Qidian Reading Product Experience Analysis Report and Competitive Product Analysis

As a cheap and easy-to-obtain time killer, online writing is definitely the best choice for daily leisure time. Its excellent mobility attributes and low traffic consumption make it suitable for bus, queuing, waiting and other scenarios. You can go on a satisfying journey of gratification and revenge by consuming almost 0 traffic during the boring waiting time, which is undoubtedly very popular among users. As one of the earlier online writing platforms, Qidian.com has a broad user base and writer community.

Product name: Qidian Reading

Trial time: 2019.1

Trial version: 5.8.0

Trial system: iOS 12.1

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Qidian Reading, also known as Qidian Reading, is a reading software launched by Qidian Chinese website. It supports local reading and provides a starting point online library, with analytical reading functions in multiple formats. It also provides a pleasing UI and an easy and comfortable book reading experience. It is compatible with multiple Android platform versions and supports Android tablets (for pad).

There is also a jailbroken version of Iphone, which is compatible with multiple IOS platform versions and supports iPod touch and iPad.

Qidian Reading for Windows Phone 8 is a professional reading software specially developed by Qidian.com for Windows

Phone 8 platform.

The following are the software honors of Qidian Reading:

In the "2012 Most Popular Software Selection" event jointly organized by IT168 Software Channel and Paobao.com Software Channel, it won the "Annual Editor's Recommendation Award"

Won the "Mobile Application Product of the Year Award" at the 2012 APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Summit

Lenovo Store's 2012 Annual Review: Qidian Reading won the Best Treasure Bag Award

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2012 Analysys EnfoNet Award Mobile Internet Reader Star and 2012 Analysys EnfoNet Award Mobile Internet User Experience Star title

2012 Android Global Developers Conference won the title of "Most Innovative Application" Development Enterprise" Award

Data show that in 2017, the size of China's mobile reading market increased steadily to 13.22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 32.1%, and the growth rate was lower than last year. In 2015, the entire industry was in the early stages of a pan-entertainment ecosystem. In the obvious period, high-quality IP began to burst out with greater economic added value; in 2016, the continuous improvement and implementation of the copyright system promoted market standardization and user payment rates increased; from 2017 to the future, the increasingly mature market will lead to increased growth. Gradually slowing down, we look forward to new innovations.

With the popularization of smartphones and the advent of the 5G era, the advantages of mobile platforms continue to surpass those of PCs, which will further promote the development of the current digital reading market on the mobile side. The competition on mobile platforms is still fierce. China Literature Group enjoys a large market share in the domestic digital reading market by virtue of its strong foundation in Shanda Literature and Tencent Literature, while Zhangyue Technology will also have obvious advantages in the mobile terminal in the future. We will further strengthen platform construction and seize the market.

According to the 2017 annual comprehensive analysis of China’s mobile reading market released by iResearch, the rapid development period began with the influx of capital and increased to the depth of product content layout and differentiation. Strategic war.

At present, the entire mobile reading market is in a mature stage of application, the business model is becoming more mature, and the revenue methods are more diversified.

Demand map

< p> User portrait:

Regional distribution:

Age distribution:

Gender distribution:

Spending power:

< p> It can be seen from the Baidu Index that the people who pay attention to Qidian Reading are mainly in the southeastern coastal areas in terms of location, with first-tier cities accounting for the largest proportion (41.68%). This may be related to the fast-paced life and high-density population of the city. Judging from the gender ratio of users, there are significantly more men than women among users who follow Qidian Reading, as high as 86.39%. This should be caused by the types of Qidian books. Currently, there are relatively many fantasy and cultivation genres in Qidian Books. Novels are obviously more popular among men.

From the perspective of consumption power, middle, medium and high consumers account for the majority, indicating that people with more financial resources will choose to spend more time on mobile reading.

However, as the number of female users gradually increases, Qidian.com pays more and more attention to the demands of female users, and directly divides book content into two major areas for boys and girls according to gender. On the one hand, this can position the works very well, so that both male and female users can better find the works they like. On the other hand, it can also help authors understand their readers. Knowing the gender of their readers can help authors better grasp the demands of users and write works that meet the tastes of users.

Qidian Reading has a complex business that can meet users’ various reading needs. I tried to analyze the user experience path of using Qidian APP from the two dimensions of consumption and production.

According to the purpose of users’ reading and consumption behavior, we can divide users into three categories: clear goal users, fuzzy goal users and non-goal users.

