Case study:
Encourage children to read more
Children today read less frequently than any previous generation and enjoy reading less than young people did in the past.
In 2019 just 26% of under-18s spent some time each day reading.
Fewer children enjoy reading, and that this dwindled with age: nearly twice as many five to eight-year-olds as 14 to 16-year-olds said they took pleasure from reading. Overall, just 53% of children said they enjoyed reading “very much” or “quite a lot” – the lowest level since 2013.
It was also found that there was a marked gender divide when it comes to reading for pleasure: less than half (47%) of boys were keen readers, compared with 60% of girls. A third of children surveyed reported being unable to find things to read that interested them.
The problem:
Young children read less frequently and enjoy it less than they did in the past
I was asked to work with a team to facilitate them through the process of crafting insights, generating ideas and building rapid low-cost prototypes for a project about children's engagement with reading for pleasure.
Before starting we looked at analytics for current products & services, looked at marketing research and we also ran a number of usability studies on existing products & services. This helped us to identify user groups and focus on how to move forward.
What we did:
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Step One: Contextual observations >
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Step Two: Identified extreme cases >
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Step Three: Ran empathy experiments >
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Step Four: Conducted user interviews >
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Step Five: Crafted insights >
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Step Seven: Rapid low cost prototyping >
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Step Eight: Iterate, improve & share >
Step One: Observation plan...
First, we wanted to understand what is really happening. We started with some contextual observation sessions.
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Who we observed:
Children in classroom environment, teachers, parents & children in home environment.
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Desk research conducted:
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Read reports about reading on British Council site
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Read reports about decline in literacy and reading
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Look at online reading apps, look for download numbers/users
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Read reviews for online reading products/services
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Look at alternatives to reading and emerging technologies
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Look for discussions online around reading, sites like mums
net and other parent sites
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Activities conducted:
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Observed Volunteer at a reading group for children
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Observed children being taught in class environment
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Observed families with young children
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Observed teachers in class
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Observed technologies used in class
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Things we wanted to learn:
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What’s children's engagement and what motivates or attracts them
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Look at the environments and resources / technologies available
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Parent behaviour and engagement with children
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What reactions do they have to reading
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How do they read, where do they sit, how do they hold the book
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What distracts them
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When do they like to read
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Do the parents encourage them, or read to them instead
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Time spent reading on a device vs printed book
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In class what are they focusing on, teacher, screen, friends, out the window etc
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Observe...
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Write up of an observation session from the project:
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Teacher & students aged 5-6 - Mix of Native & Non Native Speakers
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I observed an English language class at a school local to where I work. The teacher allowed me to sit in and observe the students. The teacher uses a class book and also has a digital smart screen which allows her to show videos, animations, play songs etc related to what she is teaching in class. These resources were all supplied by a publisher (not the one I work with)
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The screen is colourful, lots of cute graphics of characters and things related to the class book topic. The teacher frequently asked the children what they wanted to do next, they all shouted out. Watch the video, play a game, sing the song and watch the story were the popular answers.
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The teacher then started the activity on the screen and the children were fixated, singing along to the images on screen, queuing up to play the touch screen game or sitting and watching the story animation, the story was read out but some children read along with the sub titles. The teacher sometimes stopped the story to ask questions before continuing.
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This all made the children very hyperactive and she then needed to do an exercise to calm them down, she used her mobile device for this.
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The teacher knew why I was there and asked if they wanted to read the story, they immediately associated this with dressing up, they often dress as the characters when reading the story. The reply of ‘not today we don’t have time’ was clearly a big disappointment.
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The children then sat at the tables and read the book, the teacher asked some children to read a little or asked questions but mostly left them to read while she spent 5 minutes sorting out afternoon activities. Although most children did read, some were easily distracted, a few had little niggles with each other, one boy kept getting up and messing about, the teacher had to ask several times for him to sit down, even at this age one child is trying to be the cool one and this then distracted some others.
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One girl kept poking the boy next to her with a pencil and a few just started colouring in their book. When the teacher refocused she spent a few minutes getting everyone to focus on what they should be doing, it felt a little forced in some children.
