New Generation eBook-OPUS

eBOOK
PROJECT REPORT
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
School of Design
2009 | Master of Interaction design

Next generation eBook - opus
Team member: Cheng Wing Yin Ellena

Shao Zhou Yi Joy

Wang Zhi Wei Eva

CONTENTS
Team members /02

1 Project Background /06

2 Project Objective /08

RESEARCH

3 Research Process / 12 7 Competitive Analysis / 32
7.1 Rationale /32

4 Persona / 14 7.2 Matrix of Competitor Comparison /33

4.1 Rationale /14 7.3 Advantages and Disadvantages /34

4.2 OPUS’ Persona /16
8 Design Objectives and Criteria / 36
5 Secondary Research / 18
5.1 Rationale /18 9 Design Opportunities / 40
9.1 Physical Freedom /42

6 Design Direction / 22 9.2 Pleasant Reading Experience /44

6.1 Physical /24 9.3 Communicate with Others /48

Psychological /24

Social /24 10 Visits & Interviews / 52
6.2 Design Direction /26 10.1 Rationale /52

10.2 First and Second visits /54
6.3 Ideas /30
10.3 Third visits /58

10.4 Fourth visits /62

DESIGN

11 Scenarios / 69 14 Interaction Models / 82
11.1 Rationale /69 14.1 Rationale /82

11.2 Scenarios /70 14.2 Evolution of Interaction Models /82
14.3 Interaction Models /83

12 Brainstorm and Sketches / 72
12.1 Rationale /75 15 Information Architecture / 86
12.2 Re nement of Sketches /76 15.1 Rationale /87

15.2 Information Architecture /88

13 Task Analysis / 78
13.1 Rationale /78

13.2 Envisioned /79

13.3 Task Analysis /80

OPUS

16 Final Design / 93 18 Acknowledgements /102
16.1 Interface /94

16.2 Physical Form /98 19 References /104
16.3 Technology /99
20 Appendix /106
17 Lessons Learned /100

ASTRI collaborated with Hong Kong
Polytechnic University on
eBooks for children education.

ere are 4 projects altogether as part of a larger collaboration between AS-
TRI and Hong Kong Polytechnic Univeristy:

1) A tough and durable “learning-to-read” eBook for children
around 7 years old
2) A tough and durable generic subject eBook for grade 3 or 4
students
3) A very tough and durable science book for children around
11-12 years old

6 Hong Kong Polytechnic University

1
PROJECT
BACK-
GROUND

MDes Interaction Design - Next Generation eBook 7

PROJECT
OBJECTI


VE 2
The project’s objective is to design a tough and
durable eBook for children 7 years of age that
allows children to learn to read.

e workshop is designed to follow an iterative design process and have the students follow
through an entire design cycle. e workshop goes from understanding the design problem all
the way to creating a nal design.


ESEARCH

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DE

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AL
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TS
YS

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AN
CH

IE
S I

S
D
CR
IT
ER
IA

Help the team understand the stakeholder’s activities
Ensure that the direction was correct

Refine the design and interactions

Make sure the design’s usability and aesthetics are well done


RESEARCH
PROCESS
3
The research process allows designers to start with a
vague and undetermined problem and re ning
it to the nal product and interactions.

rough the entire process, the design is re ned based on new ndings and insights. By testing it
iteratively, the design had a chance to be improved step by step.


PERSONA

Rationale

A persona is a representation of a typical user that will use the system. It in-
cludes various information, such as demographics, interests, and life style, etc.
e reason to have a persona is to design for a speci c person and avoid de-
signing features that will not be used by the target users. By having a concrete
person in mind, the design team can be more focused and the design will be
more grounded on real scenarios.


4

Brainstorming


OPUS’s Persona

Sit Read aloud Parents Teachers
Sleep Read whisper Friends Relatives
Walk around Read quite Toys Alone

WH
HOW O

Learn new knowlege
On the bus
For interesting

W H EN
W HY

Walking
Hierarch
Eating
Pleasure
Working
Engage
Bed time
Boring
Peter Spare time
7 years old Weekend

PERSONA
W
AT HE
WH RE
Textbook Fairy Home Park
Words Pictures Toilet Class
Cartoon Craftbook Library Bookstore
Reading room

HOBBY PERSONALITY PET PEEVE
Love cartoon Friendly Doing homework
Make friends Curious Being alone
Play games

WHO - Peter is a 7 years old who likes to read

WHAT - He enjoys reading story books workshop

WHERE- He mainly reads at home or in school, but he would like to have the option to
read anywhere

WHEN - He wants to read books that he likes during his free time

WHY - He enjoys reading and wants to share his knowledge with friends

HOW - He likes to read a traditional storybook, but sometimes he reads on the family
computer too.


