DERT Reads
Children Audiobooks Development
Company: TODA New York
Role: User Interface Designer, User Researcher
Duration: September 2021 - May 2022
Scope: User Research, Interface Design
Tool: Figma
About
DERT Reads, created by TODA
New York, is a branding campaign advocating for early childhood literacy by supporting low-income families with affordable books for their children. DERT donates a portion of profits to promote the cause of children’s literacy by ensuring all children have access
to books and is being read to on regular basis. Books published under the campaign are all uniquely designed in order to encourage families to read them through all stages of childhood development. In order to make the books more accessible, my team and I decided to develop a digital audiobook platform.
As a UI/UX designer at TODA New York, from September 2021 to May 2022, I was in charge of leading the user interface design and the user research of the app and the early-child literacy market. Throughout this time, my team and I completed the development of the interface design and the process of conducting research on a point-earning system, in which users are able to earn additional audiobooks for free through time spent reading, answering questions about the plot, or purchasing books.
Research
The current audiobook market is not financially friendly to low-income families. For example, the membership price for the popular audiobook platform Audible is $14.95 per month. If users without memberships wish to purchase certain books, they have to pay for the full retail price of the book, which could be pricy for certain users.
Although users could go to libraries to borrow audiobooks, some families might not have access to libraries (ex. not having one in their community). Moreover, users have to return them back with a specific deadline, which makes them not able to go back to the books they like whenever they want to. These factors would discourage underprivileged families to obtain and read books.
Currently, my team and I are in the process of researching and creating an earning-point system, in which users can earn additional audiobooks through time spent reading, answering questions about the plots, or purchasing books.
