Book Wyrm
Client
IDEO-inspired
passion project
Team
Jamie Ramsay
Maddy Hale
Chales Mynhier
Role
Research, Ideation, UI Design, Story Writing, Prototyping, Slidedeck Design, Presentation
Time Frame
Tools & Methods
2 Weeks
Figma, Photoshop, Heuristic Evaluation, User Interviews, Card Sort, Comparative/Competitive Analysis, Affinity Mapping, Maze Usability Testing, Prototyping, Trello
Summary
Book Wyrm is a web-based, multimedia program in which kids write their own representative stories, based on program prompts, that they then publish and read with caregivers at home. The program initiates in public schools, where access for all is greatest, and completes with a printed book, the physical component being essential to early literacy success.
Researching the Issue
My research started with studies on early literacy and childhood reading programs to establish the state of the union through qualitative data. I also began user interviews with parents to see how statistics represented the experiences of families, in their own words.
58%
I’m a paragraph. Double click me or click Edit Text, it's easy.
Of kids ages
6-17 love reading books for fun
Children who are read to 3x/wk score within the top
25%
in reading comprehension vs. kids who grew up otherwise
100%
Of parents we interviewed report reading to their children daily
Talking with Caregivers
Between my colleague Charles and I, we each conducted 3 user interviews with parents, focusing on learning why they value reading together, what they thought about the experience itself, and understanding how they established reading habits.
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After synthesizing our interview data via an affinity map, common themes emerged.
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Shared experience​
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Active in their child’s schoolwork
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Books communicate identity & values
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Reading routine
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Independence
The Main Characters
"It's cool to see how we're sharing ourselves as individuals.”
From interviews, it became apparent that families use books as a way for both caregiver and child to express themselves to each other. Caregivers communicate values and children begin to show their interests through the literature towards which they gravitate.
Mikayla
Family First, Everything Else Can Wait
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36, engineer
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Passionate for her child's education
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Wants to cultivate independence
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Reads to child before bed
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Seeks books that feature diversity and inclusion
Melody
The Just-One-More-Pretty-Please Reader
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5 3/4 years old exactly
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Loves reading with Mom
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Always picks Dog Diaries books
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Quick learner
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Wakes up early just to leaf through the colorful books near her bed
Returning to Research
My research indicated that children were eager to read and caregivers were active and invested in supporting children, but it seemed like there was more to the story. Therefore, I returned to discovery to conduct additional research which pointed to major factors in why some children did not read at home: engagement as they age and access.
6-8
I’m a paragraph. Double click me or click Edit Text, it's easy.
Age range during which reading aloud in the home decreases sharply
9
The age at which reading for fun declines
45%
of U.S. children are living in book deserts
What Programs Exist?
If reading programs are available, are families making use of them?
I performed competitive and comparative analysis in order to understand what reading programs already existed and in what form.
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Many programs were alike but two stood out: The Conscious Connect and Storybird. They addressed engagement through creativity and access to printed literature.
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A 2018 study of 27 nations found that, regardless of their parents’ education, occupation, and class, children who grow up with books in the home go further in school than those in bookless homes.
Problem Statement
Based on the above research, I set six factors, to address the solution to our problem statement. I had our group conduct a timed design studio session, to ideate without overthinking such a large issue.
Mikayla needs a compelling way to engage her child in reading so that she can grow their reading habits.
Design Studio
10 minutes
We discussed our first ideas and decided to hold one more round of sketches that combined the best parts of each.
Round 2 - Iterate
10 minutes
Initial Prototype
The prototype was built in Figma and takes students through story prompts allowing them to author a personalized story, with increasing complexity as they advance through the grades. In the kindergarten story, children simply created a character. While in the first grade story, kids could customize their narratives through dropdown menus.
Solution
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.