SECOND-
ARY
RESEARCH


5
Rationale

Secondary research includes research that others have done prior to this proj-
ect. It includes resources like books, journals, internet articles, and more. It
is used to give the design team a basic understanding of the issues and what
previous work can they leverage and what areas require primary research.
With a basic understanding of issues regarding designing for children physi-
cally, psychologically, and socially, the design team can be better prepared to
exploring the details in the right areas. e secondary research gave the team
a preliminary view of the design directions.


DESIGN
DIRECTI

6
Based on the secondary research, the ndings were
categorized into three categories: physical,
psychological, and social.

ON

ere are a total of three design directions for the eBook.

For the physical aspect, it was determined that children have very rich
movement and the physical form of the eBook must accommodate for the
children’s movements.

Psychologically, there are many di erences between children and
adults. e eBook will have to keep in mind of the persona and how he can
bene t from the design of the eBook.

For the social aspect, studies have shown that students learn much better
among peers (reference required). Reading has
raditionally been a private activity and little interaction is shared among the
children. is project wants to leverage the improved learning based on com-
munication and make reading a social
experience. With these directions determined, the design can be more fo-
cused and the initial ideas of what the eBook can be began to be shaped.


DESIGN DIRECTION >


Encourage interaction between
parents and children

Encourage parents to
read with children

Use with different people
and environments

Encourage children to communicate
in groups and share infomation

L
IA
Encourage children to ask questions and

SOC
develop critical thinking

Relate the content of the book to the
DE
children’s social world in reality
DIRE
Teach the children rules that should
understand and follow Readi

Help the child
understand the book better
O GY
Re

di
a

ng
Easy to use, Pr
oc
or else the children won’t be ess
motivated to use it
Emot
Make the process of
reading feel like a journey

Emotionally attached
to the eBook
Allow the children to be involved in
what they are reading

Use the children’s own
Allow children to look up words views to ask questions
they are interested in learning


Accommodate the
children’s rich movements

Allow children
to use both hands

Maintain the child’s health
while using the eBook

P Low cost hardware
--accessibility
HY
SIC

Multi-channel feedback
(e.g. sound, touch, visual)

ESIGN
AL

Hardware is light, easy to carry,

ECTION
and durable to encourage face-to-face interaction

ing for Interest

PS
YCHO Show all options available to
s
er

the children. Don’t hide any items.
th

O
Allow the children to express themselves
through the eBook

ce
tional Experien
Provide a means to explore
new books

Design the eBook to
be suitable for
Motivate children by providing an
the child’s personality
appropriate reading level and rewards

Provide encouragements
and assistance Keep the children consistently
to children interacting with the eBook

Show to the users that
they are respected
(including children users)


IDEAS
>


Encourage interaction between
parents and children

Encourage parents to
read with children
ID
Use with different people
and environments

Encourage children to communicate Setup to obtain the personality and
in groups and share infomation reading levelof the child to make the
reading material more appropriate.
Encourage children to ask questions and
develop critical thinking
Create a schedule that
the children can follow
Relate the content of the book to the to advance their reading.
children’s social world in reality

Teach the children rules that should Provide an avatar in the
understand and follow eBook that can be a
companion to the child
and provide guidance

Less information on
one page. Clear and
simple visual icons.

Allow children to write
their own stories to increase
their involvement

Help the child
understand the book better Extra resources for children to learn more.
E.g. an encyclopedia with images
and sound built in
Easy to use,
or else the children won’t be
motivated to use it

Make the process of
reading feel like a journey Emotionally attached
to the eBook

Allow the children to be involved in
what they are reading
Use the children’s own
views to ask questions
Allow children to look up words
they are interested in learning


Accommodate the
children’s rich movements

Allow children

DEAS
to use both hands

Maintain the child’s health
while using the eBook

Provide different modes Low cost hardware
that allow the eBook to be --accessibility
used alone, with parents,
with peers, or with teachers. Multi-channel feedback
(e.g. sound, touch, visual)
Create some accessories
with the eBook that the
children can interact with. Hardware is light, easy to carry,
and durable to encourage face-to-face interaction

Provide personalized
plastic protective cover for
durability and attractive-
ness of the eBook.

Contain speakers to
talk to the children.

Provide small games
during loading. Show
the loading progress
and option to cancel.

