GOODREADS REDESIGN
GOODREADS REDESIGN
✳ IN THIS PROJECT I WAS TASKED TO
transform the immersive, reader-centric experience of Goodreads
The goal of this project was to redesign the functionality and overall look of an existing mobile application
TEAM
Solo Project
TIMELINE
4 weeks
SOFTWARE
Figma
ROLE
UXR, UX Design
OVERVIEW
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
After assessing my pain points, I looked into what the competitors of Goodreads were hitting correctly with their users. These findings helped me realize how to curate the application for the users. It dug deeper into understanding what people in the reader community were looking for in an application and how different applications were able to provide that.
PAIN POINTS
TASK FLOW
Goodreads is a social platform for book readers that provides users with a comprehensive catalog of books across various genres allowing users to curate virtual bookshelves, organize their reading lists, and rate, review, and discuss books with the community.
However, many readers have been unsatisfied with what the Goodreads app has to offer due to its frequent bugs and in-app issues. I decided to take on this project and redesign their mobile application, trying to keep reader and reviewer concerns in mind.
why redesign?
Much of the content that’s featured on the homepage is repeated on the Discover page.
Reviews are not in an accessible location for the user, forcing them to scroll through the whole page to find them.
Seemingly essential pages that should have been featured on the homepage were hidden away, making it hard for new users to locate them.
The muted beige and brown color palette that users found had an unappealing, outdated look and feel. The color palette lacks the vibrancy and dynamism expected from a platform focused on reading and learning.
Many of the call-to-action buttons do not follow a consistent design (different colors/shapes/font/size).
key takeaways
With all these issues in mind, I wanted to focus on the problems that users were the most vocal about in their reviews of the application. They mainly spoke up about the issues of updating reading progress and creating book reviews .
I came to realize with issues I wanted to prioritize in my final solution: reading progress & book reviews.
I produced a new and improved task flow for the users, in order to correctly map out the users’ journey through the application.
SKETCHES
With these insights in mind, I worked on low-fidelity wireframes to plan the layouts.
Based on my research, I wanted to focus on different flows that would be most utilized by users: finding books, recording the progress of books, and reviewing books
FINAL SCREENS
TAKEAWAYS
This project has been a valuable lesson in figuring out the balance between personal perspective and user-centric design. Recognizing the challenge of keeping an open mind, I've come to appreciate the necessity of designing for users whose needs and preferences may differ from my own. Throughout this process, I felt my primary focus shift from a purely design-oriented approach to a broader perspective, emphasizing the app's impact on users' ability to handle tasks intuitively and efficiently.
✳ It's a reminder that successful design goes beyond aesthetics, ultimately aiming to enhance the functionality and user experience for a diverse audience