We broke our research up into three main components: current market analysis, user interviews, and passive observation.
We started out by looking online at the different types of eReaders available
on the market today, such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Digital Book Reader, to
see what sort of features and functionality they have to offer. We also went to a
few stores to get a feel for the products firsthand. Overall, we discovered that the
eReaders on the market today try to mimic regular books. The primary navigation system
used is comprised of a physical button system, as opposed to a touch screen and they
utilize eInk display technology.
We interviewed eight different commuters, all from various cities, to find out what
their typical habits are on their ride to work. We asked them to describe a typical day's
journey both to and from work, and we also asked them questions such as:
The average commute time of all the people we interviewed was about 22 minutes. Common
items carried included newspapers, magazines, books, briefcases or bags, coffee, and an mp3
player. There didn't appear to be a substantial difference in the activities of commuters
on their return commute compared to their ride to work. The people we interviewed from bigger
cities like New York and Boston seemed to have more trouble getting a seat on the bus/subway
compared to commuters from Pittsburgh.
For the last part of our research, we hopped on a couple different Pittsburgh buses to
observe the habits of commuters. We saw that the majority of travelers do not actually read
while on the bus, and the ones that did primarily were sitting down, not standing up. The people
we saw with newspapers typically did not have the whole paper out on their ride; they only
brought a section or two with them.
Based on all of our research, we decided to focus in on newspapers. They seemed to be the
most popular reading selection for commuters, and current eReaders today do not accomodate for
them too well. We also concluded that a primarily touch screen would be the best option for controlling
the device, as the button systems on current products often cause a good amount of hassle for the users.