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03-06-2008, 10:06 AM | #1 |
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Help U. of Michigan Students with their study on "eReader Usability Heuristics!"
EDITORS NOTE: Here's a chance to help out some university students and possibly have an impact on the future of e-reading devices. So, those of you with the time and inclination, please have a look.
-- NatCh A group of students at the University of Michigan are looking at the usability heuristics of electronic portable reading devices (aka eReaders). We are currently conducting a survey and are offering you a chance to win a free, silver iPod Shuffle (http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/specs.html). We are looking for participants who either do or don't have experience using eReader devices. The goal of this survey is to gather information regarding your daily reading habits and reading preferences. On analyzing the results, we hope to develop guidelines to design eReaders of the future. Survey link: http://s-vx5e0-36247.sgizmo.com Please pass our survey link to others who may have experience with eReaders, an interest in e-books or enjoy reading in general. Our survey will be available until Tuesday, March 11, 2008. Thank you for your time and we appreciate your feedback. Last edited by NatCh; 03-06-2008 at 12:21 PM. Reason: Added a note at the beginning. |
03-06-2008, 12:53 PM | #2 |
reader
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It is difficult to design survey questions, but question 13 (While reading an e-book on an eReader device, what on-screen features would be important to you?) does not even include access to a Table of Contents or navigation by Chapter as options. In fact the only "on screen" (as opposed to via keys) feature I really want is an indicator of where in the book I am at present. This isn't one of the options either.
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03-06-2008, 12:56 PM | #3 |
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To my knowledge, this device is revolutionary and they didn't really look into scientific papers to breed eink products. I don't think they will either, when it's been a year after the fact. Plus, will this paper even be published or will it be marked and handed back with a grade?
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03-06-2008, 01:02 PM | #4 |
Jester
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Filled out the survey, hope it'll help you guys
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03-06-2008, 01:24 PM | #5 |
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Me too!
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03-06-2008, 01:37 PM | #6 |
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I filled it out... it's easy and fun!
It's just a shame there aren't too many surveys like this guiding the production of more e-book readers (not that I consider this one that comprehensive, but it's a good start). |
03-06-2008, 01:39 PM | #7 |
fruminous edugeek
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I agree that there were some key options missing from the survey, but I filled it out anyway. Even if it's only for a graded paper in a class, I like encouraging serious academic interest in ebook readers.
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03-06-2008, 01:42 PM | #8 |
Groupie
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Just as a note, Fictionwise has also been sending around surveys about eReaders. I was a bit disappointed of the lack of Sony on their options...
Jason |
03-06-2008, 04:23 PM | #9 |
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Question 14 was difficult for me.
"same window or new window" ... I like to have a little popup box with a description/definition/similar word in it, and still have my original text in the background. That's what MS Reader does. And the thesaurus is free. I wish mobipocket could do that |
03-06-2008, 05:02 PM | #10 |
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Yeah, they do have something to learn about survey design. Especially with an online survey including an "other: {type here}" option means that they can add popular options as they go. Their data entry choices did not include a touch screen which seems odd. Adding a separate pad to any of the current ebooks would be hard to do without risking the Cloudbook debacle of a thumbprint-size trackpad that's unusable.
But yeah, I filled it in and hope they get something useful out of it. I also hope they are willing to post my iPod to Australia |
03-06-2008, 05:06 PM | #11 |
Gizmologist
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Cut 'em some slack, guys, can't ya? They are college students after all, not marketing professionals!
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03-07-2008, 12:02 AM | #12 |
Now you lishen here...
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Filled out the survey. Hope it helps them... and us, get improved ebook hardware!
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03-08-2008, 11:19 AM | #13 |
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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...and mine to France....
i agree that there were a lot of questions which were difficult because the list of answers was not comprehensive enough, so i had to choose the closest thing to what i *really* meant. however i think it's a good initiative and as nekokami said i want to encourage their interest... more interest in dedicated reading devices can only lead to good things. |
03-09-2008, 05:29 PM | #14 |
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Response from UM Student Research Group
Thank you to all participants of this study, and to the blog editor (NatCh) for recommending us to the community. Our analysis is a study of eReader heuristics in general. It attempts to ascertain possible improvements expressed by the public based on their use. We have had access to the SONY eReader PR505, and some limited access to a Kindle; our perspective has therefore been influenced primarily by these devices. Based on the response to our survey, we have decided to investigate whether SONY (or other companies) would like to receive these results as a friendly assessment suggesting improvements for future eReaders. We would like to improve our analysis of the eReaders. Some of you expressed concerns that our survey completely omitted 'key issues'. If you feel strongly on this issue, please reply to this topic and describe these key issues for us in detail. We are very interested in providing a valuable analysis of features and user preferences for eReaders. |
03-10-2008, 10:27 AM | #15 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Oop... now I have to go back and remember the questions...
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