Goals.

Primary and Secondary Research methods were used to learn what the user goals, needs, motivations, and frustrations include. The following goals were created to accomplish this:

• Gain an understanding of how users use reading apps.

• Discover how people decide what to read.

• Figure out the true target audience.

• Identify and understand good and bad design choices of direct and indirect competition.

• Discover and analyze user behaviors while speaking about reading.

• Determine needs, motivations, and pain points users have.

Market Research.

Market Research was conducted to collect qualitative data from various sources, statistical data from various sources about reading and reading apps. This helped begin to develop a better understanding of what the user expects and wants out of a product. After completion, 3 provisional personas were created to help identify potential interview participants. The following facts were uncovered during my market research:

• 84% of 18-29 year olds have read a book within the past year.

• 74% of 30-49 year olds have read a book within the past year.

• 80% of consumers read novels on a regular basis.

• 88% of U.S. consumers say they love print books.

• 73% of readers want to get alerts when authors they know and like launch a new title.

• 26% of readers who have read a book within the last year stated what they enjoyed most was learning, gaining knowledge, and discovering information. 

• 15% of readers who have read a book within the last year cited the pleasures of escaping reality, becoming immersed in another world, and the enjoyment they got from using their imaginations.

• 77% of readers buy books after getting recommendations from family/friends.

• 76% of readers buy books after getting recommendations from Authors they like.

• 15% of readers buy books after getting recommendations from people they follow on social media.

• 5% of readers buy books after getting recommendations from celebrities

1-on-1 Interviews.

Interviews were conducted to weed out any assumptions and answer any hypotheses created. General questions about reading and using reading apps helped create a good baseline of what users expect when using reading apps and will create a better understanding of what users like and dislike about reading apps. Also, this is a good method to gain some empathy with the user by being one on one and learning more about them. To see the full interview transcripts please click here.

Empathy Map.

Following the 1-1 Interviews, I created an empathy map by referring to the transcripts and notes taken during the interviews. The main points I was able to pull from the maps were:

• Users research the book topic further after reading.

• Users enjoy seeing friends enjoy books they suggested.

• Users prefer paperback books.

POV Statements & HMW Questions.

Using the insight and needs from the empathy map, POV statements were developed so I could further empathize with users, and HMW questions to ignite rapid ideation of design solutions.

Brainstorming.

Using the HMW questions, I conducted an independent brainstorming session. Through rapid ideation I generated design solutions for each user need.

Site Map.

This sitemap reflects the organizational structure related to the research and feature roadmap. This is not reflective of every element within the app, but a basic skeleton of the app’s structure and interactions.

Product Requirements.

After completing the Sitemap, a fluid document was created outlining the different UI Requirements. This document will serve as a checklist for the various required pages, features, and elements. This document will also play a key role in team alignment to help ensure that no elements are forgotten about.

Task Flow.

Based off of the tasks created in the UI Requirements document and the IA created in the Site Map, a Task Flow was created to show the different actions and pages involved to complete the tasks. Creating this task flow helped define the main pages and hierarchy of actions which will be necessary in the site design.

Low Fidelity Wireframes.

These quick, annotated wireframe sketches were used to quickly map and help visualize how elements and features will take shape. Also, this helped develop hierarchy and laid a base for the Information Architecture.

Usability Tests.

Along with the prototype, a usability test plan was created based on the task flow. The test plan was developed to evaluate how users interact with the app, how they navigate the app, and to find pain points, frustrations, failures, and positive points.

During the usability tests, detailed notes were taken which highlight the way users navigated the app and how they interacted with the features. Also, quotes were notated detailing pain points, questions, and positive remarks about the features. These results were critical in revising the different areas of the app where users experienced difficulties.

Affinity Map.

Referring to the notes taken from the usability tests, there were many helpful insights, frustrations, and positive remarks to help create an affinity map. The insights and notes were grouped together by similarities and then re-grouped by instances shared by users. Some commonalities that were noted included:

• Users felt the recommend feature should be outside of contextual menu.

• Research was well liked but could use better organization.

• Some processes could be slightly confusing.

To see the full affinity map process, please click here

Priority Revisions.

Priority Revisions.

After reviewing the insights and results from the user tests, the following revisions were determined to be most important:

• Move relevant features out of contextual menu to Book Details Screen.

• Create screen similar to search results for research to include filter/sort option.

• Create onboarding screens displaying instructions of how to utilize various features.

Mood Board.

Before putting pen to paper, a mood board was created on Pinterest to help narrow down colors, text, and create a general direction to create Bhuku’s brand. Doing this helped narrow down ideas for a direction that aligned with Bhuku’s branding requirements.

Before creating a mood board, six descriptive brand attributes were created:

• Natural

• Passionate

• Modern

• Reliable

• Collaborative

• Cultural

Branding.

After the mood board was created, I began sketching multiple thumbnails, created hand drawn comps, and finally created a vector logo that I felt was in line with the brand attributes. Following the creation of the logo, a Style Tile was created to help develop the use of colors, images, text, site elements, and logo usage.

High Fidelity Wireframes.

While referring to the layout of the mid fidelity wireframes, high fidelity wireframes were created. These wireframes include the fresh branding created previously, and also include more detail than the mid fidelity wireframes. These high fidelity wireframes utilize clear links/buttons, images, cards, and use of grid, color, and typography.

High-Fidelity Prototype.

To facilitate any further user testing and to gain a better understanding of how the app will look and behave in its final form, a high fidelity, interactive prototype was created with InVision. The prototype contains 32 screens with dedicated hotspots allowing the users to complete various tasks.