You Responded, We Listened: Wandoo Reader Survey Results and Plans for 2019

We’re constantly looking for ways to incorporate our customers’ feedback into the solutions we offer to libraries and their community members. Wandoo Reader is no exception, and in August we surveyed our 2,700+ library customers to learn more about what they love about our reading program software, as well as what they hope to see from it in the future. In October, we presented a webinar unveiling the results to our current customers and sharing how their feedback is helping to shape the future of Wandoo Reader. Keep reading to discover what we learned as well as enhancements coming in 2019 based on our customer responses.

What’s Great and What Could Be Even Better

There’s a lot our customers appreciate about Wandoo Reader:

• Versatility — Wandoo Reader allows libraries to utilize the software not just during the summer months, but year-round for other reading programs, such as 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten initiatives.
• Ease of use — Our users find the software to be streamlined and simple to use, especially as compared to other reading program solutions they’ve tried. Respondents describe Wandoo Reader as more intuitive for patrons, with easier setup and training — all of which positively impact the time investment required of staff.
• Reporting capabilities — Users also report that the filtered, reliable, and accurate reporting capabilities offered by Wandoo Reader provide better proof of outcomes to state funding agencies and sponsors.
• Another main goal of the survey was to learn how we can continue to grow and better serve our customers and their patrons.

We learned that some of our current users are unaware of features already available within Wandoo Reader, such as book reviews or custom logging types. We know that new features are only useful if users know they exist as well as how to take full advantage of them, which is why our team is committed to improving the quality and frequency of our communications. Customers can expect to see improvements to the content in our Product Support Knowledge Base and more clarity with regard to product-related announcements and changes.

• We also heard that our customers wanted new features to be rolled out more quickly so that libraries have time to familiarize themselves with those features well in advance of the launch of summer programs. To address that request, we have expanded the capacity of our engineering team to ensure new product updates and features are launched sooner than they were launched in 2018.

These two commitments will come into play heavily in 2019, when we plan to not only release new functionality, but also improve existing features.

Our 2019 Plans for Wandoo Reader

Enhancements planned for 2019 will make many Wandoo Reader features more user-friendly for both the library staff and patrons, increasing user engagement and simplifying processes:

• The flexibility of Wandoo Reader Challenges will increase, allowing patrons to hide tabs that are not in use. This is especially useful for logging-only or challenges-only programs.
• Our improved Family Management Portal will make it easier for families to engage with the program by simplifying the logging process even more and providing an overview of each family member’s progress all on one screen.
• Prize management will be enhanced to allow for pattern prizes (e.g., “earn a prize for every 10 minutes read”), as survey respondents indicated that recurring prizes can be difficult to configure. This improvement will reduce program setup time.

Our customer survey also informed new features we plan for 2019, all designed to improve staff workflows, increase community engagement, or offer personalization.

• A new program test mode will reduce the time library staff spend evaluating and testing the program, helping them get it set up and to their patrons without a headache.
• New functionality will allow participants to track their progress toward both a shared community reading goal and their own personalized reading goal. Patrons will be able to see the community’s progress, increasing participant engagement and investment throughout the duration of the reading program.

Dive Deeper into Wandoo Reader Survey Results

We can’t wait to share more with you about what we’ll have to offer our Wandoo Reader customers in 2019. Until then, if you’d like to learn more about the results of our survey or our plans for next year, watch our on-demand webinar, “Wandoo Reader Survey Results: You Responded, We Listened.”