Paper textbooks can deliver tablet-like responsiveness through thoughtfully engineered interactive elements.
When a child's fingers manipulate transparent films and magnets across a mathematics textbook, the boundary between physical and digital experiences dissolves entirely. Jaehun Kim and the Visang team created I Really Like Math, an interactive textbook that earned a Golden A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design after fifteen months of user experience research. Students insert films to reveal hidden concepts, attach magnets to transform diagrams, and personalize covers through direct manipulation. The textbook uses a modular binding system allowing curriculum reconfiguration, with every interactive element serving a pedagogical purpose that channels engagement toward genuine mathematical understanding. The design demonstrates that physical products can honor digital expectations while preserving the focused, distraction-free qualities print uniquely offers.
Publishing enterprises and content brands developing physical products for digitally fluent audiences face a fascinating strategic question: how does a non-glowing, non-pinging artifact compete for attention? The answer from the I Really Like Math project points toward research-driven interaction design. Art Director Sanghyun An led designers Minyoung Lee, Seonmi Seo, and Jaehun Kim through iterative testing that validated which interactive elements genuinely supported learning outcomes. Brand managers evaluating similar investments can study how systematic visual communication and purposeful tactility create premium differentiation. The modular binding system, the manipulable cover, and the infographic-driven page layouts all translate user insight into tangible product features. For enterprises in educational publishing, product documentation, or any printed materials where engagement determines effectiveness, the methodology offers a template for creating physical experiences that feel contemporary and responsive.
Physical products designed with genuine user insight create meaningful differentiation that digital experiences cannot easily replicate. I Really Like Math proves that the tactile and the responsive can coexist when research methodology meets creative excellence. What opportunities exist within your product portfolio to bring interactive thinking to materials your audiences touch every day?
