Portraits of an industry in flux: digital publishing and UX

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By Paul Biba

That’s the title of an article by Brett Sandusky in UX Magazine. I hope publishers read it – it’s worth their time.

Recently, the book publishing industry has been the subject of much attention as it integrates digital publishing with print publishing. Most publishing houses hastily pushed content into the digital space, securing a place in the marketplace with little regard to quality, reader experience, and basically no consideration for format-specific advantages and deficiencies. This approach lacks the necessary emphasis on readers (who are the customers), and their needs as software users on their devices of choice.

My company’s transition from a print-only model to one where we’re about to publish more digital products than print ones in 2011 was difficult in many respects. The growing pains of uncertainty and unmapped terrain, of new endeavors, of new skills, of new product models, all touched our organization at every level. Having made it out on the other end alive, I came to realize that there had been a guide for us all along: user experience.

Via @petermeyers

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