Tomee — Understanding reader’s choices in books to read

Abstract

Today the amount of information available to individuals is staggering and they often are at a loss when choosing to purchase products. In the case of readers, they have an infinite amount of book available to read. However, they often do not know how to give credibility to the books that are available to them. In this class project we look at “How might we help readers make an informed decision about choosing books.” This research focused on the influences that affect reader’s decisions to purchase literary items. When people buy books there are many things that influence their decision. These influences can be internal perception (wants and needs) or they can take the form of external influences. In the case of influences, the strongest motivation seems to be a communal engagement and a shared experience. As such people place a high value on the perceptions of individuals around them. In our study we look at how people who are interested in books would share information and what outlets would they use to communicate to others. We focus on a qualitative methodology utilizing a co-design process. Our process was to involve readers within the idea generation process to study the effectiveness of working simultaneously to understand people’s needs while utilizing co-design principals to understand how to meet those needs. Our research found, individuals place high value on information from their community members, when making decisions on what books to read. Based on our research, readers would be interested in a way to categories and share their reading choices. We believe there is a need for a platform that allows individuals to share their reading interests with other members of their community.