Experience Design of Digital Book Reader

Background

The pace of digital technology adoption is constantly increasing, driven by evolving technology as well as end-user expectations for better experience and products. To take an example, before the advent of paper, information and stories were conveyed by word of mouth often leading to varying accuracy and consistency. With the invention of paper recording of information become more consistent and was used as the main source of information record for a long time. The next major breakthrough came with the advent of internet and digital technology with information being recorded digitally, with this started the evolution of user experience design in accessing this information for end user consumption on computers, laptops and handheld devices.

I too contributed to the evolution of user experience in reading digital information as I helped design an e-book reader with an in-build organization capabilities for Panasonic Japan.

To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have modified and obscured confidential information in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of the company.

Objectives of the Project

The objective of the project was conceptualization of the interaction model for an e-book reader cum organizer.

The Challenge

Defining the value proposition for a new e-book reader is quite a challenging job as there are numerous brands with some unique features offerings. I have studied various e-book readers in the market in various segments along with their technical and feature landscape so that I can propose some unique proposition and consciously place our product in the right segment.

The second challenge was to understand the users in the segment, their motivation to read the content digitally as it is difficult to identify the real users who are into a digital reading. Parallel to this building understanding about the user's aspirational value, preferences, reading behavior and mental model before finalizing on our proposition.

My Role

I was involved throughout the product development lifecycle of the project. I lead one of the shortlisted concept which eventually went for the development along with another concept before productization. I have worked on various design activities throughout the design phases and also helped the client in finalizing the product proposition based on the research findings. In addition, I have worked with the fellow designers, visual designer, design manager & clients for their timely inputs and feedbacks.

The Approach

Building Understanding Through Secondary Research

The desk research involved building understanding and collecting information about various e-book readers available in the market like iPad, Nook e-reader, Amazon kindle, Samsung papyrus, Cy-book, Fujitsu Flepia etc.

E-Book readers available in the market Existing feature categorization & mapping Technical landscape mapping

Initial Brainstorming

I have conducted an initial brainstorming session to gather initial & futuristic ideas for the products which include hardware & software features. We have done grouping exercise to transform small ideas into a substantial feature which would eventually helped us in finalizing the feature set for the final product.

Understanding the Users

Based on user type & segment, I have identified primary users for interviews. A questionnaire was prepared with the help of researcher to gather the information which is relevant to the project.

User Research & Interviews

A contextual inquiry was done with various user base & type. The data were gathered for further analysis and translated them into user goals, need & requirements.

User Interviews

Contextual inquiry was started with a pilot test performed within the organization to verify the questionnaire & fine tune it to achieve the desired data from the contextual inquiry. There were gaps found during the interviews and the questionnaire was modified.
The interviews were done with the participants based on the user base. The data were recorded for transcript purpose and later used for analysis. Some of the data came from our observations which was also recorded..

I like reading digitally, sometime it gets frustrating for me when I have to refer back some of the content which I have copied as most of the content is on different notepads. I wish if there is a feature where all my notes remain in a single pad.

I love reading books, since I am a frequent traveler and travel for longer duration, it is difficult for me to carry no. of books that is why I have bought digital e-book reader, though it doesn't provide me the same experience which I was getting on the physical books and I really miss that.

Personas Sample

Research Analysis & Requirements Finalization

Affinity mapping was done on the data gathered post contextual enquiry and analyzed. The data was transformed into features requirement. Some of the aspirational need were also transformed and clubbed together to define the features which be part of final product.

Important features desired in an e-book reader

A large display to help the user to reader
Multimedia features
Auato rotate, text edit/extract, dictionary, highlighting etc.
Compatibility various text as well as audio/video format

Possible interactions

Flip page navigation style for good reading experience
On screen keyboard while entering/editing text
Swiping motion to navigation through items
Multiple applications handling for back & forth movement

To finalize on the display for the product I have done benchmarking on the display technology available like E-Ink, XGA color touch screen, Backlit LED and proposed one of the option which can be used for our product.

Design Goals

While analyzing the data I have defined the design goals based on the user goals which I have carried forward and reflect in my design so that user's need get fulfil and have seamless reading experience as compare to physical books.

Enrich reading experience by clean interface
Synchronize well between real and virtual world
Focused on key user goals
On demand navigation controls

Expandability
Engaging and connecting
Durability
Easy content management

Information Architecture Design

Once the features were finalized, I have worked on the information architecture of the product. The IA captures high level primary and secondary features along with the contextual features provided in the product.

Conceptualization

During conceptualization phase I quickly sketched out some of the initial concepts keeping design goals in mind. Post review I have merged few concepts together and defined two solid directions. One of the concept (Concept "B") was taken forward for further refinements. The concepts were presented to the clients and shortlisted for detail workflow design.

The Concept Drop box is about a large collection of various data on varied or specific subject based on user choice. The Idea came from the tradition of collection of money in a clay pot. So, thinking about what if having something like a piggy bank where at any point user can collect different data from various sources and use it at any stage while reading on e-book reader.

Workflow Design

Based on various features especially reading and content organizing functionality, I have designed various workflows to showcase various use case. Also highlighted the important aspect based on the design goals like interaction model designed in such a way that user can flawlessly navigate into different sections. Secondly contextual menus which was provided to accomplish the task in simple and intuitive manner.

The Result

Visual design theme & various transition effects were created with the help of visual designer which were used in the e-book reader to enhance the user experience.

Demo

The Impact

I have successfully delivered the enrich user experience for an e-book reader with organizer functionality. The design was much appreciated by the client & within the organization. The implemented design was taken forward by the client in their organization for localization and productization.

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