OLJ 3: Mobile Exploration

Task: Explore three of your favourite websites (any sites you are interested in) on your mobile device and compare and contrast their functionality and the ways that they provide access to social tools. For each site list features that you consider provide a good mobile experience, and suggest any improvements that could be made. 

 

As this task specifically refers to websites, I exclusively focused on the functionality of these platforms on a mobile web browser. However, it should be noted that all have purposed-built mobile apps.

 

Goodreads

Goodreads is a social networking site (SNS) that is uniquely based around books, while also allowing users to build friendships and communicate in a similar manner to traditional SNS (Thelwall & Kousha, 2017, p. 972).

Positive design elements:

• • • Well-designed infographic for “My Year in Books” showing reading statistics, which can be shared to Facebook, Twitter/X, and Pinterest for social engagement.
    • Quick links in Menu bar to social networking features, such as “Friends”, “Groups”, “Discussions”, and “Comments”.
    • Integration of “Friends” with Facebook and Gmail.

 

Recommended improvements:

• • • All pages should be mobile compatible, as attractive website visual design can increase customer satisfaction and re-use (Jongmans, et al., 2022, p. 2101).
    • Provide the ability to add and edit read dates on mobile, and not just desktop.

 

Stanton Library

Stanton Library is my local public library and has a website that is hosted on the North Sydney Council website.

Positive design elements:

• • • Popular features such as joining, catalogue, events, and e-library, are clearly shown on the homepage to limit navigation to other pages, which provides an intentional experience for users (Bell, 2018, p. 4).
    • The homepage provides clear links to the library’s Instagram and Twitter, and a “Sign Me Up” icon to subscribe to the library newsletter.

 

Recommended improvements:

• • • Separate the website from the council website, as the main drop-down menu navigates away from the library.
    • Employ user-experience design to improve usability of book carousels with larger clickable links for catalogue navigation (Bell, 2018, p. 5).

 

Reddit

Reddit is a large SNS that is based on various “interest-based devices” to enable users to self-organise and engage via “subreddits” (Olson & Neal, 2015, p. 1).

Positive design elements:

• • • The news-feed style user homepage has high usability and ease of navigation. This increases likelihood of reuse (Jongmans, et al., 2022, p. 2101).
    • The organisation of interests into subreddits makes “big worlds feel small and navigable” (Olson & Neal, 2015, p. 1), especially with the use of custom rules for each subreddit.
    • Reddit recommends posts in other sub-reddits to expand user’s engagement. This reflects a “modular community structure” and helps guide users on a largescale platform (Olson & Neal, 2015, p. 2).

 

Recommended improvements:

• • • Change the appearance of sponsored posts on user homepage to appear different to subreddit posts. This may improve user-experience design (Bell, 2018, p. 5).
    • Reddit’s downvote system is unique to SNS’s and can foster an antagonistic environment where conformity is rewarded (Davis & Graham, 2021, p. 650). May be improved by creating more variation in responses.

 

(475 words)

References

Bell, S. J. (2018). Design thinking + user experience = better-designed libraries. Information Outlook, 22(4), 4-6. https://doi.org/10.34944/dspace/96

Davis, J. L., & Graham, T. (2021). Emotional consequences and attention rewards: the social effects of ratings on Reddit. Information, Communication & Society, 24(5), 649-666. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1874476

Goodreads, Inc. (2023). Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/

Jongmans, E., Jeannot, F., Liang, L., & Damperat, M. (2022). Impact of website visual design on user experience and website evaluation: The sequential mediating roles of usability and pleasure. Journal of Marketing Management, 38(17-18), 2078-2113. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2022.2085315

North Sydney Council. (2023). Stanton Library. https://www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/library

Olson, R. S., & Neal, Z. P. (2015). Navigating the massive world of reddit: Using backbone networks to map user interests in social media. PeerJ Computer Science, 1(e4). https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj-cs.4

Reddit Inc. (2023). Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/

Thelwall, M., & Kousha, K. (2017). Goodreads: A social network site for book readers. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 68(4), 972-983. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23733