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Goodreads is the world's largest online book community allowing users to rate, review, and keep track of their reading. Many users are disgruntled by the app's lack of social features and poor book recommendations. These issues coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic have readers seeking a sense of community more than ever. In this project, I'm challenged with designing a social feature that might benefit Goodreads mobile app users.
Design a new feature for the existing Goodreads mobile app
Utilize the existing Goodreads branding for seamless integration
Research was conducted to uncover the wants, needs, motivations, and frustrations of users. The observations and insights will served as the foundation for future design decisions. I focused my efforts on understanding users' opinions about existing book cataloguing apps. Before diving into the research I developed a research plan outlining the goals, assumptions, and methodologies used.
Understand how people find and keep track of books to read
Uncover issues or frustrations people face when using the Goodreads app
Identify what social component would delight users of the app
Existing branding and overall design of the Goodreads mobile app will be utilized
Type of added feature will not be determined until research is concluded
All images and media used relating to the added feature is approved
Secondary research to learn about existing trends
Competitive analysis to research direct and indirect competitors
Online survey to explore user wants, needs, motivations, and frustrations
Market research helped me get a sense of what I already know and don't know, who the audiences might be, and currents trends. Since my goal was to design a new feature for the existing Goodreads mobile app, I decided to focus my secondary research on Goodreads and its competitors.
Goodreads is the world's largest online book community with over 125 million users that allows users to rate, review, and keep track of books. Users create an account for free via the website or mobile app. No premium version exists - all users have access to the same features. The company was launched as a start-up in 2007 and was later acquired by Amazon in 2013. Goodreads has a very limited number of direct competitors.
Book tracking helps users remember whether they read a book before and if they like a specific author.
Users decide what to read next based on ratings by their friends, favorite book reviewers, and machine learning recommender engines.
Reading reviews can help users come to their own conclusions before choosing a book, or deciding whether they should keep reading.
User interface feels old and outdated - similar to the early internet era!
Recommendations aren’t nuanced and don’t take into consideration the reader’s mood.
Cyberbullying and phony reviews are common; user feedback has not been implemented since Amazon takeover.
After reading about the history and services Goodreads provides, I researched a few existing websites and apps focused on books and reading. Many of the existing organizations allow users to track books and connect with others, but lack the large following that Goodreads has. When it comes to mobile apps focus on book cataloguing and reading, users value simple and modern UI, a community feel, nuanced book recommendations, and comment moderation. The competitor feature matrix shows how Goodreads compares to its competitors.
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I conducted a survey to gain an even greater understanding of the wants, needs, motivations, and frustrations of people that use apps to track books.
People generally feel comfortable using a variety of devices, and apps/programs related to reading, such as Libby, Sribd, Notion, social media apps, Audible and more!
Many readers struggle to find satisfying books and often reach out to people they know for suggestions. Which book to start reading may depend on the reader’s mood, time available and general interests.
Users enjoy seeing what their friends are reading and would be interested in the development of social aspects in the app. Having the ability to share bookshelves or modify lists is appealing to users.
Through secondary research, competitive analysis, and the survey, I was able to develop an understanding of the potential users and identify which feature may be useful. I chose to develop two visualization tools to help me build empathy for users: a persona and an empathy map.
The results of secondary research, competitive analysis and the survey highlighted specific patterns in the book tracking space leading me to develop the persona of Becca. Readers look to their friends and trusted reviewers when choosing books in order to save time and energy. Many readers feel the social aspect of Goodreads is not developed enough for them to make connections with other users.
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I created an empathy map to show Becca’s thoughts, feelings, and actions when searching for books and interacting with the Goodreads app. When Becca can find meaningful book recommendations, talk to friends about what she’s reading, and interact with a simple UI design she is the most content.
I created a diagram of the Goodreads mobile app to show how the user would reach different screens of the app. The user can access the main navigation using icons on the bottom of the screen. There is a search bar at the top of most app screens to search the Goodreads database for books, authors, ISBN numbers, and genres. The user’s newsfeed provides important updates from friends and the Goodreads community. On the book profile screens, users are able to find important information related to that book.
The new feature must be integrated into the existing design and branding - a redesign of the app is not an option at this time. When sketching initial concepts for new or modified screens I payed special attention to existing design patterns, component design, and typography/color styles. I prioritized users’ desires for better book recommendations and social features. The result was a new feature called Moodreads, a book recommendation quiz to help readers find books based on their current mood and connect with like-minded readers.
