The usability study on the multicultural children’s book project of the National Library for Children and Young Adults (NLCY) in Korea

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify usability issues on a storytelling digital library with six languages provided by the National Library for Children and Young Adults (NLCY) in Korea, and to provide suggestions for future improvement to create a better interface. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, usability issues at the multicultural children’s book project Web site of the NLCY were identified, with comparison between the previous interface and the current one, based on the findings of established literature on children’s use of computer applications and web interface. Findings – Suggestions for improvements include brighter colors, bigger fonts and graphics, more lively animation and sound, easier navigation, consistent interface, summary availability, better organization of information and labeling and multilingual searching and browsing function. A user study is being planned for future development. Originality/value – There is a great value in making 400 children’s books available to the public at the NLCY digital library in six different languages with their original pictures animated and their stories performed in a storytelling mode. However, to provide more pleasant access to the valuable site, particularly for children users, there is much room for improvement in terms of the user interface. Based on these findings, a user study is being planned for future development, which should be more intuitive for users, particularly children.