Design Considerations For Children’s E-Books
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The following presentation is a set of ten design guidelines based on comparative research review conducted in HCI450 as part of DePaul University's HCI Masters Program. The interface reviewed is the International Children's Digital Library's iPhone app.
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Design Considerations For Children’s E-Books
- 2. International Children’s Digital Library iPhone App
- 7. The ICDL iPhone App
- 8. The ICDL iPhone App Purpose of the Application: The ICDL iPhone app presents 4 books from the ICDL library. The application functions as a browser of a library and also as an e-Book reader in which users can read the books from start to finish. More books will be added in the future
- 17. 1. Match Screen Resolutions to mimic paper-based text
- 18. 2. Optimize Colors and Contrast to Reduce Eyestrain
- 19. 3. Limit Interactive Features that Detract from a Text-based Narrative
- 20. 4. Use Light, Easy to Use Form Factors
- 21. 5. Keep Lines at About 55 Characters Per Line for Readability Average: 28 Characters Per Line
- 23. 7. Justify Type and Use Kerning to Mimic Reading Experience of Books
- 24. 8. Reduce the Number of Clicks Required to Read
- 25. 9. Use A Polite Tone in the Tutorial and Help
- 26. 10. Refrain from Using “Direct” Tutorial Agents Example: ICDL
Editor's Notes
- Amazon Kindle. The competition for reading experiences is heated.
- The basis for the ICDLiPhone app is found in the International Children’s Digital Library, which offers digitized books via the Web in various languages for children. To learn more you can visit ww. en.childrenslibrary.org/
- Book reading interface
- We will review the ICDL iPhone app as part of these design considerations.
- We will review the ICDL iPhone app as part of these design considerations.
- Easily found in the iTunes store; search for “ICDL”
- The text sizes used in this screen display text in a size that is slightly larger than most iPhone app menus and content, and though the original source is not available, the screen resolution compared favorably against printed text. The text on the iPhone screen shot here showed up larger than 12 point type. Research done on monitors and e-books showed users fared better when resolutions were closers to printed counterparts. The ICDL app only has a library of free and public domain scans to work from, so they follow this guideline well, knowing the limitations of the source material.
- The screen shot shown here, as well as the screens found in the rest of the app show the actual colors of the scanned materials. The resulting screens for reading show up as off white shades that look like paper. Though incidental, this feature actually helps illustrate the readability of materials that optimize colors and contrast on a screen. The app adheres to this guideline, though we don’t know for sure if it’s incidental or by design.
- Research has indicated that though children benefit from reading electronically on a screen with interactive features such as those on CD-ROMs, the books with more interactive features had an impact on longer term cognition. Though comprehension was similar to that of printed books, children ended up repeating the readings several times. The ICDL iPhone app doesn’t have interactive features (excluding the zoom feature), so it illustrates this guideline well.
- Research conducted on Sensory-Motor experiences for both adults and children who read with paper-based books indicates the experience is impacted by the physical object in conjunction with the content of the book itself. The ICDL app illustrates this guideline since the iPhone is small, compact, and easily handled by both child and adult hands. Though it is not a book, it is possible the user may also develop and augmented experience with the device as a way to read books. The app follows this guideline well, though the irony is that the iPhone is used by adults, and is not targeted toward children. However, children of iPhone users can benefit from the experience of the ICDL app.
- Some studies indicate that the line length for optimal comprehension is around 55 characters per line. In the case of ICDL iPhone app, the interface violates this guideline in a two-fold way. One, it is working with scanned materials, which may vary in printed length (and which may vary because of the visual and short nature of children’s books). It also violates it in a second way when the user has to zoom in on text which may not be readable from the main screen. The zooming hyphenates and breaks lines according to the space it has been designed for, and in this case it reduces characters per line to about 28 per line. The ICDL app violates this guideline because of working with space limitations on the iPhone screen. Let’s keep in mind the source material are actual children’s books, which can sometimes be quite large.
- One of the most superb, simple and time-tested interfaces is the book, or folio. To use one, all the reader has to do is move from page to page, in a linear fashion, to read the whole thing. Applications and e-book readers should also keep the simplicity of reading in mind, allowing the user to focus on reading, and in turn, comprehension. Too many extra features and controls on the screen can detract and confuse. The ICDL app is a good illustration of these principles. If you look at the reading experience, only four controls exist: move forward, move back, zoom text, and go back to the main menu of the book (which is similar to the physical act of shutting a book). They have illustrated this guideline well, and perhaps even better, than their web counterpart, which retains many buttons and clickable areas during reading.
- In the e-book arena, there are two formats: Fixed, like PDF and reflowable. Reflowable allows the text to render across any device. Fixed, like PDF, retains typesetting features that are suited for better design and reading. Informal testing and reviews of e-books and e-book devices indicates that too much space in a line or bad hyphenation and line breaks can make not just for a bad user experience, but also for a challenge to optimal comprehension and retention. In the example above, the original typesetting of the printed book is overriden in order to make the text readable in the zoom. It violates the rule, though, since the spacing and kerning seems to look like it’s been automated by the pagination tool or technique in the zoom area. The designers most likely had to violate this guideline because they were working with scans of original material, which doesn’t permit text manipulation.
- Reading a book is easy. You open it up, go to the first page, and you begin to read. Reviews, as well as research, indicate that the same dynamic is a good one for e-books. In the case of children’s books, getting the child excited about reading and holding their attention is important. Learning the interface will require time, but it should not keep the child from reading the book. The ICDL app illustrates this principle very well. Though there are about three paths to a book, the shortest one for the user can be completed in just two clicks. Within two clicks they can then be reading the story. The ICDL app follows the guideline well, and in this instance, better than its web counterpart. Perhaps the small number of titles available (4) drove the decision-making process.
- Research conducted on interactive interfaces for children's electronic reading indicates the tone of the tutoring and help areas (as well as tutoring agents) has an impact on the learning and comprehension of the child user. The language used to instruct users on using the system should be polite, as well. The ICDL follows this guideline well, by focusing on short, easy to read sentences as part of their short, built-in instruction set.
- Research conducted on interactive interfaces for learning and e-reading showed that the tutoring agent can have a significant impact on the user's retention and comprehension. Because the interface of the ICDL iPhone app is not considered an interactive interface (it's straighforward reading of a book from start to finish), the use of agents should be avoided. The ICDL iPhone app follows this guideline well. Knowing the possible uses of touch and gesture controls and animation, they could have designed it with a tutorial agent, but they didn’t. As a result, the process of finding and reading a book becomes effortless.