Practical customer feedback guide
Collect feedback on academic library spaces and services
ThumbsUp helps academic library teams collect a touchless signal after a help interaction or visit to a defined library area. Students use a supported hand or thumb gesture toward a camera-equipped Android tablet, and authorized managers review patterns by location and time before choosing what to investigate.
For University library director, branch or service-point manager, user-experience librarian, assessment coordinator or learning-support leader..
Decision frame
Start with one physical service moment.
ThumbsUp helps an authorized team review a configured location and time signal. The setup still needs a site test for distance, lighting, reach, accessibility, privacy, and safe use.
Ask the question that matters to your team
Authorized managers can create or change the short question shown on assigned feedback devices. After Question Mode is enabled on those devices, customers answer the active question with a supported hand gesture—for example, “How good was the cleaning service?”—so each location can collect a signal about the service moment it wants to improve.
Choose a library interaction or zone
Libraries contain several experiences that should not be collapsed into one rating. A student asking for research help, attending an instruction session, using a study room or relying on printing equipment may leave with different needs and different owners. Define the interaction or zone before selecting the device position and question.
Keep the prompt about the visit or service experience. A short signal can help a library prioritize a local review, but it cannot measure information literacy, learning outcomes or the full value of a library on its own.
| Library moment | Place the feedback point | Question to test |
|---|---|---|
| Research or reference help | Beyond the help desk after the interaction ends | Did you get the help you needed today? |
| Library instruction or orientation | At the exit from the session area | How useful was this library session for you? |
| Defined study floor or zone | At the exit from that floor or area | How was this study space for your visit? |
| Equipment or printing area | After the equipment interaction and outside the work area | How easy was it to use this library service? |
Place feedback where it preserves context
A help-desk point belongs after the conversation, not on the approach side of the desk. A study-space point works best at the exit from a defined zone, where a student can rate that environment rather than the entire building. Separate branches, floors or service types when the follow-up owner or question changes.
Libraries also need to protect quiet work and accessible circulation. Keep the tablet visible without placing it on a study table or narrowing a route. Confirm the local position, lighting and distance with library staff before relying on the signal.
- Put help feedback beyond the completed interaction and away from the active queue.
- Use a floor or zone label when the question is about the physical environment.
- Keep instruction-session feedback distinct from general building feedback.
- Choose a position that does not invite conversation or interrupt quiet study.
Combine quick signals with library assessment
Academic library assessment often combines surveys, interviews, usage information, learning evidence and service-level review. A touchless point adds a short signal close to a physical interaction; it does not replace the methods needed to understand instruction outcomes, collections, access or the library's contribution to institutional goals.
Use the signal to decide where a richer assessment conversation may be worthwhile. For example, a recurring change at a group-study floor can lead the team to inspect room configuration, noise guidance, equipment availability or booking friction before selecting a broader method.
- Align the question with a library service or space that has a named owner.
- Review results alongside usage and service information rather than treating them as a complete impact measure.
- Use interviews or structured surveys when the team needs reasons, learning evidence or feedback from a defined group.
- Record the improvement decision and the evidence that will show whether the local change helped.
Illustrative example: help desk and group-study floor
Illustrative example: a university library places one feedback point after the research-help desk and another at the exit from a group-study floor. The user-services manager reviews the first for clarity of the help interaction; the facilities or branch team reviews the second for the study environment. Separate placement keeps the two signals actionable.
If the study-floor signal changes during examination periods, the team can compare it with room use, equipment availability, opening hours and local observations. The result is a reason to inspect the environment, not evidence that one factor or staff member caused the experience.
From feedback to a library action list
Library teams can make the review routine small and visible: identify the location, look at the relevant time pattern, inspect the local context, and choose the next action. A service point might prompt a script or handoff review; a study zone might prompt a signage, equipment or layout check.
Keep the feedback point tied to the decision. If the library changes the question, service owner or physical zone, document that change so future results are not compared as though they represented the same experience.
- Review one location or service type at a time.
- Use a low result to select evidence to inspect, not to assign blame.
- Share the agreed action with the relevant library team.
- Revisit the same placement after the local change and keep broader assessment work in view.
Questions operators ask
Collect feedback on academic library spaces and services questions, answered clearly.
Can an academic library measure both help desks and study spaces?
Yes. Use separate devices or clear location assignments for help interactions, instruction areas and defined study zones so each result has the right context and owner.
Where should feedback be collected after a reference interaction?
Place the feedback point beyond the help desk after the interaction ends, outside the active queue and away from the approach side of the desk.
Can a library score measure student learning or information literacy?
No. It is a short signal about a service interaction or physical visit. Use instruction assessment, surveys, interviews and other appropriate evidence for learning and information-literacy questions.
Will a tablet disturb quiet study areas?
Choose a defined exit or circulation point rather than a study table, keep the prompt brief and confirm that the position does not obstruct quiet work or accessible movement.
Can library managers compare branches or floors?
Authorized managers can review results by device and location, as well as time, day and historical patterns. Compare locations only when the service moment and question are sufficiently similar.
Does this replace the library's existing assessment program?
No. ThumbsUp adds a near-interaction signal. Existing surveys, interviews, usage information and learning or program assessment remain important for broader library planning and impact questions.
Plan the right feedback point with ThumbsUp.
Bring the service journey, site constraints, and reporting questions. The contact form can help define what a responsible pilot should test before launch.
Book an academic library feedback demo