Becca uses the Goodreads app on her iPhone to keep track of books. Lately, she’s been struggling to find books that suit her mood. She scrolls through her newsfeed to see what her friends are reading. A banner appears in her newsfeed inviting her to take a short quiz in exchange for recommendations. She starts the quiz and answers a few questions. To her surprise the app turns out intriguing suggestions along with a list of like-minded members to connect with!
My initial sketches were transformed into high-fidelity wireframes, keeping in mind the user flows and existing Goodreads design patterns.
A high-fidelity prototype for usability testing was developed in Figma using the mobile app designs. Users completed the main flow - completing the Moodreads quiz, using Maze.
Test whether the new screens are aligned with the Goodreads existing brand.
Test how easily the user can navigate between different areas of the mobile app when performing the tasks.
Observe whether participants exhibit hesitation, confusion, or difficulty with a task and whether the participant makes errors while performing a task.
Test whether the user is able to successfully complete the required tasks.
Remote unmoderated user testing with Maze
You scroll through your Goodreads newsfeed and discover the new mobile app feature called Moodreads, a book recommendation quiz.
You start the quiz and decide you're in the mood for a book that's a bit angsty, dark, and mysterious. A wilderness setting also sounds fun since you just went backpacking. After selecting your answers, you submit the quiz.
You review your quiz results and add the book Rock Paper Scissors to your ‘Want to Read’ shelf.
To your surprise the Moodreads quiz provided several new book suggestions along with a list of like-minded members to connect with! You message Caitlin Curtis and then navigate to your Moodreads results again.
I synthesized the usability testing data by analyzing each participant's experience with the Maze missions. For each mission, I noted the number of mis-clicks, bounce rate, and time spent on each screen. In addition to completing the tasks, participants were asked about their overall experience with the mobile app, and whether they noticed anything missing or confusing. Below are a few usability test participant summaries.
I organized feedback received from the Maze usability tests and translated it into actionable items for potential design iterations. Changes were made based on strong patterns surfaced during usability testing. Multiple users struggled with the same tasks.
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Make the feature stand out on the homepage by adding more purple, or 'Moodreads' text to the image.
Add a back button on the quiz question screens to allow users to change their answers after initial selection.
Use genres instead of specific titles as answers for questions about music and movies to make the quiz more usable for all people.
Allow for more than one answer selection per question.
Edit the question and answer text to be less wordy and more concise.
Use numbers instead of the Moodreads icon on the green answer selection buttons.
On the main "Take Quiz" screen, add text to remind the user where they can find the Moodreads section within the app.
Create an additional screen dedicated to the Moodreads mood results only (no books listed).
On the new results screen, add text to remind the user where they can find the Moodreads section within the app.
On the new results screen, add a button to re-take the quiz in case the user's results weren't satisfactory.
On the current results screen, add a drop down arrow to the mood to hide books.
Add past moods to the user's current results screen to show all quiz results.
Add text on the book profile screen or user profile screen to indicate how the user and another member are compatible.
Add text next to users listed in the compatible members list to indicate how the users are compatible with each other.
Change wording of 'Compatible Members' to sound less like a dating app.
Priority feedback from usability testing was implemented to produce revised mobile app designs. The main areas I addressed related to the location of the brainstorming screen’s save button, language used on some of the screens, configuration of the ingredient modules, providing additional instructions on each screen, and adding images.
Throughout my research, I noticed how disgruntled users were about the Goodreads app. The new Moodreads feature addresses the most common concerns of app users - poor book recommendations and a lack of useful social features. With the Moodreads quiz, app users are matched with satisfying books and like-minded reading friends.
Designing a new feature for an existing product was a challenging experience. The process forced me to pay close attention to the design patterns of an existing brand, exercise self-restraint, and learn how to use a new tool.
Before starting the new feature design I studied the existing branding and task flows within the app. This research allowed me to design a feature that flowed seamlessly into the app. Observing the fine details of the app caused me to notice inconsistencies with design patterns. Since an app redesign wasn't an option, I had to embrace the imperfections and restrain myself from creating an improved design. Finally, I challenged myself to use Maze for unmoderated user testing. Feedback from user testing participants reminded me to be specific but concise in my instructions.
