R U N J I A. P O R T F O L I O
Product Design | User Interface | Ergonomic Model
An integrated system enhancing the browsing and book-searching experience by combining an eye-level adjustable bookshelf with a semi-automatic storage counter and a visual book search app, offering a seamless and interactive way to access books.
BookHub
01 Background
Summer 2023
Beijing Books Building
I wanted to check if there were any new topics about psychology, but I found myself only browsing the middle two levels of books on the shelves. When I looked down, I realized there was a tantamount of books on the lower racks that I overlooked because I was not willing to squat to read all the time. It is time-consuming and physically discomforting to squat and stand back and forth, which indicates missed opportunities for readers to discover broader content.
Books at the top and the bottom levels of the bookshelf are hard to see and inconvenient to reach.
Average Measurement
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The top and bottom shelves are hard to reach for users and browse less. Then, fewer books were retrieved.
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Compared to the other shelves, Shelf 7 (the bottom shelf) had a notably lowest number of books checked out. Shelf 1 had comparatively less check-out.
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Books on Shelf 3 were used in the library most frequently — roughly 1.8 times more frequently than those on the bottom shelf. Books on Shelf 5 had the second-highest utilization rates.
Implication
Caution
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The placement of books on different shelves will bias a customer's selections away from books close to the floor and toward books placed at eye level.
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Possible physical constraints of users may impede their ability to squat down or climb a ladder to find the best resources.
How Shelf Height Affect Usage Frequency
High bookshelves potentially pose safety issues:
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Books may fall without steadily holding them.
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Risks of falling from the ladder, especially among the elders.
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The use of ladders affects the practicality and becomes less user-friendly.
Broadbent, D. (2020). The highs and lows of physical browsing: How shelf position affects book usage in academic libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(1), 102074.
Research
Librarians have general impressions that books placed on the upper and lower shelves are at a disadvantage for being used. For both checkouts and in-library use, items from the bottom shelf were used the least.
Result
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The top and bottom shelves are hard to reach for users and browse less. Then, fewer books were retrieved.
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Compared to the other shelves, Shelf 7 (the bottom shelf) had a notably lowest number of books checked out. Shelf 1 had comparatively less check-out.
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Books on Shelf 3 were used in the library most frequently — roughly 1.8 times more frequently than those on the bottom shelf. Books on Shelf 5 had the second-highest utilization rates.
Introduction
02 Primary Research
Mercer Street Books & Records
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Most of the bookshelves are about 90 in. Although the books are arranged by category, they still seem disorganized.
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A few metal carts are at the entrance, stacked with some autobiographies.
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There are only small ladders in the corner (3 levels)
Strand Bookstore
NYU Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
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The 8th and 9th floors store most of the books. Each bookshelf contains about 9 shelves, and the top layer touches the ceiling.
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People walk through the aisle, and the light slightly brightens. Books are organized by the Library of Congress classification system.
Observational Studies
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Outside: multiple carts line the street with books for sale from $3 to $7. The height of these carts reaches about the waist of a 5’7’’ person.
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Inside: A large bookstore that has three floors. At the entrance, there are multiple counters with the best-selling books. The rest of the books are categorized on tall bookshelves, mostly with 10 to 11 levels.
Persona 1
Name: Helena
Age: 22
Occupation: NYU Student
Description
Helena is a student at NYU who enjoys reading and visits bookstores regularly, ideally twice a month, at most as much as she can.
Helena usually begins by checking the categories she is interested in, then browses randomly. When she first enters the bookstore, she is more likely to buy promotional books displayed on the low counters.
Pain Points
Helena mostly browses the middle shelves, occasionally exploring lower levels if willing to sit or squat, but often ignores the top shelves and rarely uses a ladder to reach high books, feeling embarrassed to ask for help.
Limitation with Shelf Accessibility
Helena perceives books at the bottom or on the top shelves as less critical or famous, but she realizes some classical and valuable books are on the top or at the bottom that are less obvious.
Misconception of Significance
Helena often browses only books in entrance counters, leading to frequent purchases of prominently displayed books and missing out on titles deeper in the store or less noticeable sections.
Loss of Chance
Persona 2
Name: Allie
Age: 28
Occupation: NYU Bobst Librarian
Description
Allie often assists students by responding to their inquiries to help students get from the shelves. She also ensures that books are returned in the correct locations on the shelves.
Allie typically kneels to place books back at the bottom shelves. To reach books on the upper shelves, she utilizes stools and ladders.
Pain Points
When carrying heavy and oversized books, Allie feels exhausted from repeatedly putting them back on top that approaches the ceiling or at the bottom by squatting down.
Physical Strain
Limited tall ladders availability makes it challenging to drag around and use elsewhere. Carrying the stools around is cumbersome, especially while holding large and heavy books.
Inconvenient Use of Tools
Allie faces vision challenges when reading titles on lower shelves and locating book numbers. The complex Library of Congress classification system complicates her tasks with its lengthy codes.
Vision Challenges
03 Project
How Might We & Solution
How might we develop bookshelves to make every level easily accessible and noticeable?
