The Book-Hub app is a mobile app which aims to provide readers with a platform to access any book of their choice. Book-Hub differs from other reading apps by its ability to provide users with the option to request fro books that are unavailable, and respond to their requests within a stipulated timeframe, thus ensuring an enjoyable reading experience for users. Its services range from providing users with a wide range of book genres to giving swift responses to book requests.
Some of the challenges that most users encounter include:
• Complex user interface that hinders navigation.
• Limited catalog selection by most book apps which restrict user’s choices.
• Inability of users to personalize their book app have it recommend books that are tailored to their individual reading preferences.
• Lack of accessibility features like text to speech options and adjustable font sizes.
• Complex book request process which discourages users from making requests in the first place.
By designing this mobile app, I hope to:
• Streamline the onboarding experience in a manner that caters to varying user preferences and encourages personalization.
• Create a recommendation system that maps user’s regular reading picks.
• Primarily address the issue of accessing books that are currently unavailable on the platform by providing a book request feature.
• Provide users with the option to listen to an audio rendering of their books as opposed to just reading.
• Give the users the freedom to customize the voice used in the Text-to-speech feature.
• I identified my target audience (readers who were familiar with various book apps and active users of these apps).
• I conducted both qualitative and quantitative interview.
• I conducted a survey from the results.
How often do you use any book app?
Does your preferred book app meet all your needs?
Have you ever needed to use a request feature when using a book app before?
Have you used any book app that has this request feature available?
Key Insights Obtained
• Most users have had a need for the request feature.
• They also requested that audio rendering be made available for all books.
• There is room for improvement even amongst most user preferred book apps.
To solve this myself, I started by carrying out competitive and comparative analysis of the products currently in the market. I asked question such as; • What product is leading in the general market and why? • What features make a book app preferred to another? • How does the request feature make a book app more efficient for a user? • Will the absence of a request feature in a book app be a major deciding factor in choosing one book app over another?
My aim was to identify and understand the successful patterns in existing products and opportunistic gaps. I carried out
this analysis on 7 products and filtered them down to 3 major competitors (A, B and C). I analyzed their strengths and
weaknesses based on: User interface navigation, onboarding experience, range of genres available, homepage, accessibility features.
I started by;
Identifying Competitors
Product Evaluation
• I downloaded and used the competitors app and I took note of the design themes and elements.
• I tested the usability of the apps and assessed their navigation.
• I assessed the apps features and recommendation system for any opportunity gap or unique selling point.
Monetization System
• I evaluated the competitors monetization platform, were all free? Were there in-app purchase and premium features?
Recommendation System
• I analyzed the accuracy of the competitors app recommendation system.
• I analyzed how the competitors algorithm made suggestions based on the users preference and behaviors.
After carrying out my research and having a sense of what the users actually want,
I started Ideating on ways to introduce my solution (feature) into an existing market.
I implemented strategies such as;
• Solving an already existing problem that book app users often complain about
• Incorporated features that are relevant and are favored by book app user
• Designed the book app request feature to be seamless and easy to use
• Made the audio feature accessible to all users as well as other accessibility checks
• Gave users the freedom to select their preferred text to speech voice
Objective
The primary objective of the usability study is to evaluate
the user interface and features of the book hub app and ensure users
find it easy to use and have a satisfying user experience.
Participant criteria
• The participants were from the age group of 18yrs-32yrs, mixed genders,
and backgrounds (students and working class)
• They had prior experience with using book apps, are frequent users and
also tech proficient
Method used
Moderated remote usability study
Usability measures
1. Efficiency and ease of use of the app
Question asked:
• Did you encounter any issue carrying out your task?
• How easy was it for you to complete a specific task?
2. Learnability and Navigation
Question asked:
• How easy was it for you to navigate around the app?
• What did you think about the features and the way the information was presented?
3. Time on task
Question asked:
• How fast where you able to complete your task?
• Did you find any step or feature unnecessary or unhelpful?
4. Visual design
Questions asked:
• Did you find the app visually appealing?
• On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate it visual appeal compared with other apps?
• Did it aesthetic drive away from the purpose of the app? Or did it enhance it?
5. User’s satisfaction
Question asked:
• What is your overall thought of the concept?
• How would you describe your overall experience with the product?
• Users found the app to be user friendly and straight forward
• Some users found the book request modal buttons to be too small and slightly difficult to use
• Users were satisfied with the book request process
• Users found the location of the audio button in the reading preferences menu to be hidden
• Users complained about an absence of sufficient information within the chapter’s navigation menu
Interactive Onboarding
This interactive onboarding process will collect information's
about your specific book preferences and recommend them
on your home page. This will make available to you to a wide
variety of books that interest you.
Sign In or Sign Up
The sign in and sign up page was designed in a simple and familiar
way to make the process easy.
Search and Discover Your Desired Book
The home page displays similar books based on your preferences
selected earlier. The search page also displays the various categories,
this makes your search process more efficient by guiding you towards the
right category.
Make Request for Book
You can access this option either as a prompt after a failed search or on the
‘my request’ page. The request process is use-friendly, making it easy for anyone
to navigate and use.
Notification of Availability
Once the book is available you’ll receive a notification informing you that your
requested book has been made available. The book details including payment option
can then be accessed.
Payment Information
The payment process is seamless and user-friendly, it allows you to select more
or remove items, choose your preferred payment method and receive a confirmation
message for a successful transaction
Access Your Purchased Book
Once purchased, the book automatically moves to the ‘purchased’ folder in your library,
thus making it easy for you to access. The book enables both read and audio features and
other personal specification options.
• Navigation: I ensured that all CTA and buttons were large enough and had clear contrast with the apps background.
• Text Accessibility: I ensured the legibility of the text, while also ensuring proper contrast, adjustable text sizes and providing the option for users to change the background contrast.
• Offline Access: I ensured that users can have access to their downloaded or purchased books without internet connection.