Introducing Social Sharing Features to the Kindle Platform
Project Timeline
Duration: 3 Week Design Sprint
March 2024 - March 2024
Role
Co-lead UX Designer
Project Overview
In the digital age, communal reading has become a significant interest for book lovers globally, with many connecting through social media. This project looked at ways to insert social sharing features within the Kindle platform and focused on peoples reading habits. The goal was to enhance Kindle's features to foster a more interactive and connected reading community.
Solution
In the digital age, communal reading has become a significant interest for book lovers globally, with many connecting through social media. This project looked at ways to insert social sharing features within the Kindle platform and focused on peoples reading habits. The goal was to enhance Kindle's features to foster a more interactive and connected reading community.
Research & Design Process
User Interviews
Usability Study
Journey Map
User Flow
Problem Statement
High-fidelity Prototype
Mid-fidelity prototype
DVF Framework
User Interviews
User Persona
Competitor Analysis
Synthesis
Business Needs Assessment
We identified Amazon's key needs for Kindle to meet business objectives:
Increase book sales
Grow and expand the business
Introduce social and innovative features
Our approach to addressing these needs involved competitive analysis, user research, and maintaining a business and user-centric focus throughout the design process.
Competitor Analysis
We began our research with a competitive analysis, examining the social media functions of competitors' products. This revealed that Kindle was significantly lacking in social features.
User Interviews
After completing the competitive analysis, we conducted four user interviews with avid readers who had prior experience with e-reading devices.
Uses
Mobile
Uses
E-Reader
Avid
Readers
4
Participants
“I like to have a community of people to discuss books with and share my reading progress with a friend”
“I often look at recommendations from friends and check online platforms like Amazon and Goodreads to find new books.”
“I want to know about other peoples opinions on the books Im reading.”
What we Found
Our interviews revealed several key insights about Kindle users:
Community Value: Users highly value a sense of community, wanting to discuss books and share reading progress with friends.
Engagement: They seek a group of like-minded readers to enhance their overall reading experience.
Recommendations: Users frequently look for book recommendations from friends and online platforms like Amazon and Goodreads to inform their reading choices.
Sharing: They desire features that facilitate sharing opinions and thoughts on books, without intruding on their primary reading activities.
Customization: Adjustable font sizes and screen technology are appreciated for the comfort and convenience they provide.
Reading Focus: Users want their Kindle experience to be primarily focused on reading, with social features enhancing the experience without being overly intrusive.
Meet Annie
Our user representative
The Avid Reader
Reading Purpose:
Leisure & Education
Location:
Melbourne
Background
Annie is a frequent leisure reader who like to read traditional books but is transitioning to using digital devices (such as e-readers).
She usually shares her insights with her friends but when her friends haven’t read the specific book, she is likely to look elsewhere to connect with readers who have.
Needs & Goals
She needs a platform where she can share and read others insights without having to switch between multiple devices and platforms.
She needs access to other user’s commentary when reading
She wants to get frequent book recommendations, especially from close friends she trusts
70%
Reads on Kindle
65%
Reads about book when finished
50%
Find Books Through Friends
30%
Reads Physical Books
Behaviours
Annie likes to read alone and enjoy peaceful reading time
She has tried book clubs before which she didn’t care for and is looking for a different way to connect
She doesn’t enjoy all aspects of social media
Frustrations
It’s difficult to find a community of like-minded people who share the same interests in the book
Social media has ruined the way people think of the book (no deep insights just short briefs)
Journey Map - Current State
With the user persona in mind, we created a journey map and condensed it to highlight the current state of what users are doing, their thoughts and feelings, and to discover any low points they may experience while finding a new book to read.
Quite a few pain points were discovered in
the journey mapping process, with the top being that users:
Feel there are too many platforms to find new books on
Wish they could quickly see what other users thought of certain sections of the book
Feel it takes a long time to find a new book and track down friend recommendations
What is the problem?
Frequent readers are seeking a more integrated community within their digital reading platforms, such as Kindle.
They desire the ability to connect with other readers and friends to share thoughts, opinions, and notes about the books they are reading.
This connection not only helps enhance their understanding of the material but also exposes them to new perspectives.
What is the solution?
To enhance the Kindle experience by adding social features to the e-reader and the app
Solution Development
We arrived at this solution through thorough user research and by exploring multiple options to ensure alignment with business needs. Our process involved creating a DVF (Design, Validate, and Feedback) framework for the features we aimed to introduce.
One of the top features we initially prioritized received unexpected feedback during our DVF audit. This feedback provided valuable insights, enabling us to refine and enhance our plan for even better results.
User Flow
Now that the solution, problem and important features were clear, the user flow was created.
Our reader finishes the last page of a great book in the E-reader. They navigate to the app to see what others thought of the book. Next, the user wants to find a new book to read, so they search through their friends profile page to get recommendations.
Finally, they browse the connect tab of the app and select a new book their friend has recommended.
The reader returns to the Kindle E-reader to view the sample and purchase the book, solving both the user and business needs.
Sketches
Once we understood what pages needed to be created and added to, our team began sketching ideas. We wanted the app to be familiar for users, so the basic structure remained the same.
Our goal was to enhance the Kindle reading experience in both the app and e-reader by adding social features to every page.
User Profile Page
Connect Page
Home Page App
Book Description page
Highlight & Annotation page
Book page
Begin Usability Testing
We tested the first version of the prototype with 3 users.
Here is what we found.
“I feel there is too much information in some areas that makes it confusing to understand”
“I feel the hierarchy needs to be improved and be more understandable”
“I want the text size to be larger so its easier to read”
What We Changed
Through usability testing, the issues were quite similar between the app and the e-reader prototypes. We remedied these in the final prototypes.
What the issues were & what we changed:
Confusing Hierarchy of Information
Size of Elements and Text
Some cards and pages were too crowded with information (reduced ambiguity)
App
Simplified navigation bar
Introducing our new concept
Addressing Community Needs in Digital Reading
Prototype
New E-reader Features
Enhanced Sharing Options:
Share Highlights and Passages
Post-Book Sharing
Prototype
New App Features
Highlights and Annotations Page:
Global and Friend Highlights
User Profile Page:
Customized Profiles
Connect Page:
Centralized Social Hub
Devices
Two prototypes have been created that implement the features in a way that promotes cross platform integration.
A design that exists across devices.
E-reader
App
