Exploring Mobile Reading Design for Magazine App

Abstract

Mobile reading is a new type of reading Inspired by my internship experience at the CommonWealth Magazine Group the thesis research focused on user experiences of Magazine APP on mobile devices I explored research issues through Action Research cycles From the literature mobile reading has become a norm People browse and scan spot keywords skip and jump across contents while reading on mobile devices Interface designs for mobile APP need to strive for consistency provide shortcuts and offer informative feedbacks A comprehensive user experience design should consider strategy scope structure skeleton and surface (interface) issues The research began with the action of designing an experimental CommonWealth Magazine APP The experience led to a focus group study on functional requirements of magazine APPs The result indicated that Prompt Social Interaction Personalization and Hypermedia functions are preferred The experimental APP was revised to account for preferred functions in the second action cycle The revised prototype was tested with selected users Post-test interviews was analyzed to examine user experiences The result showed that Personalization and Social Interaction functions were important; Hypermedia and Multimedia functions were fundamental; and Prompt function was crucial The third action cycle focused on interface designs An alternative prototype with varied interface features was created Both prototypes were tested with selected users and post-test interviews conducted The result indicated that familiar interaction styles were preferred and rapid screen updates were priority For the final action three UI/UX experts were consulted to gain further information Interview records were analyzed The experts while agreed with observations from previous action cycles also hinted on helping user discovering new contents To conclude the research identified Multimedia Hypermedia Prompt functions are fundamental elements of Magazine APPs and Personalization and Social Interaction functions are user-preferred elements Prototype APPs have been implemented to demonstrate how these elements afford mobile reading experiences

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English
Supervisor	Sheng-Fen Chien (Supervisor)