Developing a story-driven book recommendation app for Libraries : a study on user experience

Abstract

While almost every town in Finland has a library, not everyone visits them, and many people are unaware of the full range of services Finnish libraries offer. This study focused on enhancing an existing application called Naakka, designed to attract more visitors to libraries. The project involved implementing a background story and making minor quality improvements to the app to increase its effectiveness in drawing people to the Turku Main Library. In the study, 13 participants were divided into two groups to test different versions of the app: one without a background story and one with a background story displayed at startup. After testing, the participants completed a Microsoft Forms survey to share their thoughts on the application. The results indicated that the background story did not significantly increase the participants' interest in visiting the library. However, the participants that witnessed background story were more motivated to scan QR codes within the library thanks to the background story. The thesis concludes that an engaging background story alone does not motivate people to visit the library. Nonetheless, once visitors are in the library, they are inclined to scan QR codes to unlock cosmetic rewards within the application.