Clear target users: users lock in the work and complete reading

Fuzzy target users: users specify the category of the work but have no specific target. After searching and selecting, they complete reading

< p> No-target users: Users do not have any reading goals and are exploring resources

2.1 Functions

Basic reading functions: The default background color for reading makes people feel comfortable and non-glaring, and the fonts Good size. It is worth mentioning that the comments on the Qidian Reading app can comment on a single sentence (mentioned in this chapter). There is a bubble icon after each paragraph of text. Click to read the comments. This kind of comment method creates a better reading atmosphere compared to commenting on the entire chapter. It will make people feel like they are reading with like-minded people, and sometimes there will even be "complaining is more interesting than the book." feeling. It is similar to the video barrages on the bilibili website. Users can provide instant feedback. All in all, single-sentence comments are a very attractive feature;

Settings function: You can switch chapters on this page to review the exciting content you have seen before or skip chapters that you are not interested in. The eye-catching night mode is in the middle as a standard feature of reading apps. On this page, you can set the color of the paper and adjust the font size. This page can also adjust screen brightness and reading mode. Generally speaking, Qidian Reading Settings has comprehensive functions, including almost all functions that can be used for daily reading;

Sharing function: This function allows you to share your favorite articles to WeChat friends, Moments, QQ, and on Weibo. It is a valuable function for people who have the desire to share;

Comment function: The comment function can provide a good communication channel between authors and readers and between readers. Through this function, the author can see the readers' thoughts and listen to the readers' demands. The author can use the comment area to reflect on the content of his writing and whether the plot trend meets the readers' aesthetics. For readers, you can share your thoughts with readers who also like this book in the comment area, making reading more exciting;

Reward function: Rewards are the best incentive for readers to give authors. Authors can also set additional conditions to encourage readers to reward themselves. Authors who can be rewarded will not only gain more exposure but also receive rewards from the platform. In addition, readers’ reading tendencies can also be recorded through readers’ tipping behavior, providing a data source for intelligent recommendations.

2.2 Content

Different from the model used by many apps where the selection and library are divided into two tabs, the Qidian Reading app's selection and library are integrated into one tab. In this way, user operations are more concentrated and organized, allowing readers to complete the book search operation in one tab.

Content acquisition methods are divided into two forms: active acquisition and passive acquisition by users. Active acquisition of users is achieved through the two functions of classification and filtering, while passive acquisition of users is achieved through best-selling selections, editor-in-chief recommendations, etc.

Active acquisition: In the classification function, the software divides all books into four major categories: boys' channel and girls' channel, comics and audio books, and there are more detailed classifications for each major category.

For example, if you want to read a fantasy novel, you can select fantasy novels from the category and see all the fantasy novels in the library.

In the classification function, you can accurately select the books you need according to your own preferences. The filtering includes category, classification, writing progress and other four filtering conditions. Through this function, you can easily choose your favorite books. For example, you can use this function to select all free fantasy novels with a word count of more than 2 million in series. This function is very useful for some readers who already have a clear tendency to read, and can help them filter out a group of books that meet their requirements from a massive library of books;

Passive acquisition: This method is mainly through Qidian Reading Editor recommendations are implemented. These include best-selling selections, highly recommended by the editor, highly recommended new books, and completed classics. In addition, there is also private customization based on the user's personal reading habits. These passive acquisition methods do not have precise positioning of book types and are suitable for use when users do not have specific needs. The types of books obtained in this way are rich and most of them are popular and updated works with a relatively good reputation.

2.3 Recommendation through algorithms

With the in-depth application of big data in various fields, the strategy of recommending what users want to see through intelligent algorithms has been adopted by many content categories. , used by shopping platforms;

The intelligent recommendation of the Qidian Reading app is completed through the user's own choice of hobbies. When logging in for the first time, you can select your favorite tags to facilitate the system to recommend the content readers want to see. This preference can also be set and modified in the reading preferences in the account;

Another recommendation method is that book friends have also read it, which is on the book details page. This recommendation method is based on the reading habits of people who have read this book.

The design of the product is consistent with many content-based apps. The first layer consists of bookshelf, selection, discovery, and account. The layout is clear and the learning cost is low. Users who have been exposed to similar apps before can quickly start using it;

Arranging the bookshelf on the homepage is more convenient for readers. For a user, Except for the first time use and when you finish reading a book and start looking for a new book, at other times you will directly select the book you need from the bookshelf;

Almost all the functions needed to find books are integrated into the selection. This column is convenient for users to use. In the selection column, the sections that facilitate users to find books include: rankings, categories, filters, best-seller selections, editor-in-chief recommendations, free area, new book recommendations, completed classics, etc.;

Separate account As a large category, it is easier for users to understand their own situation. The reading preferences can also help the software more accurately recommend the works that users need.

4. Presentation layer

The overall page design is based on white, supplemented by red. This color design is the same as the icon color scheme of the Qidian Reading app. As a software that focuses on online literature, red appears to be more passionate and can stimulate interest in reading; it is in line with the product positioning of Qidian Reading.

The UI design is very simple and elegant. The thin black and red lines and the icons with a white background look very energetic and energetic, and match the temperament of the user group very well. Almost every button uses an icon plus text. On the basis of having text to ensure recognition, it can make people feel that the entire software is not so rigid, which is in line with the product positioning of entertainment-oriented apps.

