Calibre

CalibreIXDS5303 Project c Nick Gingerich

Lindsey Wilson collegeProfessor Jason Occhipinti

December 2014

Index

Pt. 1 Project Brief 3Pt. 2 Visualization & Conception 4Pt. 3 Low Fidelity Wireframes & Charts 10Pt. 4 Medium Fidelity Wirframes 21Pt. 4 High Fidelity Comps 31

Calibre is a free and open source e-book library man-agement application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. It has a cornucopia of features These represent screens captured from Calibre. Calibre is a fantastic open source program with lots of power, but its branding, interface and overall aes-thetic needs improvement. My task is to redesign the interface (selected screens) and user experience.

Install (screens A, B, C and D)Find Books (screen E and F)Book Meta Data (screen G)

Pt1

I will start by saying that I have never done any-thing like this befor and I feel a little like I am jump-ing right into the deep end of the pool. Calibre has a ton of stuff going on, and not in any kind of intuitive way. There are many advanced features, editing, filtering, content delivery and selection, just to name a few. There is so much infact that it feels daunting to try and use the program.

Pt2

I have to admit I even felt confused, even after I read the instruc-tion manual. Part of me understands why all of the options are there and why that means there is a lot of potential for the program, but I mostly keep asking myself, why would anyone put them-selves through using this thing?

When thinking about changes my first thought to strip it down. This is about read-ing so a small banner with a search window at the top. The rest is a text window with three navigation buttons at the bottom: back, options, and forward . The options button opens a pop up menu where your advanced features can live. In the top corner is a dogear or bookmark button.

What I like about Calibre is its versatility to use and convert multiple formats. I however find it to be too clunky and redundant, so my inclination is to strip it down and simplify it.

I chose to orient the window as it would be on an e-reader or tablet as a tall rectangle. Sketch A is the home screen with the menu visible, it can be accessed by clicking the options icon (gear) and the center bottom of the viewing window. Sketch B is the pop up window that happens when searching for new media or by clicking the Add Book button

Sketch C is the Library view which breaks everything down into scrollable rows show-ing covers and organized by category or subject. Sketch D is the editing window for meta data, there is an automatic search op-tion and manual entry windows.

Here is a chart that represents the flow of interactions the user may experience while installing my version of Calibre

Pt3

The following eight images are the low fi-delity wireframes of the install screen. While there are only two actual screens I am in-cluding variations that depict active drop down menus and popups.

Utilizing a sitemap provides a birds eye view of the Calibre software and its functions. Taking the time to take stock of the program this way informs the usability of the overall design.

These first two screens are the library which I feel is the primary home feature. As you can see the menu is hidden from view but when you click on the gear icon it will slide out from the side exposing all of the features available in my version of Calibre. In addition to the menu access the library is where you can search and select content for viewing. You can search by scrolling categorized rows or by utilizing the quick search window. Once content is selected the library naturally shifts to a reader window.

The Reader window like the Library offers menu access and a quick search option, but it is a nested function within the Library. When the user launches the program I in-tend it to load directly to the Library where all navigation is rooted

The Add and Search were combined because at the root of the add action the user must search for content. This window is ac-cessed by the Add Book button in the menu or utilizing the quick search feature. When content is found it will load in the Reader. In this instance new content is being added. In my version of Calibre it is not necessary to select a file type to convert to, because con-tent will automatically convert to whatever format device you have selected during the install. If a local search to Library content is completed then found content will launch in the Reader, and if new content is being added the Edit function will automaticly launch

The remove feature is exactly what it sounds like, it is how you remove content from you device or Library. After removal is complete the program returns to the Library home screen.

In addition to the editing and downloading of data this is how the categories for the for the Library are created. The library will automatically adjust categories based on the information filled out in this window. When the Edit function is complete you will be returned to the library.

The Share feature is how library content is distributed from Calibre to many potential desti-nations. This feature is what takes Calibre from being just an inventory system with limited ac-cess points to a content management system with multiple options for viewing and backup.

Medium Fidelity wireframes take the basic concept and structure from previous wire-frames and builds on it. Basic formatting and layout of the product is refined and visual hierarchy is starting to be established.

Pt4

As with the Low Fidelity wireframes I de-cided to continue to show as much of the potential user interaction by providing active menus and popups.

In the Medium Fidelity wireframes I also chose to continue and show the remove and share pages. While their de-sign is not required for the project the additional work informs the overall concept I have for the Calibre redesign..

With the Hi Fidelity comps I refined the design with color and texture and detail. As opposed to the Lower Fidelity wireframes I am not including as many user interactions or extra pages.

Pt5

I decided to make a small change to the text in the banner of the first install screen and swapped the order of the location and language menus

In the final design I also changed the final stage of the add window allowing the user to select the source to the book they wish to add to their library. Overall I feel that I have come up with a simple solution to all of the Issues that I found with Calibre while retain-ing a lot of the popular, and powerful fea-tures of the original product.