This week, I gained insight on the needs of the website by talking to the manager (who is also my boyfriend). There are a few parts of the website that are problematic and features that could be added. My aim is to reduce the number of phone calls and emails so that the Brian’s time could be better used. So I determined the main topics people contacted him about.

1. Hours. This one is the most obvious, as most people visiting the site just want to be able to see the hours that they are open. I will make this big and and the top of the page so it is very easy to find.
2. Available Tools. This one is a bit more difficult. myTurn is an open source program many tool libraries use, but it was created specifically for the West Seattle Tool Library. It is through this program that the inventory of the tools is displayed on the website. I may not be able to fix this issue, but hopefully can implement easy fixes such as a better search bar for people who are looking for a specific tool, and featuring the categories of tools rather than the 100 pages of individual tools.
3. Membership. You can sign up for a membership online, however it is a 2-step process that nobody ever does. This could be better displayed and organized. If more people sign up for a membership online, this would save quite a bit of time for Brian during Tool Library hours.
4. Gift Membership/Donation. Currently, you can buy a gift membership for someone or donate money to the Tool Library through Paypal. The problem is that when people buy a gift membership, they receive nothing and Brian receives no confirmation, so there is no prove that they bought it for someone. This is similar to donating through Paypal. One way I was brainstorming to solve this is to create a WooCommerce store. A gift membership or donation could be products in the store, and then they receive some sort of PDF or email. Also, Brian would be able to see purchases in WordPress or perhaps he could get a confirmation email. Another part we can add is to be able to buy merchandise through this store, since they have shirts that are already printed. And yet another part is that they are starting to refurbish and then sell tools for the shop. This could be integrated here if they like, or they could use their existing method of just selling through craigslist.
5. Email. The issue above reminded me that Brian does not have a legitimate email address through their domain. When I get access to their server, I can hopefully set that up for him.

I did a sitemap of the existing website. It’s not beautiful, but it gets the job done.

I also made a survey that the Tool Library will be sending out to all of their users. Within a week, hopefully I can draw some meaningful conclusions from it.

So armed with these three resources, I will make an updated sitemap this week, which can of course change depending on new or changing information. I can then start wireframing and making a moodboard. This will give me and the client a better idea of what I will be designing, plus I can solidify their branding.