How might we save efforts for librarians to place and retrieve oversized books back on shelves without auxiliary tools?
How might we rotate a bookshelf without disrupting the browsing rhythm of others?
How might we design a rotatable bookshelf that ensures the books remain upright and stable without flipping over?
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Adjusting the height of each shelf to align with the user's eye level for easy visibility and access by manually rotating allows every level a chance to be in the middle for easy access.
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Transforming physical tools to mechanical aids such as adjustable shelving units that can be lowered or raised with ease to reduce the physical effort.
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Displaying obscure books in ways that make them more visually discoverable and noticeable encourages readers to browse a broader range of books.
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Designing semi-automatic restocking cabinets with a certain depth for storing books to minimize the possibility that customers cannot find books because they are out of stock and facilitate staff restocking.
How might we inspire customers to have an equal desire to purchase each book and be perceived as equally important?
How might we keep books organized and in sufficient storage without blocking readers' views?
This is interesting!
Never seen
before!
How might we enable users to search and find the target book intuitively?
How might we enable books to “interact” and “respond” with users during the search process?
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Limiting the number of books that one scroll wheel controls by shortening the width of the bookshelf.
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Implementing a mechanism that allows for gradual rotation. Utilizing the mechanical principle of the Ferris wheel and conveyor belt to stabilize books.
User-friendly Mechanism
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Developing a digital catalog system with an intuitive book-searching process that visualizes the serial number of each book and its location on the shelf.
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The system could be accessible through mobile devices outside the library or bookstore for pre-checking and exploring new books. Within the library or bookstore, the search system can trigger the light to indicate the location of target books.
Design Draft
Design Pallette
04 User Flow
05 Product 1 - Book Shelf
An Ergonomic Scrollable Bookshelf
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Adjusting shelves according to individuals' height and eye levels to optimize accessibility and visibility.
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Vertically rolling the bookshelf by scroll roll to flexibly bring each shelf to a convenient eye level or any comfortable and user-friendly position.
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Two separate scrolls roll on each side to control half of the bookshelf.
Goals
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Ease physical discomfort by squatting down repeatedly and avoid the potential dangers of utilizing ladders to reach high positions.
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Make each level of shelf easily and equally accessible and noticeable.
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Allow users to browse more content instead of limiting to the middle shelves.
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Resembling the mechanism of conveyer belt to rotate vertically around a central axis.
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The shelves proceed upward in a clockwise direction and move horizontally to the back once they reach the top, then descend to the bottom to come up again.
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The scroll roll simulates the movement and direction of shelves.
Responsive to book searching system
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Responding to the bookalog app, once the user presses the button, the corresponding shelf part lights up with an assigned color to provide an intuitive and exact location of the target book.
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Double-click the side button to sense the scroll roll, which will automatically move shelves to the position of your selected book.
06 Product 11 - Book Counter
A Semi-auto Rotating Book Counter with Sufficient storage
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Two angled layers, each set at a 30-degree incline for better exposure of the book cover.
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Automatic rotation at a slow speed to show various books in 360 degrees.
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Sufficient storage within the cabinet, such that every book has a column of storage for preventing the out-stock situation.
Top View
Front View
Goals
Frontal Cross-Section Diagram
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Press down or place the book on the top to put it back, which will cause the baseboard to descend to store books. When the baseboard can't be pressed further, it means total capacity.
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When a book is removed, the baseboard automatically senses the weight change and rises to push the remaining books.
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To display and promote obscure books to let readers browse less-known but outstanding works and broaden their horizons.
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To encourage the perception of equal significance of each book.
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Providing sufficient storage to prevent out-stock situations and facilitate staff restocking and maintaining an organized stocked appearance.
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To display and promote obscure books to let readers browse less-known but outstanding works and broaden their horizons.
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To encourage the perception of equal significance of each book.
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Providing sufficient storage to prevent out-stock situations and facilitate staff restocking and maintaining an organized stocked appearance.
Goals
07 User Interface - Bookalog
A Catalog System Visualizing Book Location
Start Page
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Log in/Sign up for an account - - - - - Select a nearby store/library to explore books
Home Page
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Search for a target book OR Browse recommended books/by categories
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Check your book list
Select a book for detailed information (In Stock)
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Detailed information about the book's In-store availability and location
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Find on the Shelf - - - Visualize the location
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Browse and select another book
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Add to book list
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Visualize the catalog system to locate your target book intuitively.
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The diagrams highlight the exact location of the book.
Click to Light the Location - Interactive & Responsive with the Bookshelf
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Click the button to light the corresponding position on the bookshelf.
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Randomly assigned colors to prevent confusion with other users that light the location simultaneously.
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Double-click the side button and place the device close to the scroll roll to switch the shelf automatically.
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The system pops up a reminder to press the "light-up" after getting to the corresponding floor when it detects the user has not arrived yet.
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To simplify the process of book searching from the complex classical Library of Congress by providing visual representation.
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Intuitively guide users to locate the exact position of books for time-saving.
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Providing convenient access for searching and browsing books at any time and any place.
Goals
Select a book for detailed information (Out of Stock)
If the book is not available in the current store/library,
find availabilities in other locations.