Introduction

Objectives

• To understand the reasons behind the phenomenon in which long form reading and print-based reading has declined.
• To create a new environment digitally to encourage reading, specifically:
  • Identify the target audience for such initiative.
  • Analyze the target audience their reading behaviour.
  • Improve the reading experience and reduce the friction.
  • Determine the performance metrics and measurement plan.

Initial Research

According to a CBC news article, drawing from market research survey from Angus Reid, 40% of the respondents were reading more during the pandemic. (Hoga, 2021) The article also referred to another research by BookNet Canada, 22% of the respondents who identified as readers were reading more informative books, while 16% “were just seeking entertaining reads.” (Hoga, 2021)

Some other potential changes to reading habits as cited in the article included:

• Less commute time as many people were working more from home.
• More time with kids at home due to school closure.
• Overall economic and other concerns might impact the enjoyment.

Target Audience

• To limit the scope, we will limit our scope to university students.
• To define reading, we will limit reading to informative or leisure reading outside of regular course work.
• To quantify “reading more”, we shall measure the time spent on reading, both in print and digitally.