User Profiles, cases and requirements

Basic eReader iOS Application Requirements

Things to consider

Screen Size

One of the biggest challenges is designing an eReading App for a variety of screens : big, small; portrait, landscape; high resolution, low resolution; color, mono.

The key design factor driving recent ebook growth is readability on small screens, and the best way to achieve this today is to keep things very simple. Any deviation from this will limit our potential readership.

Formats and Media overlays

EPub 3 has a feature in new ebook formats (and in modern web browsers). The feature is called media queries. Media queries let designers add several style sheets to an ebook, each one optimized for a particular screen type. They automatically detect the screen type and deliver the style sheet to match it.

Occam's Razor

We might apply Occam’s Razor to ebook reader UX design. As the 14th century theologian said, ‘It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer.’

For now, there’s an inescapable rule: Each new feature or design innovation we add will lower potential readership.

Fallbacks

A way to use new features without losing older e-readers. A fallback is a way to offer a new feature to an eBook reader that is not supported by older solutions, ebook can be programmed to use alternative styles sheets and media formats that are supported – a fallback. We should check this feature in the ePub Spine to understand its applicability.

Testing

Readium provides a Smoke Test Plan and supporting documents for testing eBook Apps. This document provides a high level overview of what the SDK should handle and what the application layer should handle as an eReading app.

Smoke Test

eReader Platform requirements

iPad
iPhone
iOS 6 and 7
Launch Readium EPUB Engine
Web Reader (This is in the grant but I would prefer to consider port to Android)

eReader app requirements

Open and ePub, view and interact with its content

Open EPUB2
Open EPUB3

Open EPUB and Display Book Jacket- on tap got to Chapter One

  See tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath: in NavigationElementController. Can be accomplished by adding a tap recognizer on top, and telling it which file to load on that tap.

Open EPUB and Display Content - Chapter 1

  See tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath: in NavigationElementController, it pushes to a specific RDNavigationElement when you tap a cell, to a certain file based on what was specified in the datasource.

Automatically Size Font percentage equivalent to 12pt Font Avenir iPhone

  Scaling is done on a percentage basis. In launcher app, see EpubSettings - fontScale property.

Automatically Size Font to equivalent percentage to 14pt Font Avenir iPad

  Scaling is done on a percentage basis. In launcher app, see Epub Settings - fontScale property.

Automatically set view to single page view on iPhone and iPad.

  Not all books seem to support two column views. In launcher app, see EpubSettings - isSyntheticSpread property, where YES means two columns, and NO means one column.

Content Navigation

Allow flowable content to be scrolled via single touch swipe

  There doesn't seem to be built in support for this, but adding it should be relatively trivial.

Advance page turn after end of paginated content is scrolled (ergo - infinite scroll)
```
  I don't see any support for this built in via the current architecture.
```

Turn page back with left swipe or double tap to advance page forward

  There doesn't seem to be built in support for this, but adding it should be relatively trivial.

Allow user to access spline/table of contents in order to navigate to that section of content

Content Display Settings

Allow user to adjust Font Size
Allow user to adjust Font type (Serif vs Non Serif)
Allow user to switch to night mode (white text on black vs black text on white)

Example View Navigation requirements (subject to design change)

Top Bar (TB) Menue for Reading View
TB:Options icon - access drop down menu for Options Menue (OM) with following items:
OM:Display Options icon - access control to increase decrease font, adjust brightness, change front from Sans Serif (Calibre) to Serif (Times Roman), Day Reading (White background, Black Text) or Night Reading (Black Background, White Text)
OM:Table of Contents icon - on tap opens table of contents control
OM:Book Marks icon - on tap opens book mark control for given work
OM:Share icon - on tap opens native share feature of iOS
Add to shelf icon - opens my shelf control (see shelf control requirements)
TB:Book Mark Page icon -
TB:Share icon - on tap opens native share feature of iOS
TB:Search Content icon - on tap opens content search control
TB: Back arrow - on tap navigates back from selected sub menu, control or view, or current content location to book Jacket or BookShelf List or Home screen

Optional requirements:Botom Bar Menu (BM), Controls

Control:Page Number display/counter
Control:Content Guage (%percent read)
BM:Book Icon - on tap access content Table of Contents

General User Stories and Use Cases

As a New User/Existing User I want to:

Sign up for a new card or connect to my existing NYPL library card account

So I can Borrow content from Library

Confirmation Criteria

I can Borrow a book and it is reflected in the ILS
I can Get an ebook from our vendors
I can reserve an ebook from our vendors and have the transaction reflect in the ILS
My patron record and credential are created in the ILS

Connect to my 3rd party reading list (Google Bookshelves, Good Reads, etc..)

So I can See my previous reads

Confirmation Criteria

The App can connect to my Google Books Reading List
Use my Good Reads books shelf API

Connect to my 3rd party reading list (Google Bookshelves, Good Reads, etc..)

So I can Record my reads

Confirmation Criteria

The App can transact on my Google Books Reading List
The App can transact on my Good Reads books shelf API

Create Wish List

So I can get notifications when the book is available

Confirmation Criteria

The App can use my Google Books Reading List to identify availability in the catalogue
The App can use my Good Reads books shelf API to identify availability in the catalogue

See primarily titles that are available

So I can browse through titles available to read now

Confirmation Criteria

I get Titles I can download now
I get Titles in the format my device and app supports

I get only titles that have an available copy (OD, 3M, Haithi, Guttenberg, other..)

  Sent as OPDS acquisition feeds linked to from a navigation
  feed with rel="new", rel="featured", or a custom link
  relation.  Titles have <link> with rel="borrow", rel="sample",
  and/or rel="open-access".

Get a physical copy if the eBook isn't available

So I can read the book when format is not an issue with me

Confirmation Criteria

I can place a hold on the physical format if the digital format is not available

The physical title copy is available for pick-up

   Sent as OPDS acquisition feeds, linked to from a navigation
   feed with a custom link relation. Each title has a <link>
   with custom rel='hold'. Possibly a different <link> for each
   branch that has a copy.

Choose to see titles available to hold or get at a later date

So I can read the book for free

Confirmation Criteria

I can reserve (hold) a title via the application
The title shows up in a holds list

The title is on hold in the library ILS and OPAC

  Sent as OPDS acquisition feeds linked to from a navigation feed
  with a custom link relation like "to-hold" in addition to "new",
  "featured", etc. Holdable titles have a <link> with rel="hold".

Search available titles