top of page

Goodreads

Case Study

macbook-pro-mockup-scene-copy@2x (3).png

Background

Goodreads is the world's largest app for readers and book recommendations. Their mission is to help people find and share the books they love. For this hypothetical project, I was challenged to discover, research, and design a new feature for the existing Goodreads book inventory app. 

Challenge:

Design a new feature for the Goodreads app with emphasis on its social aspect and that also follows material guidelines of the existing Goodreads UI. 

Role:

UX Researcher and Designer

Tools:

Figma, Invision, Illustrator

Duration:

2 weeks, 80 hours

DESIGN PROCESS

research
synthesize
define
create & Ideate
prototype & test

01: Research

This is the stage where we try to understand our user on a deeply human level. 

Research Goals:

  1. Learn more about what users are looking for in the Goodreads app

  2. Understand user habits when it comes to reading and motivation

  3. Uncover frustrations about current user experience with book apps

  4. Discover how users feel about the social aspect of sharing and tracking books

market research

I discovered some key information through conducting market research:

  • There are more than 90 million registered users on Goodreads

  • Reading can make people happier and reduce stress

  • More people today are spending time on computers and watching television instead of reading

  • People enjoy the social aspect of reading

  • Setting unrealistic goals tends to kill motivation

  • Gamification applies motivation techniques to applications to make them more appealing

competitive analysis

Research Ramp-Up (10).png

USER INTERVIEWS

I wanted to discover about individual user experiences with the Goodreads app and also about their individual reading habits/patterns. I interviewed four users; one male and three female users ages, 23-50.  Although they all enjoy reading, some read more than others and half of the participants are Goodreads users. I asked a series of 20 questions for a duration of approximately 15 minutes.

key findings

User Needs/Goals

  • Enjoys social aspect of reading such as sharing books, recommendations, and seeing what others are reading

  • Reads for enjoyment, escapism, or a break from technology

  • Uses Goodreads for the social aspect mainly- recommendations, and tracking the books they have read. 

  • Easier to set small reading goals

  • Motivated to read and achieve set goals when the book is good or they are held accountable (like participating in a book club)

User Pain Points

  • Easy to get distracted from reading because of many factors including technology and life responsibilities

  • Hard to keep up with long-term reading goals (such as the yearly reading challenge on Goodreads)

  • Notifications can get annoying

  • Looking for a way to read with another person to make the experience more social

  • Hard to find time for a book club 

02: Synthesize

After doing the research I wanted to dig deeper and understand two different main users through creating User Personas and an Empathy Map. This allowed me to document behavioral patterns found in my research and helped serve as a quick reference throughout the project.

USER PERSONAs

DesignLab - Persona Development (10).png
DesignLab - Persona Development (9).png

Empathy map

DesignLab - Empathy Map (8).png

03: Define

Problem Statement

Readers want to be able to read with others and track their progress without it taking too much of their time so that they can stay accountable and be motivated to read more.

Solution

I decided to create a feature called "Read Together". This feature would allow users to:

  • virtually read a book together by creating a group of readers to read a selected book

  • track their own pages along with their friends to see everyone's progress

  • discuss the book they are reading in the feature's group chat 

site map and task flow

After defining the new feature, I created a site map and task flow to show how the feature will flow within the existing app

Site Map

Group 3 (3).png

Task Flow

Group 1 (5).png
Read Together
Update Pages
Confirm Changes
Homepage
Frame 25.png
Menu
Group 6.png

Update Pages

Create Group

Group 1 (6).png
Frame 18.png
Android - 1 (28).png
Start Reading
Select Book
Select Members
Confirm
Read Together
Android - 1 (24).png
Android - 1 (25).png
Android - 1 (27).png
Frame 14 (2).png

04: Create and Iterate

I created UI screens based on my wireframes. I was challenged with designing polished screens that would seamlessly fit within the Goodreads app so I made sure my UI was consistent with the existing app.

ui screens

Goodreads homepage with added feature

Android - 1 (31).png

Goodreads menu with added feature

Group 15.png

"Read Together" Feature

Android - 1 (32).png

Creating a Group Flow

Select Book 1

Android - 1 (4).png

Select Book 2

Android - 1 (34).png

Add Members 

Android - 1 (3).png

Confirm Group

Frame 14 (3).png

Confirm Group

Android - 1 (36).png

Updating Your Pages Flow

Read Together homepage

Group 14 (1).png

Update Pages 1

Android - 1 (37).png

Update Pages 2

Android - 1 (39).png

Progress Message

Android - 1 (40).png

Additional Screens

Chat

Frame 1 (55).png

Past Reads

Group 16.png

Leave Page

Frame 13 (4).png

Error

Frame 4 (12).png

05: Prototype and Test

prototype

Using Invision I created a prototype for my added feature. By linking different pages together, the user was able to navigate through the app and experience what it would be like to set up and use this new feature. I wanted to understand user pain points, hesitations, confusion, and opportunities to find out how to improve the feature. I conducted the testing on four individuals, all through screen-sharing. Half of the users were familiar with Goodreads and half were not. 

usability test findings

Summary of Findings:

  • 100% completion rate

  • 100% of users enjoyed the interactive aspect of the feature and would want to use the feature

  • 3/4 of users felt that it made more sense to add participants before selecting a book

  • 1/2 of the users wanted to be able to track more books at a time and join book groups that aren't necessarily their friends

  • 1/2 of the users were confused by the wording of the CTA button, "Start Reading" 

  • 1 user couldn't find the new feature in the menu right away

affinity map

After user-testing I created an affinity map to organize the feedback into actionable iterations and figure out my next steps.

Desktop - 1 (82).png

usability test iterations

Android - 1 (48).png

I switched the wording of "Start Reading" To "Get Started" so that it would be more clear that by pressing the CTA button one would start using the feature

I restructured the "creating a group" flow to start with adding members and then selecting a book

Android - 1 (49).png
Android - 1 (50).png
Frame 14 (4).png

next steps and reflections

The next steps in this project would be testing the screens again to continue improving the design. Further steps would be creating more screens and expanding the MVP to include book-club-like features. 

​

During this project I learned a lot about working on a product that fit into a greater framework. It was a challenge to strike that perfect balance between cohesiveness and innovation. This is such an important balance to keep in mind in the UX field - the need to tackle real user challenges while adhering to the branding of an existing brand. 

​

As this was a fictitious project, I was allowed to be more flexible and imaginative with problem-solving and feature ideas.

AS (1).png
bottom of page