After learning various methodologies used in the UX design process over five semesters, I wanted to use as many as possible for my diploma project in the 6th semester. That's why I decided to design a mobile app from scratch, from ideation and creating a design system to hi-fi design.
See final productSchool
SFGZ, HF Interaction Design
Team
Solo project
Year
2023-2024, Diploma Project in 6th Semester
Mentor
Charlotte Axelsson
What I did
User Interviews, Benchmark Analysis, UX Architecture, Prototyping, Visual Design, Testing
There are a variety of book apps that you can use to track your reading habits. I examined Goodreads, StoryGraph and READO in more detail.
I was inspired by other apps which assist you to build a habit, like running and meditation apps. To examine how apps try to motivate users, I looked at language learning apps like Duolingo.
There is still potential for an app to help develop reading habits. My goal is to design an application in which users can easily organize their book collection without being too distracted from the actual reading experience.
In order to get to know the needs and reading habits of potential users, I asked five people about their reading habits. I prepared a set of questions and took notes during the interview. I conducted the interviews in person. This gave me the opportunity to ask questions and to understand the needs and problems of potential users.
I took the following quotes with me into the process:
I read a lot and keep a list of books I read in a note on my smartphone. Also, I keep a wishlist of books I plan to read.
I would actually like to read more but sometimes it just takes a lot of effort to get started or to find the next interesting book.
It's hard for me to get back into the story when I'm reading multiple books at the same time or when I haven't read anything for a while.
When defining the target audience, it quickly became clear to me that I wanted to be as specific as possible. I decided to focus on readers of analogue books, because people who read on an e-reader already have a digital library and sometimes also statistics about their reading behavior.
While creating the sitemap, the overall structure of the app emerged, which also made it clear which pages and functions needed to be created.
I tested the hi-fi prototype with two test subjects. To do this, I designed several tasks which the test subjects then solved under my observation. As they navigated through the app, they talked about their expectations, which was very informative. Here you can see a few improvements I made after the testing.
Using a friendly color palette and an easy-to-read font, the individual components of my design system were created step by step.
It's a personality trait of mine to have the urge to structure and measure things like my reading and I'm aware that it's a very niche app if brought to the market.
I realized this in the beginning of my research phase when it was hard to find people who feel the same and are looking for a product like this. Yet, it wasn't my focus to build a marketable product and make a working business plan, but to focus on the design and user experience.
In the end, I am happy with the design, especially with the parts I was able to optimize after testing the first prototype.
During the onboarding process, the core functions – library, statistics, goals, and friends – are presented briefly. During the registration process, the user enters e-mail address and password and also defines personal reading goals.
The dashboard shows the books you have started but not yet finished reading. Books can be easily added using the ISBN Scanner. If you read a book on an e-reader, it can be searched for and added to the app's database.
In the library, reading history can be viewed clearly and chronologically. The books can be displayed in sorted lists. It is also possible to search for a specific book from the library's entire holdings.
The statistics tab gives users the opportunity to analyze their reading habits. This feature provides an insightful view of reading activity, which can be broken down by different time periods such as day, week, month and year. This is intended to encourage users to read regularly.
The individually defined reading goals are displayed in the profile area and can also be adjusted here as required. In addition, this area offers the option of adding friends, whose activities will then be visible in the feed on the home page.
