User support: Mystery Shopper Exercise

Mystery shopping is a suitable method to evaluate the more informal types of

user support eg reference desk enquires and enquires received by telephone
or email.
Mystery shoppers should be typical of real users, so recruiting students to act
as mystery shoppers may be the best option.
The process
You should brief the mystery shoppers by giving them a sample enquiries and
the answer they should expect. The mystery shoppers should visit (or
phone/email) the library on two separate occasions to help to discover
whether the level of service is being provided depends on the individual staff
they encounter or is of a similar standard regardless of the staff they come
into contact with.
The type of sample enquiries will depend on the services you wish to
evaluate. They may be simple directional enquiries, for example, directions to
a particular section of stock; procedural enquiries, such as the number of
items a student may borrow; or more complex enquiries which require a
higher level of staff skill, for example, how to search a particular database.
Immediately following their visit, the mystery shoppers should complete and
return a feedback form similar to that provided below (can be adapted for
phone/email mystery shopping). This is deliberately short and simple as the
mystery shoppers will have to fill it in some time afterwards.

Model feedback form

For each of the following questions, please rate how strongly you agree or
disagree with each of the following statements by circling the appropriate
number on the scale:
1. = strongly disagree
2. = disagree
3. = undecided
4. = agree
5. = strongly agree
a. I found the enquiry desk staff very welcoming and approachable.
1

b. I received a full and accurate response to my enquiry.

1

c. The library staff checked that I had understood and was happy with the
response.
1

d. My enquiry was dealt with efficiently and professionally.

1
Further comments: