Kindle E-Reader Device

Enhancing social connection with like-minded readers

Intro
Research
Design
Prototype
Test
Reflection

My Role:

UX Researcher & UX/UI Designer

Project Scope:

Myself and 2 other UX designers. 2 weeks.

Responsibilities:

User interviews, Affinity Mapping, Competitive & Comparative (C&C) Analysis, Journey Mapping, Persona, Information Architecture (IA), Sketching, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Co-workshop Facilitation, Presentation

Tools:

Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop Google Workspace, Zoom, Slack

What is Kindle?

Kindle device is an e-reader that allows users to carry a library worth of books in their palm.

Since its launch in 2007, Kindle has evolved over the years with revolutionary technology, from bringing in audio books to launching the app version, from acquiring Goodreads to featuring handwriting support.

Today, Kindle has over 30 million users in just the United States, the continuous rise in popularity of ebooks remains strong.

Overview:

Based on our user research, there is a clear desire to engage in discussions about books and topics of interest with like-minded individuals.

However, current ebook platforms, including Goodreads which is part of the Kindle ecosystem, lack sufficient social interaction features.

Although Goodreads serves as the nearest platform for this purpose, users primarily use it for discovering books rather than social engagement, largely due to its limitations in that regard.

Building meaningful relationships with fellow readers who share similar interests is a challenge on the Kindle platform.

Opportunity:

Fueled by hashtags like #booktok and #bookstagram, book lovers are finding a vibrant online community for shared reading experiences.

How can Kindle evolve beyond just an e-reader to become a social platform for book lovers?

Enhance Kindle's social interaction capabilities to facilitate exploration and connections among readers with shared interests.

RESEARCH

User Interviews:

  • The first thing we want to know is the users’ experiences, emotions, and motivations related to reading and social connection.
  • 9 interviews were conducted. Among them, 5 were Kindle users, providing us with a contrasting perspective on their behavior compared to traditional readers.
Users expressed a clear desire to engage in discussions about books and topics of interest with like-minded individuals.

Persona:

  • We want to build a persona constantly reminding us that we are designing for a group that enjoys reading and discussing books with their friends.
  • We combined our key findings from the user interviews to form our persona.

Journey Map:

  • We decided to illustrate the before, during and after stages to better capture the mindsets and emotions she experiences.
  • Our goal here is to understand how Paige currently finds people who share similar interests in reading, and identify where the pain points occur along this journey.
  • This informs us where we should focus on building our solutions.
Exploration and Connection represent the key phases where our focus should lie in developing solutions.

DESIGN

The Adventure of "Us" - Designing Social Interaction for Lasting Connections:

How Might We (HMW):
  • Our objective is to explore potential solutions surrounding the topic of social exploration and connection.
HMW make feeling alone and disconnected feel like an adventure?
  • We want to establish a community that transforms the experience of being alone into an adventure of exploring new friendships and shared experiences.
HMW support Paige in finding new friends with similar interests?
  • We want to develop a platform that allows user to connect with someone they know they can vibe with and support each other.
HMW create a social interaction that allows Paige to meaningfully connect with others nearby, and sustain their connection over shared interests?
  • If we are able to fulfill the previous HMWs in helping users to find friends with similar interests, then we need to build a place where users can socially interact with those people and continue their connection.
3 HMW Questions
3 Resolutions: Exploration, Connection and Continuity
1 Focus: Social Interaction

Competitive & Comparative (C&C) Analysis:

  • We want to identify successful social features and UI from our competitors to inspire our product design.
  • We performed a heuristic evaluation on Kindle to help us assess its usability. We also conducted a feature inventory and pluses & deltas on 3 competitors and 3 comparators.
  • From the 6 businesses we analyzed, the 4 below provided us with the most insights.

Clear navigation

Book clubs communicate in forum fashion

User-specific contents within a singular tab integration

Meetup and challenge facilitation

E-readers are great for reading, but lack features to connect with other readers.

User Flow:

  • We decided to individually create a user flow to generate a variety of design approaches for group discussion.
  • We were able to pull great insights from each of our ideas and refine it to make the following:

The 1st half of the flow is to help users explore people with similar interests in the same city as them.

The 2nd half is to help users connect with that person through something they both enjoy.

The user flow is divided into 2 phases to help us envision the user's new journey - exploring like-minded people and connecting with friends.

Wireframes:

  • The 3 focal points of exploration, connection, and continuity became our 'North star' that guided us through the design process.
Exploration - Find people nearby with similar interests
Connection - Message and social encouragement surrounding reading
Continuity - Start a book club with similar interests

UI Key Changes:

  • Leveraging our C&C analysis, we utilize our discoveries to enhance the development of our wireframes.
Current Version
Prototype Version

We categorized the IA into 4 sections: library, discover, profile, and more, for clear navigation.

Based on research, users find the minimalist navbar unclear and difficult to navigate.

Navbar

The Home page prioritizes users, creating a welcoming environment. To find new books, users can visit the "Discover" tab.

Our research indicates that users perceive the home page as overwhelming, with Amazon aggressively promoting book sales.

Home Page

We added a focus mode for readers who prefer uninterrupted reading. We anticipate potential future use of color e-ink, hence the inclusion of a B&W mode.

With limited social features on the current Kindle device, there's no necessity to restrict social capabilities. The current device exclusively uses B&W technology.

Display Settings

Prototype:

  • While practicing information architecture (IA), we concentrate on the Profile page, as it serves as the central compilation point for all user-related information. This approach will provide a clear categorization and reduce cognitive load on users.

Keeping Business Goals in Mind:

Moderated Usability Study:

Tasks for Users:
  • Finish a book on Kindle by flipping through the last few pages.
  • Connect with another user and send a message.
  • Start a book club and connect with others over a shared interest.
Findings
  • Users were confused about the difference between sharing books & book clubs.
  • Users found the social interaction of inviting strangers to join their book clubs uncomfortable.
  • All users were unaware of the notifications.
Recommendations
  • Book clubs to feature a dedicated section accessible via the navigation tab.
  • Reconsider public book clubs to meet new people with shared interests.
  • Retain private book clubs for established friends and family.
  • Relocate notifications to a more prominent place.

Hi-Fi Mockups:

REFLECTION

About the Project:

UX design extends beyond just mobile apps and websites. This project provided me with a great opportunity to delve into something distinctive, with constraints unlike those of other digital devices.

I didn't grasp the allure of owning a Kindle initially, but this project has revealed so many facets of the product that I'm growing to appreciate it.

As with any project, there were inevitable disagreements, yet this is the beauty of teamwork – the ability to bounce ideas off one another to create something extraordinary. I firmly believe we achieved just that. It was an honor collaborating with such talented and creative individuals.

About Myself:

I didn't realize the gift I've possessed over the years until my cohort in this project pointed it out to me - my clarity of mind.

While it may be considered a state of mind, I believe it's also what enabled me to stay organized and attentive to detail throughout my life. This quality manifested in the project as it aided me in synthesizing data, identifying root problem, and guiding the team back on course when we veer off track.

The best dream happens when you're awake.

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