Show all options available to
Provide a toolbox for children the children. Don’t hide any items.
to express themselves
through dairies, pictures, etc.
Allow the children to express themselves
through the eBook

Provide a means to explore
Design the eBook to new books
be suitable for
the child’s personality
Motivate children by providing an
appropriate reading level and rewards
Provide encouragements
and assistance
to children
Keep the children consistently
interacting with the eBook
Show to the users that
they are respected
(including children users)

COMPET-
ITIVE
ANALYSIS

7
Rationale

By understanding the existing competition for eBooks, it gives the team a view of which areas are
ful lled and which area requires a better design solution.


Matrix of Competitor Comparison

ere were two main competitors identi ed for the project. e rst group is existing eBooks that
is mainly geared towards adults. e second group is the existing learn-to-read toys for children.
It was identi ed that the eBooks can hold a high volume of content, but the fun factor is really low.
On the opposite spectrum, the toys are fun to read and suitable for children, but parents must buy
a new toy in order to teach their children new content. e solution is an eBook for children that
is more fun to use than existing toys and has a high volume of content.


Advantages & Disadvantages

e advantages and disadvantages of the existing eBooks were evaluated. is provides insight
for opportunities and pitfalls that the current project should consider.

+ Light, thin, and portable (Kindle/Sony)
+ Usage with both hands (Kindle)
+ Provides highlighting and annotations (Sony)
+ Touch screen (Sony)

+ Large amount of books (K/S)
+ Books are never out of print (K/S)
+ Simulates real paper (K/S)
+ Large amount of content available (K)
+ Simple to use and add additional books(K)
+ Shop for new books anywhere (K)
+ Free wireless internet (limited to USA) (K)
+ Low book prices (K)
+ Supports PDF (S)
+ Front and back lights available (S)
+ Doesn’t need to be recharged o en (S)


- Lack of touch screen (Kindle)
- Opinion of many users that is it not attractive (Kindle)
- Screen has refresh lag (1 second for each page turn).(Sony)

- ebook is only “borrowed” (K)
- ebooks cannot be read on computer (K)
- Low resolution small screen (6 in)(S)
- Cannot search book text(S)
- Cannot jump to page(S)


DESIGN
OBJEC-
TIVES &
CRITERIA

8

Based on the previous research, we
creat the design criteria. >


th ers
The eBook shall encourage interaction o
with others because children i th
learn better with peers.

w
on
ati

L
nic

IA
mu

SOC
Improve com
OBJEC
&CRITE
Improve English
& habits by readin

OLO GY
e
ing exper ienc

The design of the eBook shall co
provide motivation to


Giv
ec
hil
dr
en The eBook shall give the children the ability
to read an unlimited amount of content
m
at anytime, anywhere,
P
or

and with anyone they chose.
ep
HY

hys
ica
SIC

l free

CTIVE
AL
dom to use it

ERIA
reading skill
ng for pleasure

PS
YC
Ple
asan
t rea

onsider children’s emotion,
read, easy to use


DESIGN
OPPORT

Current issues were identi ed and design opportunities were suggested based on the speci c is-
sue. Any new issues that can be created by the new design opportunity are also explored to avoid
creating a new problem when solving an existing one. is allowed the team to understand what
the user lacks in the present and design an eBook with an improved experience.

1 Provide Freedom
2 Pleasant Reading Experience
3 Communicate with Others


UNITIES

9

Provide Freedom
--Give children more physical freedom to use it

CURRENT PROBLEMS &
DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES

Can only read and write on the book
--Provide di erent interactions on the eBook
eBook issues to be addressed:
Accessory can be lost
Shortage of battery

Each book only contains one story
--Store various books on the book
Small screen space
Tired to read---- make sure they don’t read too much

Can’t modify the physical book
--Allow children to manipulate content of the eBook
Durable physical form


CURRENT SCENARIO NEW SCENARIO

1
Peter had an interesting class about dinosaurs in the morning. He
found the topic really interesting and wanted to nd out more
with his best friend Steve.

2
He had lunch with Steve and they wanted to
read about dinosaurs together, but they don’t
have access to any books about dino- 2
saurs.
...so Peter took out his eBook and they
read about dinosaurs and learned the names of
a dozen of dinosaurs together by the end of
lunch.

