A user‐centred approach to e‐book design
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470210438865 |
| Published date | 01 August 2002 |
| Date | 01 August 2002 |
| Pages | 322-330 |
| Author | Ruth Wilson,Monica Landoni,Forbes Gibb |
A user-centred
approach to e-book
design
Ruth Wilson
Monica Landoni and
Forbes Gibb
1. Introduction
The recent trend among publishers of
digitising new titles and making them
available electronically, reflects a general
enthusiasm about the possibilities presented
by e-books: they are dynamic, interactive, can
be updated quickly and, with the growth of
the Internet, are accessible any time from
anywhere. At the same time, authors and
publishers are expressing concern over
distribution and economic models for their
digitised texts (Midgley, 2002), and there is a
fear among some readers that electronic
books may eventually supplant paper books.
Combined with the perplexing array of tools
and hardware available for reading e-books,
the current climate is one of confusion and
uncertainty about the future of electronic
texts (Lynch, 2001).
At such a time, when the place of the book
in the digital world is changing, it is important
to involve users in the e-book production
chain and to respond to their needs, concerns
and opinions. This paper emphasises the
importance of placing the user at the centre of
the design process, in order that commercial
publishing developments are fully informed
from a design, as well as a content and
technology, perspective, and are delivered to
the end user in a form which maximises their
usability. Requirements will vary for different
types of book and between different groups of
users, and so recommendations derived from
a user-centred evaluation will often be specific
to particular types of publication or reader.
Novels, for example, are read sequentially,
from the first page to the last, whereas
encyclopaedias contain facts about many
diverse subjects and are dipped in and out of
in a non-linear manner. Users of these books
will inevitably have different needs and wants
from electronic translations of these texts.
Here, the focus is on the requirements of
textbook users. Electronic textbooks present
great opportunities for universities but, if they
are to find a place in UK higher education
and be adopted successfully, it is essential that
they are designed to meet the specific wants
and needs of teachers and learners.
Investigations by the Electronic Books
ON-screen Interface (EBONI) (http://
ebooks.strath.ac.uk/eboni/) Project into
which design techniques produce the most
usable electronic textbooks are
outlined below.
The authors
Ruth Wilson is Research Fellow, Monica Landoni is
Lecturer and Forbes Gibb is Professor, all at the
Department of Computer and Information Sciences,
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
Keywords
Electronic publishing, Evaluation, Design
Abstract
This paper considers the Electronic Books ON-screen
Interface (EBONI) Project's research into the importance
of the user when designing electronic textbooks. The
results of the Visual Book and the WEB Book experiments,
which explored design aspects of e-books and provide a
backdrop to EBONI's research, are presented. EBONI's
methodology and evaluations, involving over 200
students, lecturers and researchers in UK Higher
Education, are described, and the findings discussed. It is
proposed that, while aspects of paper books such as
tables of contents, indexes and typography should be
retained, books delivered electronically should also adapt
to fit the new medium through use of hypertext, search
engines and multimedia. In terms of the design of e-book
hardware, issues such as size and weight, display
technology and functionality are of primary importance to
users. These findings have been presented to creators of
educational digital content in the form of a set of
Electronic Textbook Design Guidelines.
Electronic access
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
322
The Electronic Library
Volume 20 .Number 4 .2002 .pp. 322±330
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640470210438865
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