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A large number of them wanted to watch the story after they should have read it. The biggest takeaway is that in large groups distraction is greater, and a preference to the on screen resources was clear. That the children associated reading with another activity (dressing up).
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The other thing that was a clear challenge for the teacher was the different skill levels of the children due to some being non native speakers and due to the difference in children through age.
Dig deeper...
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Some of the areas identified for further research:
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Social side to reading / group vs solo
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Attraction / visual appeal / richer media / competition for
humans time
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Digital advantages
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Engagement / distraction
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Parent participation / role model
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Environment
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Skill level / personalisation
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Digital to improve/compliment, not distract from
Workshop to identify typical users and behaviours
Step Two: Identify extremes...
Identified typical users:
Some of the typical users identified for the project:
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Pre-reading & early stage reading (imitating reading)
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Children that can read independently
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Children with SEN (Special Educational Needs)
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Parents / Single parents
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Identified typical behaviours:
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Some of the typical behaviours identified for the project:
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Technology as a babysitter / Entertainment
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Technology addict
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Introvert / Extrovert children
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Confidence levels
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Embarrassment​
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Project lenses created:
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An example of one of the lenses and some identified extremes created for the project:
ENTERTAINMENT EXTREMES
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High / low income families with easy / zero access to technologies
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Gaming / social media / TV addicts (Fear of missing out)
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Children / parents who perceive reading as a chore (Non-supportive role models)
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ACADEMIC EXTREMES
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Children pressured to do well in school
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Young children reading complex texts in multiple languages
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Educators teaching large classes of mixed skill levels
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Educators teaching SEN children / behaviour problems
Extreme scenarios
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Here are a few scenarios created for the project:
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Single mum working a part time job with two children, her daughter is in pre-school and her son goes to day care. She always feels like she is running late. She keeps in-touch with friends and family via social media and often uses the iPad or TV to keep the children entertained while preparing meals and trying to find some time for herself.
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Non-native parents who are trying to support their child who is learning in a second language which they do not understand.
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Gaming & social media addicted parents who actively discourage reading.
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Parent supporting their son who needs to use a screen reader or Braille for reading and is just about to start primary school.
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A child that avoids reading and focuses on other activities because they are embarrassed that they struggle to read and do not want their parents, teacher or friends to know.
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A parent that only provides their child with educational books because they want to make sure they do really well at school “Fun isn’t learning”.
Step Three: Building empathy...
Next we brainstormed some scenarios that we could run as empathy experiments in order to get more insights. These were some of them.
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What’s it feel like to ...?
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...be a young child in a high street shopping / library environment
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...be a parent / child with zero access to technology at home
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...be a parent buying books for their children when they are not present
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...be a parent with very low income
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...be a family with very limited meaningful family time
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...be a child that has a lower than average level of reading
...be a child where parents and friends encourage online games / social media activities / TV
...be a child bombarded by distractions
...be a parent who has to read story books to their child in their non-native language
Experiment scenarios:
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Go to shopping high street - from the eye level of a young child with
limited reading ability, look for visual motivations to read. Look at the difference between book stores, games stores and toy stores.
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Go to local city library - from the point of view of a parent who is unsure of their child’s reading level, look for support that helps parents select the right books for their child’s interests and development.
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Experience - How does it feel as a parent who works, to spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day reading to their child and also complete housework and child care commitments?
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Go to local city library - from the eye level of a young child with limited reading ability, understand how it feels to find specific books of interest / theme, what support is available (adult, library staff, sign posting) and what distractions are present.
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Remove technology from the home environment - from the point of view of both parent and child. What would entertainment look like?
How would free time be spent? What do / don’t they miss?
Empathy workshop: What's it feel like to...? & Immersive empathy experiences
Empathy experiments
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Write up of a project empathy experiment – Experience a library visit from the perspective of a 6 year old. Navigate the library on your knees to simulate the height of the child:
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So over all the experience started out pretty daunting, everything seemed huge. The main library area was very formal, very neat. There did not seem to be many staff but they were all very busy at the main desk.
