This document summarizes research into digital textbooks. It includes: - Literature reviews finding students still prefer print textbooks for in-depth reading due to easier concentration, comprehension and annotation. However, digital offers convenience and lower costs. - User research at universities finding students use laptops, not tablets, and value tangible benefits of print like speed and navigation. - Expert interviews noting print has emotional value and digital should offer new benefits, not replicate print. Students have complex content workflows. - The document develops hypotheses around digital textbooks being used as a laptop extension of print textbooks, and increasingly via tablets. It explores features, user flows and designs to support these hypotheses.

1. Beechwood
Enhanced Reader discovery
Rob Lloyd & James Cook
Casper team

2. Beechwood
Old English boc "book, writing, any written document,"
traditionally from Proto-Germanic *bokiz "beech" (cf. German Buch "book" Buche "beech;")

3. London, reporting in...
• Inception
• Design workshop
• Lightweight user research
• Literature review
• Personas
• SpringerLink statistics
• Reference devices
• Design principles
• Concept wireframe
• Unknowns

4. How we work...

5. How we work...

6. How we work...

7. How we work...

8. How we work...
Jeff Gothelf on Lean UX
http://uie.com/brainsparks/2012/01/20/jeff-gothelf-lean-ux-getting-out-of-the-deliverables-business

9. Design workshop

10. Design workshop

11. Design workshop

12. Hypothesis
“Digital textbooks? Oh, well that means tablets then...”

13. User research

14. User research
University College London
& London School of Economics
• Laptops, not tablets (physical keyboard, expense)
• Textbooks consumed at chapter-level (dip-in and reference for a lecture)
• Tangible benefits of paper (speed, navigation, annotation)
• Resent textbook expense
• Unclear on definition of ‘eBook’
• Copy & Paste, Printing, and PDFs considered important
• Frustration at existing Readers
• Digital screens cause fatigue; Books are easier to concentrate
• Digital content considered good for portability, convenience, environment, backup
• Search and Annotations Export considered important

15. Expert research
Dr. Paul Marshall, UCL Interaction Centre

16. Expert research
Dr. Paul Marshall, UCL lecturer
• Tablet ownership influenced by academic discipline
• Emotional anchor to paper-based books
• “Don’t replicate paper, offer something new” – Beyond Being There (1992)
• “You can’t skim with digital. You can search - if you know what you’re looking for”
• Students have complex workflows for getting content where they want it
• How can annotations support offline behaviours?
• Issues with rich media content are relevance and cost to produce
• “A student is the sum of their cognitive network ...but unplug them and they’re helpless” – Andy Clark
• “A lot of academic textbooks are moving to subscription models”

17. Product Reaction
User research Cards
Dr. Paul Marshall, UCL lecturer
• Lorem ipsum
• Dolor sit amet
• Consectetur
• Adipiscing elit.

18. Studying with a textbook...

19. Studying with a computer or mobile device...

20. Hypothesis 1
“We believe that digital textbooks
are principally consumed via laptops,
and thus are our primary window”

21. Literature review
Students to eTextbooks: No Thanks Student Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Digital Textbooks
The Surprising Foil to Online Eduction: Why Students Won't Give Up Paper Textbooks
For Many Students, Print is Still King
Digital Publishing in Europe: A Focus on France, Germany, Italy and Spain
Another Study Points to Advantages of Printed Textbooks One World Publishing, Brought to You by the Internet
The Object Formerly Known as the Textbook Beyond the Web: TEI, the Digital Library, and the eBook Revolution
Listen to the Music: Lessons for Publishers from Record Labels' Digital Debut Decade
eTextbooks Flunk an Early Test
In from the Edge: The Progressive Evolution of Publishing in the Age of Digital Abundance
Students Get Savvier About Textbook Buying The Engaged Reader: A Human-centred Evaluation of eBook User Experience
Improving the Usability of the User Interface for a Digital Textbook Platform for Elementary-school Students
Appearance and Functionality of Electronic Books: Lessons from the Visual Book and Hyper-Textbook projects
NOVeLLA: A Multi-modal Electronic Book Reader with Visual and Auditory Interfaces
Trade Book Publishing in Germany: Summary Report for 2011
Digital Object Identifiers for eBooks: What are we Identifying?
How Digital Content Resellers are Impacting Trade Book Publishing
Electronic Books: How Digital Devices and Supplementary New Technologies are Changing the Face of the Publishing Industry
Books, Bytes and Business: The Promise of Digital Publishing
Business Model Sustainability in Book Publishing
Electronic Books in the 2003-2005 Period: Some Reflections on Their Apparent Potential and Actual Development
Electronic Books: How Digital Devices and Supplementary New Technologies are Changing the Face of the Publishing Industry
Print-on-Demand or Short Run Digital Printing: A New Technology for Publishers
Impacting Forces on eBook Business Models Development
The Development and Future of the Japanese eBook Market
Overview of the Spanish eBook Market

22. Literature review
Student Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Digital Textbooks
Jun 2011
• “Students have become more receptive to digital textbooks”
• “However they do not currently see their laptop or
computer as a replacement for the textbook. They do see
value in having their textbook available digitally on the
computer for research.”
• “The picture is quite different for tablets or eReaders.
The students demonstrated a willingness to use the textbook
on an eReader as their primary or secondary textbook.”

