Kelvin Watson last month was named Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for Queens Library (QL) in New York. In addition to his prior position as QL’s VP of digital services and strategy, Watson’s background includes positions at companies and organizations including The Library Corporation (TLC), Ingram, Borders, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is also the current president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA). In 2013 and 2014, under Watson’s leadership, QL developed a proprietary “Discovery and Delivery” platform for Google Nexus tablets, designed to make it easy for patrons to find and access e-content from multiple different vendors using a single, QL designed platform and interface. Watson now intends to expand that philosophy of streamlining and simplifying access to digital content as part of a new initiative called the Queens Virtual Library System. A site launched last week to explain the initiative to vendors and interested librarians states that “for Queens Library to maintain its central place in developing and promoting literacy, it must offer digital content in ways that work for all patrons.” Library Journal recently had a chance to catch up with Watson to discuss his new role, the UX process behind the platforms and apps developed in-house at QL, the future of Queens Library Enterprises, and more. Library Journal: How did you become involved with libraries? Kelvin Watson: I became involved with libraries while working at Ingram Library Services/Ingram Book Group. Initially, in my role as library processing manager, responsible for the physical processing (outsourcing), and then in my sales roles (account manager, sales manager, director of sales). The sales roles allowed me to visit public, academic, and school libraries across the country and understand their needs. I also joined the Black Caucus of ALA while I was processing manager. BCALA was the place I received mentoring, built relationships, and networked. I also received my MLS while working at Borders. How will this promotion change/expand your role at QL?  I have served as the Interim CIO since January 2015 along with my other QL roles as VP digital services and strategy, GM QL Enterprises. This promotion is a combination of all the roles and puts all my teams together: Information Technology and Development, Technical Services (Collection Development, Acquisitions, Metadata, Strategy, Digitization/Digital Services). Looking ahead, what are some of your goals for Queens Library? We’re really focused on our customers being able to leverage technology in ways that help them have a better experience. Not let technology lead the conversation, but to have technology help them get the information resources that they’re looking for. That’s our long-term goal. Our Queens Virtual Library System initiative is part of that, and our Virtual Library information website actually takes vendors and librarians through the process that we’ve taken so far [to use technology to streamline access to content]. Bringing print and digital together, so that the customer has a better experience…. We already have a pretty good portfolio [of QL-developed solutions]. We have our self-check system. We’ve got our mobile applications. We’ve got a marketing program management tool. We’ve got several things that we’ve already built, and I want to make them better…. Regardless of how [a patron] wants to experience Queens Library, we want to be able to give them that experience, whether it’s on a mobile phone, whether it’s on a tablet that you own or one that we lend you, whether it’s on a kiosk. Even if you’re working with our self-check system and want to use that to search for ebooks, we want to make that happen. We want to use technology to improve our public services and improve our business operations as well. Queens has one of my favorite mobile websites in the field, and an excellent mobile app as well. What is the design process like at Queens? What are some of the steps taken by IT staff and developers to ensure that your patrons have the best user experience with the platforms that Queens has developed? As part of our IT team we have the role of Director of Interactive Customer Experience [Christopher Carvey] with experience in design, web development, and user experience. We also are using a robust agile development process. This process is iterative in nature and is subject to various levels of intense testing. We have user workshops to arrive at “personas" and/or “audiences” that would benefit from certain information this was then translated into our applications. [This process, Watson wrote, involves multiple steps:]

1. Baseline where you are, measure your current performance, and detail it as best you can to define measurable improvement or decline in performance. This process can be challenging.
2. Talk to your users and customer service representatives, get a pulse of what is going on in their world, and make sure that translates to bug fixes, feature sets, and items placed on your technology road map.
3. Talk to your business stakeholders—this is not just an IT project, we work closely with library services, marketing and communications, programming, and a host of department heads to ensure we release the best product for our patrons. What’s the corporate vision? What is the mission? What do you hold near and dear? What is the strategic plan?
4. Define challenges, pain points, and most importantly the positive—“what we got right.” Mandate not to do harm to the positive in next iterations.
5. Define “top tasks” from all the conversation above. What is the purpose of the application or website? Make these things clear achievable actions. Set expectations.
6. Prototype. Test. Prototype. Test. Prototype. Test again. Find fresh eyes where you can test, sort opinion from true feedback.
7. Cross your fingers, and release it.

What are you focused on now, in terms of development? One of the things we’re working on is API standards…. To integrate e-content in our tablet app and mobile app, we’re having more conversations with vendors. What I’m excited about is that the vendors are really accepting the work that we’ve done. Ultimately, we want to help create API standards that could be used for any library across the country…. We want our customers [library patrons] to discover content in a seamless way. The app helps break down the silos that our customers experience when working with e-content. The APIs help us do that, and the conversations help get all of the vendors on the same page. Do you have an update on Queens Library Enterprises? Is Queens still considering the sale of technology you develop in-house to other library systems? If so, will your role in those efforts change with this promotion? Yes, QL Enterprises is still going and doesn’t change with my promotion. I am even more active in speaking with other library systems about the portfolio of technology that Queens Library has developed and is developing. Is the re anything else you’d like to add? One of the other things that I’ve been involved in—along with libraries across the country—is focusing on the Digital Divide. I’m part of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance because that’s the other piece of it—everyone should understand how to use technology and realize how impactful these tools can be for their lives.