2. Prototype Your Activities
The next task was to investigate how we can transfer the three chosen activities and their aspects into the remote world.
We should have examined existing tools, techniques, processes, etc., evaluate these tools based on how good they highlight the social aspects of the chosen activity, consider how to better highlight those aspects and identify the missing aspects for which we have not found a remote solution.
ACTIVITY # 1: BOOK CLUB
There is a variety of tools which allow to remotely realise a book club including social networks (building a group on Facebook etc.), various mobile apps (Bookclubz, Book Club, Goodreads etc), digital organizers (Evernote, Google Docs , Trello etc.), video conferencing tools (Zoom, Skype etc.) for a live chat. The tools make it possible to start your own book club as well as join an existing book club, read and rate books online, write reviews, organise upcoming events, and have (usually monthly) discussions per online chat or video call.
Since one of the main reasons for a reader to join a book club is a will to experience a book with someone, I thought that the discussion aspect could be developed further. Instead of participating in a discussion once a month, a reader could as well have an opportunity to have spontaneous conversations with people who have read the same amount of a book right the moment when he is reading a book.
Another idea was to convey an atmosphere of the place where participants of the activity might meet by providing a set of thematic interfaces that could be applied to an online meeting. Communication in a bar can be different from communication in a library, for instance. A series of thematic interfaces could give participants more opportunities to communicate quickly and constructively with each other, and allow them to get closer to the real-life experience.
ACTIVITY # 2: ART CLASS
Online art courses usually take place through educational websites (Coursera, Masterclass, etc.), blogs, and social media (YouTube, Instagram, etc.). These tools provide information on a wide variety of art topics, tutorials, recommendations on other sources and artists, inspiration, and a certain level of communication and feedback.
Since it is important to develop and improve your own skills while taking part in an art class, feedback plays an essential role in this activity. Many online tools offer limited feedback, most of which happens via comment, or there is no feedback at all. Especially important here is a moment of micro-interaction, when a tutor comes to a student in real life and corrects a student´s work with his own hands.
I tried to find options that would improve feedback within an online art class. A student could potentially have a list of options with a specific need. If a work needs to be corrected, it could be uploaded and then corrected by a tutor in a special graphic editor. The student could follow the changes and later apply them to his work in real life. The communication possibilities between a student and a tutor could be developed further which would allow it to happen both synchronously and asynchronously.
ACTIVITY # 3: POLITICAL DEMONSTRATION
Internet activism allows political action to be carried out online using electronic communication technologies such as websites, blogs, social media, emails and podcasts. Online activism today helps to raise funds, lobby, attract the attention of media and decision-makers, raise awareness and build an active community around the topic, express empathy and support, encrypt sensitive data, etc.
With my sketches, I tried to illustrate an idea that offers an opportunity to gather in a virtual space and march together. With the help of sound, image and action libraries, participants could simulate the real-life experience of being together and expressing their emotions to the highest degree.
3. Pattern for Remocial™ Life
The next task was to create a design pattern. We should have thought of solutions related to some aspect of a selected social activity.
I decided to keep working on the idea of spontaneous exchange of views while reading a book and created a pattern for interactive reading. Interactive reading provides an opportunity to have a spontaneous live conversation with other readers. While reading a book, a reader can participate in a live discussion, add his highlights, notes, comments and emotional reactions, and discover highlights, notes, comments and emotional reactions of others.
Interactive reading
Problem:
- The user wants to interact with other people or groups within the system.
- The user wants to follow other users and their experiences.
Use:
- Can be used to allow users to interact with each other.
- Can be used to allow users to share information with each other.
- Can be used to allow users to find each other.
Solution:
- Users can interact with each other through a live discussion and / or comments.
- Users can highlight content and display it to one another.
Reason:
Interactive reading enables the process of spontaneous communication, interaction and exchange of views. By combining social interaction with content sharing, new insights can be gained and other perspectives considered which creates a deeper and more meaningful reading experience.
4. The App
Quarantine Bookclub
Quarantine Bookclub is an app concept for remote book clubs and social reading. Key features include:
Discovering and joining thematic book clubs;
Tools for managing and scheduling remote book clubs;
Interactive reading and listening experience;
Integrated video conferencing;
Games.
5. Case Study
Context
A book club is a social activity that brings people together based on their interest and love for reading. The pandemic and restrictions on social contacts, the inability to carry out this and other activities in real life, have necessitated the development of online tools that will help to continue these processes.
Current possibilities for realising a remote book club include the use of multiple platforms and tools which limits the potential of a remote book club community and doesn’t enhance enough of social interaction.
The typical algorithm is: a reader joins a thematic book club group on social media or downloads an app which works as a main tool for coordination —> a reader finds a book which he later on reads by his own until an upcoming event of a book club —> a reader visits a virtual meeting on a video platform once per month.
Quarantine Bookclub is aimed to combine all those experiences on one platform, strengthen the sense of community and provide more possibilities for an exchange.