5. Business-related

Paid reading: All works in Qidian can be read for free, but reading after a certain chapter will be charged. In Qidian Reading, the price of 1000 points is 10 yuan, while the price of subscribing to a chapter is about 15 points. As long as there are sufficient subscriptions, this will be an extremely huge source of income;

Online advertising: Online advertising is rare in the mobile app version of Qidian Reading. It mainly exists on the web version of the Qidian Chinese website, and most of the advertisements are game advertisements;

Adaptation of popular IP: Nowadays, there are more and more novels being adapted into TV series, movies, and games. Good copyrights can often be sold for a very high price, which is also an important aspect of Qidian’s source of income.

6. Competitive Product Analysis

6.1 Competitive Product Selection

According to Yifan Index,

Mobile Reading Industry Month in February 2019 In terms of the number of independent devices, Zhangyue and QQ Reading ranked in the top two, while Qidian Reading ranked only 26th. The number of active users is far less than the huge base of users of the other two apps. Therefore, we chose Zhangyue and QQ Reading to compare the three products.

This competitive product analysis mainly chooses to compare the performance of the three in terms of business model, user positioning, core functions, etc., and learn from the strengths of competing products to find the direction to optimize the product.

6.2 Summary of basic information

Establish a competitive product analysis matrix

The three products are basically aimed at the same target audience, including students, office workers and people with reading needs. Other young people. As can be seen from the above figure, at the business level, in addition to supporting general book reading, Zhangyue also provides the function of selling electronic reading equipment and other hardware products, with a wider scope.

6.3 Comparison of user attribute distribution

It is obvious from Yifan’s data that users of Qidian are very biased, with men accounting for 86.39%, while users of the other two products The genders are relatively even, with QQ reading being the most average, with women accounting for 53.05%. In terms of age group analysis, regional analysis, and consumer income level analysis, there is not much difference between the three products. It can be concluded that female readers also account for a considerable proportion of the mobile reading market. Qidian Reading should improve and optimize its products to increase its appeal to female readers.

6.4 User viscosity analysis The data on user viscosity of these three models is unexpected. Although the user bases of Zhangyue and QQ Reading are very large and the total usage time far exceeds that of Qidian.com, Qidian Reading, which has the smallest market share, has the highest user stickiness and user activity. Qidian's retention rate in the second month reached 52.22%, which means that Qidian's product is a healthy product and has very high competitiveness in the industry.

6.4 The single-sentence comment and chapter comment functions are a highlight

Before Qidian launched the chapter comment function, QQ Reading and Palm Reading both had one comment area for each book, resulting in the content of the comments Not precise. Some users have just seen the previous but pinned comments directly talk about the latest chapter. This not only fails to let newcomers understand the book, but also directly spoils it. Sometimes this may even cause users to give up on the book. However, the single-sentence comments and chapter comments launched by Qidian Reading are highlight features, which can effectively avoid the problem of being spoiled. (Subsequently, Zhangyue and QQ Reading also launched the chapter review function in early 2018)

In addition, single-sentence comments on reading software are similar to barrage comments on video software compared to video comments. relation. This kind of targeted comments have a good timeliness. This kind of comments that are specifically focused on one sentence can create a reading atmosphere and refine the comments. For example, when the author reads an interesting sentence, he can't help but click on the comment of this sentence to see what other readers have to say. This is a very attractive feature that can increase user stickiness and fully utilize the potential of UGC. .

On the other hand, this function also plays a certain role in combating piracy and maintaining copyright. Since piracy websites can only transfer the content of articles and cannot transfer the content of this chapter, and you want to read what this chapter says Readers must buy the original version. This invisibly maintains copyright, which is a double benefit for those who rely on subscriptions and copyright income to start reading.

6.5 User recognition of Qidian

"People flock together and things divide into groups". As the stickiness between users and products increases, the recognition will increase accordingly. Based on people, The demand attribute will inevitably drive communication, form the diffusion of products, promote new users, and form a benign closed loop of new → active → retention → dissemination → new; Qidian’s emphasis on copyright has attracted a group of outstanding authors, thereby attracting readers. Author benefits are good, and users can be encouraged to become authors, forming a virtuous cycle.

7. Summary

With the awakening of copyright awareness among domestic users, the value of content products has also been better protected. Whether it’s novels or videos, the number of pirated copies will definitely decrease. This is a healthy development trend. Only by fully protecting the legitimate rights and interests of authors and companies can we better encourage them to engage in creation.

As an early reading product, Qidian Reading has a good user base. As long as it is managed properly, it will definitely be able to occupy a place in the increasingly fierce novel market for a long time. I hope that Qidian Reading will get better and better, and that it will have a better user experience and a richer book inventory in the future.

This report only provides a broad analysis from an overall perspective, and there are deficiencies in thinking about details. We hope you will give us your advice. If conditions permit, we will conduct in-depth experience and analysis of this product from different dimensions.