23. Literature review
Student Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Digital Textbooks
Jun 2011
Factors cited for decreasing the desirability of the eTextbooks
over paper textbooks included:
• enable easier concentration than digital readers
(i.e. there are less distractions in a paper textbook)
• provide a greater ability to comprehend the content
• are personal preference for many students

24. Literature review
Student Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Digital Textbooks
Jun 2011
Factors cited for increasing the desirability of the eTextbooks
over paper textbooks included:
• provide greater convenience and portability
• are lower cost; less expensive than paper textbook
• offer a valuable ability to conduct search of the content
• are appropriate media and desired by the “Y” generation

25. Literature review
Student Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Digital Textbooks
Jun 2011
• “The major factors observed in this study that are driving
student acceptance of the digital textbooks in the classroom are
economics (i.e. cost) and students perceived impact of the
devices on their learning. One last major driving force of the
use of digital textbooks in the classroom is whether they are
assigned and recommended by the instructor.”

26. Literature review
The Surprising Foil to Online Education:
Why Students Won’t Give Up Paper Textbooks
Fall 2012
• “Most students reiterating their preference for paper textbooks”
• “Resistance to replacing paper textbooks with e-textbooks and an
ongoing desire to print electronic content suggests paper-based
information better serves students’ needs in educational context”
• “Students perceive paper textbooks as the best format for
extended reading and studying and for locating information.
Students believe that they learn more when studying from paper
textbooks. Moreover, paper textbooks allow students to manage
content in whatever way they wish to study the material...”

27. Literature review
The Surprising Foil to Online Education:
Why Students Won’t Give Up Paper Textbooks
Fall 2012
Paper...
• easier to highlight
• easier to identify their page location
• comprehension is higher when reading from paper than online,
paper documentation is preferred for more complex tasks
• ongoing desire to be able to print electronic content
• reduced readability, document navigation difficulties, and increased eye fatigue
• Inaccessibility to software or hardware; Data’s availability via the Internet
• too much scrolling and shifting of displays
• search features deliver too much content

28. Literature review
The Surprising Foil to Online Education:
Why Students Won’t Give Up Paper Textbooks
Fall 2012
“Amazon and Apple targeted the lucrative educational
textbook market , running pilot projects with selected
universities using their devices as repositories for course content
(Damast, 2010). Overall, the trials generated mixed results
(Kennedy, Judd, Churchward, Gray & Krause, 2008; Prenksy,
2001) with most students reiterating their preference for
paper textbooks.”

29. Literature review
The Surprising Foil to Online Education:
Why Students Won’t Give Up Paper Textbooks
Fall 2012
“Universities will continue to promote the use of digital
content. Consequently, students must develop the learning and
study skills if they wish to achieve academic success when using
e-textbooks as part of their learning and studying process.
Therefore, a need exists for educators and e-textbook developers
to develop better tools and strategies for seamlessly
integrating the functions and benefits of paper textbooks
within e-textbooks. As well, educators must teach students
how to effectively use these devices for learning and studying.”

30. Literature review
The Engaged Reader:
A human-centred evaluation of ebook user experience
Jan 2013
• “In their own usability study, they conclude that the reading
efficiency of an ebook was lower than that of a paper book
and that reading on an electronic medium causes
significantly higher eye fatigue.”

31. Literature review
The Engaged Reader:
A human-centred evaluation of ebook user experience
Jan 2013
• “Reading is an emotive subject and books are a nostalgic
medium. In a generation that is driven by technological
development, this study believes that the preference for books is
a firmly embedded opinion and is difficult to change. Paper-
based books are full of tradition and history, whilst the book
reading experience is often formed in childhood. For these reasons,
publishers and developers should place the emphasis on
shifting opinion to the middle and encourage co-adoption of
both ebook and paper-book.”

32. Potential features
• Interactive graphs
• Hyperlinked footnotes
• Save as PDF with annotations
• Collaborative & shared annotations
• Text size and colour contrast
• Make content available offline
• Comments and ratings
• User-submitted content
• Social media sharing
• Geo-aware content
• Text-to-audio

33. Hypothesis 2
“We believe that digital textbooks
enhance a student’s learning experience
when viewed as an extension of (and not rival to)
paper-based textbooks”

34. Personas

35. Personas
Xing Benjamin Natasha
The Enthusiast The Agnostic The Skeptic
“I’d rather everything “I don’t really care, “No thanks, I much
digital...” whichever is most prefer books”
useful”

36. Analytics
SpringerLink / desktop screen sizes

37. Analytics
SpringerLink / mobile screen sizes

38. Analytics
SpringerLink / mobile operating systems

39. Analytics
SpringerLink / mobile visits by device, 2013

40. Analytics
SpringerLink / mobile visits

41. Market

42. Hypothesis 3
“We believe that digital textbooks
will be increasingly consumed via tablets,
and will design to support this”

43. Qualaroo
How would you prefer to read an online textbook?
How would you prefer to read an online textbook?

44. Qualaroo
Would you like to download every chapter in this book at once?
Would you like to download every chapter in this book at once?

45. Reference devices

46. Design principles

47. User flows

48. Concept wireframe

49. Design values

50. Branding

51. Branding

52. Initial story map

53. What’s next?
• Goals & scenarios
• Story estimation
• Competitor analysis
• Wireframing
• Prototype build
• Visual design
• Matthew Reynolds, UCL Library Services
• Steve Paxia, Academic Textbook consultant
• Nicholas Carr, technology and economics commentator
• Luke Chircop, Markitup research team

54. Unknowns...
• Measurable success criteria? e.g. build in metrics
• DRM controls? e.g. Printing / Save as .pdf / Download .epub
• Costs for appropriate enhanced content
• Subscription vs. Purchase
• Public sales channels
• Simulating page numbers
• Images @2x for Retina displays

55. Any Questions?
Slides at
http://goo.gl/nOHFm