Large-scale user research with children and young adults on digital reading

A brief overview of the project

Since the start of the pandemic the National Library of the Netherlands (known in Dutch as the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, or in short as the “KB”) noticed a growth in the number of loans in ebooks and audiobooks, on “de Jeugdbibliotheek” (a digital platform for children and youth). This has led the KB to renew its website (jeugdbibliotheek.nl) in 2021 with digital reading as the main focus. On the renewed website, digital reading takes a central role and the selection of paper books and educational content have been pushed to the background.

With the renewed website the KB wants to inspire and support children and young adults even better in finding a (digital) book. y means of qualitative research with children from different age groups and with different learning and reading levels, the website can be optimized to better meet the needs and interest of the users of jeugdbibliotheek.nl

Large-scale user research

UXkids conducted a large-scale user research to validate whether the KB’s renewed website, with the focus on digital reading, inspires children to find a title that matches their reading- and educational levels and interest.

To answer the KB’s research questions, UXkids involved 40 children aged 6 to 18. We defined several user groups for this research and segmented users into 5 age groups (6-8 year olds, 9-11 year olds, 12-13 year olds, 14-15 year olds and 16-17 year olds). Within the total group, dyslexic children were also recruited.

Because of the limited digital- and reading skills of children 6 to 8 year olds, UXkids decided to guide and interview this age group face-to-face in our research lab in Amsterdam. The user tests with 9 to 17 year old children were conducted remotely via Zoom. By allowing children to use the screen sharing feature, and remotely take control over the mouse, they could independently navigate on the website.

UXkids has summarized the findings in an extensive report together with actionable recommendations on how to optimize the website. with actionable recommendations on how to optimize the website This user research has given the KB insight into the desired customer journey, content and functionalities, based on the needs and desires of the target groups.

Client

The National Library of the Netherlands

Keywords

Jeugdbibliotheek, Website, User testing, Kids 6-18 years old, User groups, Large-scale research, Remote research, Face-to-face research