3
So they played hide and seek instead.


Pleasant Reading Experience
--Consider children’s emotion,
provide motivation to read, easy to use

CURRENT PROBLEMS &

e avatar’s emotion will signify when the children should read.
Two avatars can act as the ‘angel’ and ‘devil’ exemplars.
Help create plan habitually.
Assists in re ection of the book.
Encourage children to ask questions.
• Make the text for the bottom text smaller and emphasize the “Avatar can help” instead? We
didn’t really use avatar in the nal design
• For the Current and New scenarios, can we do something similar to the above? E.g. arrows that
points sideways to the other side of the ap, and identify “current scenario” and “new scenario”
beside the arrow?

Avatar should not be intrusive.
Must be easy to use.


Can’t nd answers to their questions
--Built-in encyclopedia and dictionary can help nd the answer.

Bored with the content
--Switch from text to pictures or animations
Make sure that children still read
-- text follow the pictures and cartoon.

Passively absorbing the content
--Create stories using pictures and the eBook turned it into text.
At the end, there is a game for Peter to see if he learned what was in his story.


1

A er school, Peter is deciding if he should watch television,
play games or read.

2

He decides that he wants to start reading Harry Potter because his
friend said it’s interesting. However, there are too much text
and too di cult for him.


3

So he gave up and went to watch TV.

CURRENT SCENARIO

NEW SCENARIO

3

He picked up his eBook and sees what his avatar, Jerry, has in store for him.
--Jerry reminded Peter that he planned to read Harry Potter today, so Peter started reading it with Jerry.
--Jerry asked questions throughout the story and looked up answers in the encyclopedia with Peter.
He turned the book into an animation that reads the story with him.


Communicate with others
--Encourage interaction with others
because studies have shown that children learn better with peers

CURRENT PROBLEMS &

Di cult to nd friends to read together
--Provide a list to show friends that are available to read
Display of book(s) that friends want to read
Make sure that they are reading and not chatting

Di cult to nd a book to read
--A list of books that friends recommends

Di erent stage and speed of reading between children
--Provide mini-reading-games around 10-15 min about previous reading while the
faster friend waits


Can’t nd answers to the questions
--Encourage asking friends or group discussions through eBook

Can’t share book with too many people
--Provide a remote control to allow more children to view it.
Each children has one eBook and they read the same story together remotely.

Can’t communicate with friends in small screen
--Connect eBook into one big screen


1

Later that day, Peter found a book about dinosaurs and wanted to
go nd Steve to read.

2
But his mom thinks it’s too late.


CURRENT SCENARIO

3

So Peter stayed home and read a book about dinosaurs alone.

3

...So Peter went on his eBook to see if Steve was available to read
with him. He saw that Steve was free and also wanted to read dinosaurs,
so he contacted Steve and they read dinosaurs together.

NEW SCENARIO


VISITS &
INTER-
VIEWS
Rationale

ere were 4 visits altogether.
e interviews and visits provided the chance for the team to observe the be-
havior and perspectives of the children and teachers. Being able to talk with
the users and experts gave a lot of insights. e primary research and feed-
back provided by the students and teachers greatly improved the design by
allowing the design team to make informed decisions. e visits are done
throughout the entire design process and provided more insghts during the
design iterations.


10

First visit Methodology

e rst visit was a home visit to a family and the team had the chance to interview a girl and
her parents about her reading habits and daily life. is provided a chance for the team to look at
the artifacts, understand her reading level, capabilities of a child around 7 years old, and see the
interests of the child.

During the rst visit, the child’s home life was understood. e child’s life was very busy and she
had many choices of what to learn. She showed that she was very excited in reading, which pro-
vided some more input to the persona as a child who is intrinsically interested in reading.


Second visit Methodology

e second visit was at the school. e team prepared questions for the stu-
dents and requested that the children draw how their dream eBook would
look. e teachers were also interviewed separately to understand how they
motivate children to learn and what materials are being taught in class.

It was obvious that the children are excited by technology, as demonstrated
by their usage of the rst generation eBooks from ASTRI. ey are also very
creative and comfortable with advanced technology such as portable game
consoles. is gave the design team con dence that more advanced technol-
ogy could be used and children are capable of learning complex interactive
designs.


