TLDR: At Epic Kids, I initiated a new reading paradigm that resulted in a record engagement lift. Additionally, 1 in 2 kids finished an extra book each session! Designs done for web, iOS, and Android.

One of Epic’s biggest problems: getting kids to open a book.

I took the initiative, designed something new, and the results blew our minds.

Epic’s Library

For the longest time, we treated Epic like a library. Kids would visit and browse through rows of books. And if we were very, very lucky… they’d even open one!

Fundamentally, browsing through rows of books was overwhelming. It created choice paralysis, the paradox where given too many choices, you end up choosing none.

Research

Finding a solution was simple. I identified mechanics with high content engagement, primarily used by younger audiences. YouTube Shorts, Tik Tok, and… Tinder?

One thing they all had in common – single content views. They showed one compelling item at a time. The products could identify what users liked based on their engagement, or lack thereof. Furthermore, it completely eliminated choice paralysis.

Rapid Prototyping

We made our own version of single content views—Cards. Kids love all types of cards, whether it be magic tricks, trading card games, or a simple deck of playing cards.

Our content team crafted hundreds of amazing cards. We also reused existing Quiz data to create interactive quiz Cards en masse.

Every Card had a “Read More” button underneath, prompting the kid to crack open a book associated with the Card.

We released our prototype into the wild.

The Results

Our A/B test came back.

Epic witnessed an unprecedented lift.

We saw a massive boost in reading time.

In addition, 1 in 2 kids finished an extra book in each session!

We double-checked the results. It was confirmed – the lift was accurate, and it was consistent over the month-long testing period.

Next steps? Identify the top-performing cards, create more, and test collectible Cards obtained from booster packs!