Challenges
Since its debut in 2007, Kindle has revolutionized the book-reading experience and altered the reading preferences of millions. As part of this project, Kindle posed a fundamental question: how might its application's user experience (UX) influence interpersonal interactions during reading?
Client
Amazon Kindle (Hypothetical)
Amazon Kindle (Hypothetical)
Date of Completion
01/08/2024
01/08/2024
Timeline
3-week design sprint
3-week design sprint
Project Team
Josie Cerbone, Shelley Wilkinson, Caitlin Harris and Leyla Ducy
Josie Cerbone, Shelley Wilkinson, Caitlin Harris and Leyla Ducy
Business Goal:
How can Kindle become the preferred method not only for reading but also for sharing progress and reflections while connecting with others?
Research Objective:
To understand what motivates users to read eBooks and identify the appealing aspects of a digital social group for users.
Role and Process
I worked on a design team with 3 other bootcamp designers enrolled at the UX assembly; Caitlin Harris, Josie Cerbone, and Shelley Wilkinson. We were responsible for the end-to-end UX process for Amazon Kindle’s app expansion over the course of 3 weeks.
User Interviews
To gather insights on understanding what users want in a Kindle-based social club, we spoke to 5 avid readers who also had experience with social media platforms and book clubs. We almost immediately saw patterns in how people liked to engage with book clubs and reading.
We analyzed these patterns using affinity mapping, sorting key insights into groups to identify major trends in our findings.
Comparative Analysis
Once we understood our users' needs, we examined future comparators to identify features that addressed the insights from our interviews. Analyzing social media apps was the key, as it allowed us to explore existing interactions and features that align with our users' desires.
Define The Problem
Creating A Persona
After collecting key insights from our user interviews and comparative analysis and supplementing our process with generalized company research, we created our user persona, Lacy.
Once Lacy became a defined character who represented the wants and needs of our users, we placed ourselves in her shoes throughout the design process to ensure that the Kindle’s app expansion remained human-centered.
Lacy “the Social E-Reader”
Likes: conversations about books with others, and being able to contribute to discussions at her convenience in various ways
Dislikes: Uninteresting content, and conversations with strangers
FYIs: Looking for reading groups that meet her preferences on an Ebook interface
Problem Statement + How Might We Statements
Once we defined a persona, we created a series of problem statements that reflected what mattered to our users. We then narrowed down and eliminated problem statements based on how well they addressed patterns identified in our data insights.
Our key problem statement led to a select series of "How Might We" statements, which jumpstarted our brainstorming of solutions. We believed that addressing our problem statement would help us tackle each of these "How Might We" statements during the design process for the Kindle app features.
What's The Problem?
Kindle users need to be able to share their thoughts on books at their convenience, enabling them to have meaningful engagements with others about the books they read
How Might We...
Design The Solutions
User Flows
With the define stage complete and a better understanding of our problem, our team began to engineer the possible solutions. We started with user flows to better understand the steps in our proposed processes.
In our designed UI, a user would interact with a new part of Kindle’s App called Bookclubs. Bookclubs would enable users to engage with reading groups of their choosing in a flexible, convenient way. This would allow Amazon to fill the gaps of in-person book clubs and tap into an entirely new market of users.
The two flows we explored to create our mid-fidelity prototype illustrate our persona, Lacy, 1) picking out a reading group and 2) interacting with that group through a comment thread.
Flow 1: Joining A Group
Flow 2: Interacting With A Group
Sketches + Wireframes
In transitioning the prototype from initial sketches to an interactive mid-fidelity version, significant adjustments were made, particularly affecting the presentation of the group description page and the handling of notifications and pop-ups when the social mode is activated.
Considering the paramount importance of privacy to our users, the initial sketches proposed pop-ups prompting users to decide on sharing their progress and enabling social mode. However, after collective deliberation, it was agreed that offering users the option to enter an incognito mode, which they could activate or deactivate at their discretion, would be a more favorable approach.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframe:
Usability Testing + Results
~ 100% Success Rate
~ 100% Completed Under 1 Minute
~ 3% Misclick Rate
In line with the mid-fidelity wireframes, we conducted user testing involving three tasks:
~ Joining an e-book club discussion on "To Kill a Mockingbird."
~ Initiating reading of "To Kill a Mockingbird" (TKAM) and responding to a specific comment.
~ Posting a general comment.
While the mid-fidelity prototype's usability testing showed promising outcomes, it also highlighted several weaknesses in specific screens. For instance, during the first task, users encountered confusion regarding group administrators and essential information on group pages. Additionally, the lack of visual clarity regarding the security status of these groups raised concerns among users. Also, there was a misunderstanding of the term "enabling social mode," which refers to the toggle allowing readers to view others' comments. These insights informed our subsequent actions in refining the high-fidelity prototype.
Design System
While creating our book club design system, we relied on Amazon's strong brand identity. We emphasized existing graphic standards, adhering closely to Amazon's fonts and graphics. We used circular shapes and images for profiles, chose sans-serif fonts for readability, and included familiar calls-to-action resembling Amazon's branding and social media buttons. This approach facilitated the seamless integration of our bookclub platform into the Amazon ecosystem while ensuring visual consistency and user familiarity.
Deliver The Prototype
Transitioning from Mid-Fidelity to High-Fidelity involved significant focus on group pages and familiarizing users with social mode. This transition included enhanced onboarding with hover overlays explaining new features like social mode. Additionally, it involved restructuring group pages to align with Amazon's design system and enhancing security measures to reassure our privacy-conscious audience.
High Fidelity Prototype + Video:
Key Metrics:
~ 100% of users in interviews and tests reacted positively to Amazon Bookclubs.
Positive reactions towards concept design are markers that can help encourage Amazon to continue to explore the untapped market for the Bookclubs expansion
~ Usability test results indicated a 100% Success Rate.
Usability test results indicated a 100% success rate, confirming the intuitive design and user flows, with feedback suggesting that Amazon should proceed with the expansion of the Bookclubs.
~ Usability test results indicated only a 3% misclick rate.
Low error margins in the early stages of design usability testing indicate a clear concept and understandable user pathways, providing a solid foundation for the next steps.
Final Thoughts
In summary, our project team successfully achieved the initial objectives of our app expansion endeavor. We aimed to implement a concept that resonated with our target audience, comprising individuals who participated in interviews and tests. Crafting engaging user experiences to foster meaningful interactions is a stimulating challenge. When developing book clubs, we drew inspiration from the strengths of traditional book clubs and established social media platforms to shape our approach to social reading. Although our interviewees had diverse preferences regarding book clubs, all users comprehended the final prototype and showed keen interest in advancing the concept further.
Next for Amazon Book clubs?
Our team recommends re-examining the term “social mode” for Bookclubs and taking a closer look at UX writing and naming conventions for the project. This will help minimize confusion, especially since it’s a new feature, and usability testing has highlighted this as a significant trend.
Additionally, we recommend developing comprehensive rules and regulations pages for group members and those interested in joining a group. Given the significant concern for privacy and security among our target audience, it's essential to assure users that the groups they join have rules in place to keep them safe
Finally, and most importantly, our team recommends that the next design sprint focus on enhancing how groups interact beyond comment threads. Currently, Bookclubs only allow users to comment and interact through book pages. Offering additional ways to connect will be crucial for coordination, organic discussion, and unplanned moments of meaningful reflection. Incorporating chat features similar to Discord could also open opportunities for Amazon to partner with Zoom or Twitch for online discussions.