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It was not straight forward to find the children’s section, I would have asked but as I said there was no one free. After finding the children’s area I was surprised to find it so friendly, images and inspiring messages on the walls. Books were on show at an easy level to reach in really cool book shelves. The seating area was fun and colourful and relaxed.
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It was not easy though to find the books I wanted, you had to browse and look around so it took a while before I found books of my interest. There was no real help, no sign posting or visual clues.
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The books on the main shelves were in alphabetical order but that meant the topics were all mixed up so books of interest were scattered around. There was no way of telling the reading level of a book other than opening it and seeing if you could read it.
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I felt though I was way more interested in the video games and films, the posters and marketing around these were much more colourful and engaging / exciting than that around the books, actually the books had no real marketing or advertising around them except the Harry Potter books, they had a cut out Dobby the elf and some posters.
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I was super intrigued by the 3D printer, it looked fun but there was nobody there so left it alone, felt to shy to go and try. I realised that my attention had soon left the books.
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Even in a library, which is mainly for books and reading, the competition for my attention was apparent.
Step Four: Get out there and find out...
Participants and research goals
One of the research groups from the project:
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Parent(s) with young children: uncover their challenges & perceptions of reading / common activities with their child and why?
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Interview script
Hi, _____ , my name is Anna. I’m going to start by giving you a quick overview of today’s session.
I am talking with parents who have young children to help me with a project that I am working on. The project is investigating engagement levels of young children with reading activities in the home environment. I will be asking a series of questions to find out a bit more about your day to day, what challenges you face and what activities you currently do / don’t do with your child / children.
The session should take around 45 minutes. If you have any questions as we go along, just ask them. And if you need to take a break at any point, just let me know.
With your permission, I’m going to record our conversation. The recording will only be used to help me with this project. And it helps me, because I don’t have to take as many notes. It that ok?
Great, so if you are ready can we begin.......
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Interview questions - Keep them open!
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Could you tell me about your typical day?
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And what makes a good day?
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And what makes a bad day?
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What drives you crazy?
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What is your biggest challenge as a parent?
As a parent what is most important to you?
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And to your child / children?
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What do you wish you had more time for?
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And what gets in the way?
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What are the most common activities you do…
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With your child / children?
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Your children do when left unattended?
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Can you tell me / show me how / where you carry out these activities?
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Which activities do …
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You enjoy the most?
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Your child / children enjoy the most?
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What activities would you prefer to do more or less of?
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What activities do you wish your children would do more or less of when unattended?
What they said!
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Here are some of the highlights from the project interviews:
Could you tell me about your typical day?
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“When I finally get home, I need to clean up from breakfast before making dinner, the children just have to fend for themselves”
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What is your biggest challenge as a parent?
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“I’m guilty of putting them in-front of a screen but it is the best way to keep them entertained and calm”
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As a parent what is most important to you?
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”I want my children to be happy and safe”
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What do you wish you had more time for?
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”I wish I had more time to spend with my children, I would love to take them to more places, be involved in their lives and be a proper mum”
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What are the most common activities you do…
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”The children are usually happy playing, but I guess mostly they are watching something on the iPad or TV”
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Can you tell me / show me how / where you carry out these
activities?
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“No story is complete unless I make up voices. We have a lamp that shines patterns on the wall, we have a jungle scene and a space scene. The children like these on when we read”
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Which activities do you / your child enjoy the most?
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”My children love story time, I wish sometimes my daughter would read a bit more by herself. I love it but I’m usually so exhausted, If I’m honest it sometimes feels like just another task for me”
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What activities would you prefer to do more or less of?
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“I wish that screen time was less, I would like to play more games, read more stories and go out more”
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What activities do you wish your children would do more or less of
when unattended?
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“It does feel that when I leave them unattended, they always seem to end up with a screen”
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Is there anything else you would like to tell me about?
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“I worry that children these days expect more entertainment, they expect something to happen, some kind of interactivity”
Workshops to capture data from observation, extremes, interviews & empathy exercises and to cluster into themes for insights
Step Five: Share your insights...
