think ‘How do I cope with my studies and my child?’, I was worried before I used to come to this room.”
Student feedback at Hull
A recent survey at Hull showed that 92% of responses had either a positive or very positive experience when using the family room. One student said: ""I come to the family room once in a week with my daughter. It's a great space for children of all ages. The resources in the family room keeps my daughter engaged while I can focus on my academics. There are plenty of reading books, colouring and sketching books. Furthermore, the room also houses few soft toys, board games and musical boat to accompany my daughter. And keep her entertained. She absolutely loves it and always looks forward to coming to university with me."
