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Overview

The following recommendations on iteration and release of the Offline Library feature are based on findings from the two user studies conducted on the “V1” prototype in the Android app.

Links to the two studies:

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Offline Library: Next Steps

By Steven Lek (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]

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1. Short term:

Release as a sideloading only feature for the wider Android audience

Phab ticket T177655

Overwhelming feedback from testing was that ‘mainstream’ users are interested offline reading for specific topics, rather than to have the ‘entire Wikipedia’ available.

As such, there is a risk launching Offline Library prematurely without offering compelling content to satisfy the majority of users’ wants will mean they will try and then quickly abandon it.

However, whilst we consider ways to mitigate issues regarding content, we can provide a sideloading-only version for users who are already use Kiwix for reading Wikipedia. The benefit for these users will be that they can use just one app to read Wikipedia on and offline; along with some improvements like being able to access multiple ZIM files at once.

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2. Iterate:

Test a ‘full’ version with UI improvements on a select few Wiki languages

Phab ticket TBC

Due to the lack of variety and large storage size particularly of the English language article packs identified as being a key blocker to a full release of the feature; the next step is to release to just select languages in the New Readers area.

The aim will be to gather more information from a core audience of the tool, in order to figure out how to scale to wider release.

Any high-priority and quick-win usability recommendations that made from the user studies will also be addressed for this next limited-release ‘full’ version.

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Recommended improvements from user studies

By Special Collections Toronto Public Library from Toronto, Canada, via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 2.0]

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Concept of an ‘Offline Library’

Offer more specialized content topics – users in both studies were more interested in getting packs related to specific topics such as WikiMed rather than the “whole” of Wikipedia. [link tbd]
Offer smaller-sized article packs – connected to the feedback around content was that users were also concerned about storage space of ‘all’ Wikipedia packs. Additionally, New Reader users had limited mobile data (Indian users in the study had daily limits of 1-2GB per day) [link tbd]
Clearer messaging on DATE VERSION of packs – users in both studies were not as clear that packs are from a point in time or that they would not be incrementally updated. [link tbd]
Allow incremental updates – New Readers in particular didn’t expect to need to re-download an entire pack, but expected articles within packs to “auto-update” to latest versions. [link tbd]
Consider incorporating ‘Reading Lists’ and ‘Offline Library’ – some New Readers were initially unclear about the difference, and after understanding still thought it made sense for both to be found together as the one place for offline content. [link tbd]

Key: P0=Must fix ------ P3=Minor improvement

TEST FULL V

BACKLOG

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User education / Marketing

Reconsider the term ‘article packs’ – potentially a name more suggestive of it as a static, pre-selected collection made at a single point in time, as opposed to Reading Lists which are users can create and update themselves [link tbd]
Update app onboarding – update screen 2 of the overall app onboarding to include info distinguishing the new Offline Library feature from Reading Lists as two different ways to read offline. (NOTE: the importance of fix depends as P2 or P3 depends on whether Offline Library will be launched initially as a new mainstream app feature or only to limited markets.) [link tbd]
More targeted promotion of the Offline Library feature (eg., when users are offline, users in certain geo or languages) – Users were generally easily able to see promotional card on the Explore feed as they were specifically asked to look for it, but there was still some confusion as to whether it was the same as Reading lists. In the NR study particularly, users indicated that they would not ordinarily be interested to ‘find out more’ about the feature unless they were actually offline. [link tbd]

Key: P0=Must fix ------ P3=Minor improvement

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Usability: ‘Offline Library’ screen

Clearer visual display of storage information data – some users were initially confused by the storage info table since they didn’t understand that “0.00” data was referring to the initial storage space of Wikipedia’s Offline Library files. [T173082]
Clarify external vs internal storage space – for users on devices which also have external storage, show the available space on external storage as well [link tbd]
Allow user to choose whether to download to external or internal storage – for users on devices which also have external storage, allow an option to download to external storage [link tbd]
Display storage space and file size in appropriate units – Article packs and storage sizes were all only shown as “GB” gigabyte units, which meant size info was lost for smaller files (e.g., the Ray Charles pack was rounded down to show as “0.00 GB” rather than 1.5MB) [T177879]
Clarify/Make more prominent the “Add to offline library” action – this action shown after packs downloaded by users was unclear, esp. as it was different in style and wording to the initial “search offline library” CTA when the Offline library was empty [link tbd]