Next we combined all the data from the previous stages and clustered them into themes.
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We crafted our insights and shared for feedback.
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This is an example of an insight from the project.
Step Six: Ideation time...
Using the project personas and the generated insights, it's time for the fun to begin. We conducted multiple physical & remote ideation workshops.
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These are some of the methods used for the project:
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Rapid Brain writing session:
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4 Participants / 30 minutes / 67 Ideas generated
Online Mash-up:
Here are some of my favourite ideas from the mash up session, remember this is not the time to judge:
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Art Gallery / Animation
Paintings come to life so people jump out of the picture and interact with you or tell a story.
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Sea Life Centre / Robots
A child accidentally drops some magic seaweed into the dolphin tank which turns them into bionic dolphins who escape and start doing kind acts to help people (drawing on the stories of schools of dolphins guiding drowning surfers into shore…)
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Laptop / On the bus
A little boy takes his laptop everywhere with him, including on the bus. He sits on the top deck at the front and holds the laptop up to the window. Through it he can see events from history that happened on those streets re-occurring as they drive along. E.g. they pass an old lady, who looks into his screen and she suddenly becomes a little girl again in Edwardian clothes skipping along and going into the baker’s shop to buy some cakes.
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Bed / smart speaker
Child wants a bedtime story in English. Speaker asks a few short questions to determine parameters, e.g. ‘Who’s the hero - a boy, a girl, an animal, or a thing?’ ‘Where does the story happen - in your country, in a far away place, or in space? Speaker then searches database of tagged stories for closest match and reads story to child. Could also work in bath or car!
Converge and focus...
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All of the ideas were then clustered into themes, similar ideas were grouped and re-written into stronger ideas.
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Below shows one of the project clusters and how the ideas were grouped and refined into stronger ideas.
New Idea:
Game where one player in VR describes the challenge and other players find solutions through reading in the real world.
Remember:
Keep your focus on the problem to solve, your personas and the insights generated
Consensus to move forward...
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All of the selected ideas were then given a score using a set of criteria created for the project. This encouraged discussion & aligned the team behind the ideas to take forward.
Step Seven: Rapid prototyping...
Here is an example of how the prototype developed. We simulated a VR experience using only card and sharpies. It took only 2 hours to make and cost only £28.
The feedback from the usability study was recorded as positive, constructive critique, questions asked & ideas given.
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Here are some of the things we learned about our idea, our user and the problem we were trying to solve.
Need more ideation around the excitement of the VR element vs the reading element
Would this work with an age gap between players / siblings?
Puzzles that generate a question as a way to review learning!
Is it a 360o experience like in real VR? What’s behind me?
Not very SEN friendly, inclusive
When talking stops the timer runs down quicker!
“Love this type of game”
Will improve reading speed because kids will be keen to find solution, especially if it is against the clock or a race against other players”
Step Eight: Iterate & improve...
Using the lenses of viability, feasibility and desirability and analysing the feedback from the prototype sessions, we generated a list of questions. These were then prioritized in order of impact on the problem to solve.
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For this project we prioritized questions around improving the desirability of our idea. We then brainstormed ways to improve our prototype to learn what we needed to know.
After some more clustering, grouping and re-writing, these are a few of the ideas that we wanted to take forward & include in the next prototype.
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Theme: Immersive
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Extend the black background into a full tube so that player is fully immersed. Make the VR experience as realistic as possible. We want to learn how this makes both VR and non VR player feel. We also want to learn how this might change communication between players.
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Make the UI elements moveable so that player can customize their environment. This will help identify where these UI elements should be located as default.
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Theme: Active
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Keep the cube as a static item so players have to move around it t0
discover puzzles on the opposite faces.
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Theme: Competitive
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Second game cube and re-test the prototype with up to 4 players at a time.
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How does competition add or detract from experience.
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Add in a real timer better simulate the real experience.
Once we were confident that our solution was viable, feasible and desirable and addressed the problem to solve, it was time to share our vision.
Why not read Design Thinking – Overview >