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ReadingTree An online community for kids who love books

ReadingTree An online community for kids who love books. Completed for the Master’s Degree in Information Management & Systems Kirsten Swearingen Amity Zeh.

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ReadingTree An online community for kids who love books

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  1. ReadingTreeAn online community for kids who love books Completed for the Master’s Degree in Information Management & Systems Kirsten Swearingen Amity Zeh

  2. Danny has trouble reading and doesn’t enjoy it, so when he has toread for school, he can’t find bookshe’d like. He needs help findingbooks that don’t suck. • Jenny loves to read! She also lovesto talk. She needs a cool place whereshe can talk about books with friends. DANNY Where can Danny and Jenny go to find what they need? JENNY

  3. Existing options • Community for kids – commercial, not book-centered, under fire • Books for kids – poor design, no peer interaction • Recommenders for adults – not geared towards kids

  4. We proudly present: ReadingTree • ReadingTree is a web-based, book-centered community for kids in grades 1 - 5, featuring a collaborative-filtering book recommender.

  5. Audience design challenges • COPPA/legal requirements • Collect no personally identifying information • Moderate community aspects • Clearly post privacy/safety policies • Access to kids as design partners • CPHS approval of recruitment and testing protocol • Partnership with libraries or schools • Special considerations • Cognitive ability • Attention span: include interactive features • Motivation: provide challenge, curiosity, control over environment, self-esteem, computer interaction

  6. Collaborative filteringrecommender system challenges • Level of interest in rating items • Make the rating process part of the site, not an activity in itself • Problem of domain • Allow rating of items outside domain of books • Problem of sparseness • Assign “personality appeal” metadata to books and treat them as users

  7. Technical design challenges • Project member skills and available SIMS resources • Microsoft Access backend database • Cold Fusion scripts • Dreamweaver pages

  8. Iterative design process • Needs analysis • Persona development • Find a book without feeling stupid (Danny) • Talk to friends about books (Jenny) • Books, books, books! (Ayisha) • Find information in books (Julio) • Heuristic evaluation • Usability testing • Prototype revisions (5) JENNY DANNY JULIO AYISHA

  9. Our many iterations

  10. Demonstration • A brief moment in Jenny’s day …

  11. Usability testing • Tested 5 users, ages 6 to 11 • Focused tasks and exploration • Multiple ways to accomplish tasks • Our interests: • Content (amount of writing, readability) • System structure (users know what their options are) • Navigation (easy & intuitive for beginners) • Usefulness (of system, of specific features) • Appeal (graphics, color, level of interactivity)

  12. “How ‘bout you make all of these sports questions games?” Pilot usability test findings • The good news is basically, it works! • The site appeals to children who like to read. • Four of our five users said that they would use this site again and would recommend it to a friend. • Navigational structure seems to support our personas in completing their primary goals • Rated highly overall on ease of use and enjoyment • Searching by subject • Reading what other kids wrote • Answering polls • Getting points “Cool.” “This is my new favorite website.” “This computer doesn’t really know grammar.” “How do people with lockjaw eat?” “Is this version 1.0?”

  13. Who will come to the Tree? • 29% of U.S. children under 12 have been online* • Children participate at book-oriented sites… • 500+ “book comments” at Just for Kids Who Love Books • Hundreds of kid book reviews at World of Reading • 500,000 registered users at BookAdventure • …and post to bulletin boards • Thousands of messages each month at Zeeks and Nick.com • Librarians embrace the idea of ReadingTree: • More than 80% of our survey respondents said they thought their child patrons would use our site on a regular basis • Alameda County librarians liked the idea and helped us recruit test users *December 2000, Pew Internet and American Life report

  14. What’s Next • Future plans • First plans, two weeks in Tuscany • Funding: • Center for Children and Technology • Sylvan Foundation • Increase database coverage (courtesy of Amazon) • Increase access and visibility to children (through partnerships with schools and libraries) • Increase and improve privacy measures

  15. Acknowledgement Special thanks to Allison Druin of the University of Maryland for demonstrating that kids are a user group worth designing for.

  16. Goodnight Berkeley! Credits… • Advisor: Prof. Ray R. Larson • User Interface Design course: Prof. Marti Hearst • Project assistance • Moryma Aydelott (design), Gloria Chen (community) • Early prototype testers • Grown-ups: Pallavi A., Lincoln C., Ramona M., Joanna P. • Kids: David, Daniel, Gregory, Robby • Heuristic evaluation (and constant companions in the lab) • Jennifer English, Kim Garrett, Sacha Pearson • The librarians of Berkeley, Fremont, Newark and Castro Valley • Usability testers: Jeffrey, Jonathan, Joshua, Robby, Zoe • Sustenance: Juice Appeal, La Cascada, Noah’s, Spud Brothers • Love and nodding about the Tree ad nauseum • Eric Bateman, Natalie Heins, Moms • Unstoppable Funk: It’s inside you.

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