Concept
After analysing the activity of a book club, I identified the following aspects that shall be present inside the app:
A possibility for joining a book club;
A possibility for reading a book;
A possibility to connect with other readers, have a discussion and exchange of views;
A possibility to express emotions and show empathy;
A possibility of sharing content.
Research
My initial research was based solely on the tools for reading experience. Later, I expanded my research and analysed also social media platforms, platforms for finding and building local communities, tools for video conferencing, live audio streaming and mobile games.
List of the tools that I conducted my research on:
Goodreads, Medium, The New York Times, Meduza, Book Club, Bookclubz; Instagram, VK; Meetup; Zoom; Mixlr, Speaker Live Show; Quiz up.
An overview of the features that I found potentially useful:
Live events with audio and video integration, views, comments and reactions, invitation, content sharing.
Groups with a possibility to start, discover and join a group, have discussion within a group, have group voting.
Books finding, lists of current, finished and want-to-read books, reading experience with reading progress, highlighting, commenting, taking notes and saving bookmarks.
Audiobooks, podcasts and live audios with favourite stations, invitation, integrated chat, external links with useful material.
Cooperative and competitive games.
First ideas and development
The first idea was to provide social interaction through a live chat and an integrated chat while reading a book. I was expanding the possibilities within a live chat by adding features like opinions and reactions, polls, quizzes, content sharing.
Eventually, I rethought the navigation and structure of the app and added two more categories (audio, games) which could potentially contribute to social interaction, also expanded the features for readers within an integrated chat.
Final design
Events
When a user first enters the app he lands on the events page. Inside events he can create and discover events, see an overview of the upcoming events. Via upcoming events he can proceed to a live event. Inside a live event there is an integrated audio and video chat which allows a user to interact with other participants. To facilitate communication and avoid interruption there is a hand button which allows users to queue up when they want to speak up. A user can also access a book related to the event and his collection of highlights and notes. He can share pieces of content with others which will be displayed on the main screen of a live event. Additionally, a user can add emotional reactions which will be displayed on his avatar. A host can add polls and contextual quizzes.
Books
Inside books a user can add and discover books, see an overview of his current, finished and want-to-read books, access collections with highlights and notes. When reading a book a user can track his progress, add bookmarks, notes, save highlights, access event agenda and chat. Book chat works as an individual pattern inside the app. Inside the chat a user can share highlights, books and emotional reactions with others, create polls. Event agenda allows to constructively prepare for an event and collect questions which might be worth discussion during a live event. The questions are divided per categories which contributes to a live event structure. To avoid too many questions, users can vote for the questions that they find the most interesting.
Audio
Audio section allows to access audiobooks and podcasts. Users can invite others for an audio session, either join a live session. Users can access materials related to the event by clicking on a book icon. By clicking on a bookmark icon users can add materials to their want-to-read lists. There is as well an integrated chat where users can share highlights, books and emotional reactions with others, create polls.
Groups
A user can access his groups by going to the other section inside the app. Inside a group a user can find group description, group events, discussions, books and polls. By going inside a poll, a user can vote for the books that he finds the most interesting for the next event.
Games
Inside the app a user can as well access games related to the world of literature. He can either play alone, team up with someone, or compete with an opponent. There is also an integrated audio and video chat to make the communication between participants happen.
Story
Persona: Mary Jane.
Mary Jane is 28 years old. She works and lives in Berlin. She’s talkative, friendly, sociable, enthusiastic and likes to go out. Her main passion is reading. Once a month she visits an event of the book club she is a member of, to discuss recently read books and exchange opinions with others.
Pains: Because of the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak, the book club where Mary Jane is a member, has cancelled all its events for an undetermined period of time. Mary Jane is worried the book club might not reopen soon and she won’t have a chance to discuss recently read books with like-minded people. She doesn’t like the idea of being isolated in the four walls of her Berlin flat.
Gains: Mary Jane is craving to continue reading books and discuss them once in a while with those who share her passion. She wants to keep socialising with people, make new connections. Mary Jane wants to find a digital alternative to her book club.
Mary Jane becomes a member of the Quarantine Bookclub.
Flow 1
Mary Jane is preparing for the upcoming event, she reads a book. When a question pops up in her mind, she goes to chat to ask her co-readers their opinion on the topic. Her group mate suggests to add the question to the event agenda. Mary Jane goes to agenda and adds her question there. She also checks other questions and votes for the ones she finds worth discussion.
Flow 2
Mary Jane goes inside the live event. She is asked to rate a book. When her question pops up on the screen, she takes up the queue as she wants to speak up. She shares a highlight with other readers.
Other
Mary Jane goes to games. She picks a quiz about Russian literature. She wants to team up with someone and invites two of her friends to the game. By audio chat Mary Jane and her friends discuss the quiz.
Experiments and changes
The app has gone through a lot of transformations. The navigation and the structure of the app changed a lot as I was curious about expanding the possibilities for social interaction and reading experience. Also stylistically the app has gone through changes. The original design was black and white, to remind of an e-book experience. However, as the app is very social, it eventually seemed to me that a colourful version would be a better fitting solution.
