This study, done in collaboration with Storytel, aimed to investigate whether a shared audiobook live listening experience would add value to users of the Storytel app and how such a feature could be designed in terms of User Experience and User Interface. The purpose was to determine the minimal viable product (MVP) and if live listening with others is interesting in itself or else, what is the most basic interaction type required in connection to the listening. The aim was also to design the optimal solution, beyond technical, time and/or prioritization constraints.

The method used was a combination of the IDEO design process with three phases (Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation), and Holtzblatt and Beyer’s (2016) five steps of Contextual Design (Gathering User Data, Compiling User Data, Ideation with User Data, Defining the Product and Making it Real). To investigate user opinions and requirements, surveys were sent out to Storytel users and authors on the four markets Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and India, resulting in a total of 448 responses. Based on this data, an extensive design work in three phases was carried out to achieve the result of a final design prototype of a live listening feature inside the Storytel app. In order to validate the design choices continuously in each phase, 15 user tests were achieved, whereof 4 initial tests, 10 interactive user tests and 1 focus group interview.

The results show that there is certainly an interest for such a feature among some users, and the interest is bigger if an author participates. In general, users on the Indian market are more interested in the feature than users on the European markets. Authors are more interested than the average user in live listening and interacting with its listeners. An important finding was that the feature must include an element of interaction to make it relevant and interesting to users, which is why a prototype including emoji reactions was proposed as an MVP. In this version, the possibility to discuss is linked to an outsourced forum such as Google Meet. For the optimal design, a chat was included inside the application as this was concluded highly desired by users.