TASCHEN

D&AD Student Awards 2011

  • Role:
  • Interaction Design
  • User Experience
  • Interface Design
  • Mobile Design
  • Information Architecture

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PROJECT ANALYSIS
Gaining an understanding of TASCHEN and their requirements was the clear starting point here, and by taking time to research their history, goals, products and audiences I had learned a lot about the publisher. TASCHEN pride themselves on fine quality for both low and high ends of the consumer market, with an interest in a democratised service made accessible to anyone. Many questions were still yet to be answered however; why are they popular, how are they communicating with people, and what makes them special?
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USER RESEARCH / PERSONA CREATION
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NAVIGATIONAL MODEL
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Looking at reading behaviours I had noticed a general tendency to switch between different pages, regardless of direction, and it became clear reading is not a linear movement from one page to the next. This insight inspired a new navigational model that would offer relevant content in the form of 'strips', with an x-axis showing articles of the same topic in chronological order, and a y-axis for differentiating areas of interest. These areas would be customisable and driven by tags, which would determine the articles displayed in that field.
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FINAL UI CONCEPT
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The blend of physical and digital reading remained the primary focus of the final UI, as the product needed to be reminiscent of reading a tangible publication, while also remaining honest to the digital space that the content resided in. Horizontal scrolling navigation was applied consistently for intuitive navigation through the multiple spaces offered such as the main menu, publications and the in-app bookstore. Appropriate visual cues were introduced to direct the user in different contexts, solidifying its role as a digital book.
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PROTOTYPING & CONCLUSION
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For further analysis the concept was developed as a low-fidelity iPad prototype in order to carry out further user testing that would discover possible flaws, and identify interesting behaviours when it was used. Importance was again placed on physicality and how a tablet computer could be handled in conjunction with the UI, with different elements being later added to the interface to support the presentation of content. This testing reinforced certain ideas and identified weak links, but became one of the reasons why the concept received a very positive response upon completion.