Insights

1 A lot of pictures in textbooks

2 All their books are di erent sizes

3 Love using their existing eBook

4 Familiar with portable game consoles


Solutions

1 Same amount of pictures and text
ratio in reading

2 Doesn’t need to follow standard A4 sizes

3 Acceptance of technology with learning

4 Can design more complex interactions


Third visit Methodology

By the third visit, the paper prototypes and a foam model of the physical pro-
totype were tested.

e bene t of using a low delity prototype is to test the interaction model
and not be concerned with the aesthetics at the moment. Once the interac-
tion model of the eBook is con rmed, the team can go onto creating more
detailed designs. During the usability test, we tested to see how they would
interact with the eBook and if they would be able to operate and understand
the concepts.

e children were tested in pairs of two to encourage more communication
between each other, since children have the tendency to be shy and not think
aloud during a usability test. To test both the physical prototype and work ow
at the same time, the paper prototype was slotted into a clear lm attached to
the physical prototype. When the children touches the screen, the facilitator
would manually remove the appropriate screens, so that the proper screen
would be showing a er every action performed by the children. e interac-
tion model was the main area of focus during this visit. By testing the paper
prototype with the physical prototype, the design team can observe how the
children would hold onto the eBook during usage and if that changes over-
time due to fatigue or other unanticipated reasons.

e children were very capable in understanding the work ow. ey were
also highly intrigued by the game portion of the eBook. Having seen that, it
was important for the eBook to encourage the children to learn new material
rst before they go onto the games and test their knowledge.


Insights

1 Reading is private activity, children
share their thoughts.

2 No concept of looking up dictionary.

3 More pro cient in Chinese

4 Ask parents if they have questions.

5 Focus on games


Solutions

1 Discuss after nish reading

2 Link words to pictures directly

3 Chinese in UI and explanations

4 Keep allowing children to ask questions at the end

5 Remove game from homepage


Fourth visit
is was the nal visit and the work ow and features
were fairly stable. From this visit, we understood that
children do not understand tabs, and it would help if
items that they see on one screen are persisted to the next
one. While the overall work ow was understood, they
children did not understand how some of the features
were represented and required some explanation before
they can continue on their tasks.

Methodology

In the fourth visit, a high delity prototype was created and a more re ned physical form was
also available. e high delity prototype provided insight to the usability of the design and how
children understood the controls used. Once again, the children were tested in pairs and they
walked through a Flash prototype by completing some prede ned tasks. e main focus of this
visit was about the interface design and ease of use.


Insights

Didn’t understand why there is a book
1 beside friend

Not interested in friend’s reading
2 progress

3 Directly to games after reading

4 Hold eBook from bottom corners

5 Children pro cient in using pens

6 Didn’t understand tabs
Didn’t understand ask parents later
Didn’t understand “calling” feature
Only understood next and previous arrows
Con rmed all children understood reading aloud
Put eBook on lap or table while reading
12 Smaller sizes did not a ect task


Solutions

1 Allow children to select books together

Removed progress, but can talk and share
2 notes anytime

Automatically allow children to discuss book
3 before allowing them to play games

Made bottom corners larger. Earphones on
4
the bottom to avoid cables tangling

5 Provide pen to take notes and draw during
reading

6 Go to Home for navigate
Simplify wording to “ask questions”
Simplify metaphor to knocking for communication
Removed pagination
Keep reading aloud
Earphone is indented
12 Selected smaller size for physical freedom


ESIGN

11


SCE-
NARIOS
Rationale

Scenarios provide an easy method to describe the eBook’s context of use.
ese are high level scenarios that provide the context but not the actual us-
age of the eBook.


Peter goes home a er school.

ere are many activities that he could do and it is hard
to choose.


He decides to read with Steve, his best friend. ey read a
story together and discussed it. ey played some games that
are related to the story and had lots of fun. e children im-
proved their eading skills just by having fun and enjoying
themselves.


BRAIN-
STORM
&
SKETCH
1 Rationale

2 Re nement of Sketches


ES

12

Rationale

e brainstorming process provides a chance to generate design ideas. By going
through the brainstorming process, it provides a chance for creative ideas to be
born and those ideas can be re ned a er the braining storming session.

e sketches were a rough and quick means for the team to contemplate about
possible physical forms. Given the roughness and amount that was generated, the
team can openly critique all of the designs and improve those with potential.

Brainstorming sessions happened throughout the entire design process with
more general brainstorms in the beginning and more detailed idea generation at
the end.


Re nement of Sketches


13
TASK
ANALY-
SIS
Rationale

e task analysis involves steps that the user will have to take before reading,
during reading, and a er reading. By understanding all the steps and decisions
that a user have to take to nish the task makes the design more grounded
based on the user’s behavior.


Current

• Children may read alone or with di erent companions
• Books may be misplaced or not available and the child
cannot read the book
• Reading process is linear and rigid
• Questions may not be answered

Envisioned

• Simpli ed process of nding a book
• e children can decide on how to reading
• Children can read at a comfortable pace while still
sharing their experience with a friend
• Simple access to answers to understand content better

>

80
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