+ CS/CM 348 Human Computer Interaction Course E-book Usability Study

+ Paper versus E-books To which extend do different supports (paper or digital) impact the reading experience? Apply Human Computer Interaction concepts to perform a usability study as the final project Studies explore differences between the interactions with printed- paper books versus books on digital devices

+ Explored questions: Relations between text and its support Performance of academic activities (notes taking) Memorization/Learnability Physical experience of digital reading Performance of the e-books Usability studies, ergonomics

+ Before the projects: Preliminary assessment of devices Devices: Sony PRS-T2, Nexus7, Kindle, iPad with the Bluefire application, PC with the Kindle e-book reader application and an online ebrary Objective  familiarize with the technology & review characteristics Literature Review Objective  examine their impact and limitations on academic research about digital and print reading Research had to include  Questionnaires  Focus group  Structured tasks paired with the “Think Aloud Technique”  Expert review based on heuristics  Comparative or diary study for its usability test

+ After the projects: Evaluation and analysis of results Requirements Analysis: Description of essential necessities, which an e-book has to include in order to provide an efficient and user-friendly experience.  Results about memorability and understanding of digital devices  Highlights the advantages and disadvantages of e-books for future design considerations

+ Enjoy the following presentations: 1. Focus group: E-book readers in an academic environment Veronica and Risa 2. Experiments connecting kindle and IPad to AUP’s online libraries Thomas B. 3. Reading performance and comprehension: A comparison between e-reading and print-reading Hannah, Thomas Y. 4. Usability test for potential use of e-readers in universities Evgeniya, Dana 5. Prototypes 6. Recommendations and conclusions

+ Recommendations: To broaden the quantity of students participating in the studies Maintain a similar cultural diversity (include more native English speakers) Compare a regular PC with an iPad in terms of preference and alternative use Specific attention should be given to limitations of language use, non-leading questionnaire inquiries, learnability, and random order effects.

+ Conclusion:  Academic collection of several studies shows results about the interaction between students and digital reading for academic purposes Highlights issues in design, performance, and understanding of e-books Downloads essential for academics difficult to perform, DRM levels not the same worldwide Kindle performed better on the quiz than the participants who read the non-fiction article on paper.

+ Conclusion: Clear preference is given to the iPad, with the consideration of possible limitations. Students were able to perform essential academic task on all devices but with different efficiency  Digital reading devices are not yet ready to be adapted for academic studies on a regular basis The development and list of established requirements shall be inspiration for future design

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