Key: P0=Must fix ------ P3=Minor improvement

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SIDELOAD

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Usability: Searching article packs

Add a clearer visual indication in Offline library list for already downloaded packs – for users who wished to easily see what they already had in their offline library [link tbd]
Surface relevant article packs more clearly by filtering to relevant languages by default – users in both studies did not understand the reason for the ordering and types of packs shown in the list. Some New Readers particularly mentioned not wanting to see packs in other languages they considered irrelevant to them. We may wish to therefore add default filtering to the list (e.g., filter to should only packs in the Wiki app language only) [link tbd]
Add advanced sorting capabilities – as part of allowing users to find relevant content more easily, we may wish to add the ability for users to sort by size, date, language, popularity, etc [link tbd]
Include more info about packs in the initial Offline Library list view – per some feedback by users, potentially add more ‘teaser’ info about each pack in the list view to help make a decision as to whether a pack is worth downloading. [link tbd]

Key: P0=Must fix ------ P3=Minor improvement

TEST FULL V

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BACKLOG?

BACKLOG

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Error prevention & recovery

Fix error conditions – thoroughly test the downloading and opening of article packs across different devices, since some users encountered unrecoverable errors [T179070]
Improve error messaging – update error messaging to more precisely explain bugs, including a suggested solution if possible rather than the current “An unknown error occurred” text. [T179071]
Track errors encountered offline – Build Eventlogging for when users are back online [link tbd]
Prevent data-usage waste by showing messages when storage is insufficient – when users have insufficient storage space on their internal (and any external) devices, the app should not allow the download to proceed. [link tbd]
Prevent accidental use of paid mobile data:

As a setting [T173417] and/or
As a warning [T163596]

Key: P0=Must fix ------ P3=Minor improvement

SIDELOAD

TEST FULL V?

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Usability: Downloading packs

Provide clearer details of offline status - users in both studies found it unclear whether they were on/offline. It would be beneficial to include clearer messaging upfront. [T163595] [T166596] [T168301]
Provide an explicit offline mode – a suggested improvement so that users are able to control explicitly when to user items in offline packs within the app. [T164756]
Provide ability to pause/resume downloads – esp. pertinent for New Readers with daily limits to free mobile data usage; and may complete downloading an article pack over multiple sessions. [T178161]
Make the option to share via USB/external storage clearer/more prominent – New Readers were able to test the use of offline packs by connecting their phone to a computer via USB to transferring the file to their phone, and found downloading and sharing this way to be convenient. [link tbd]
Provide an ability for user to download and read article packs on Desktop/Laptops – in addition to being able to download and transfer article packs from desktop/laptop, it would be ideal to use it on their desktop/laptop in the browser. [link tbd]

Key: P0=Must fix ------ P3=Minor improvement

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BACKLOG

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Usability: Using article packs

Improve format of “Main page” across all article packs – since users across studies often used the ‘Main page’ as the entry point to use packs, they wanted to see a clearer ‘introductory’ text and high-level contents similar to the main page of the WikiMed pack. [T179205]
Improve use of the Explore feed to access the Offline Library – Users didn’t expect the feed to be ‘active’ when they were offline. Potential ways to obviate the feed as a portal to the Offline library:

Incorporate individual “Main page” cards for downloaded packs directly from the Explore screen when they are offline; [link tbd]
Improve the offline search bar and Offline Library ‘card’ so that it is clear the Explore feed is usable and that search works (but is restricted to available offline content only). [link tbd]

Add clearer messaging in the Offline Library about use of packs in an offline state – it may be useful to include text emphasizing that article packs are accessed when users have no connection, (adding as P3 since in the long run this may be learned behavior not solved by help text) [link tbd]

Key: P0=Must fix ------ P3=Minor improvement

SIDELOAD?

TEST FULL V

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