Alura Books
Who has never purchased a book, whether digital or physical, that they really wanted and, in the end, ended up leaving it halfway through? Or had so many books in line that they ended up forgetting about the recent purchase or setting the book aside?"
Many readers start a new book but don't follow through, ending up with several unfinished books. Alura Books was created to solve the pain of these user readers.
Alura Books is an app solution which aims to help readers keep their reading by motivating the users
CSD Matrix
Based on user research and market analysis, I have devised the CSD Matrix with some points to be considered for resolving the issue of consistency and completion of book reading.
One of the questions I raised was whether people would use audiobooks, and after a second survey, I found that the majority of users prefer traditional reading. They believe that with traditional reading, they improve their reading skills and are concerned that they might get distracted with podcasts, among other related reasons.
Regarding book clubs and social networks for reading, a significant portion of the participants had never heard of them. However, some users utilize a specific social network for readers where they can engage in conversations about books with other users. They also participate in similar discussions in specific groups on Facebook.
Research
Analyzing the first provided survey, I identified that 50.9% of users do not use any specific reader application, while 49.1% of readers use reminders for reading and read books in PDF format, e-readers, or Skoob, as shown below:
In the second survey conducted to assess other points of interest, I asked if people had heard of social networks for readers, and many of them mentioned Skoob (previously mentioned) and Goodreads.
Regarding the type of book, physical, digital, or both, 44% of readers prefer physical books.
In the second survey, there was not a significant difference in the types of books acquired. When asked about the reasons for choosing physical or digital books, users provided the following information:
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Convenience.
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Enjoy having the physical book/collecting them.
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Limited space at home.
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If the book contains images, they prefer the physical version. If there are no images and the e-book is cheaper, they prefer the digital version.
The majority of abandoned books are due to reasons such as not finding time to read (41.7%), lack of interest in the content (36.9%), and lack of time (33.3%).
In the second survey, I inquired if users would use audiobooks, and 56.7% responded negatively.
Persona and User Stories
Using the information from the first and second surveys, I was able to analyze the most common patterns of needs and goals, literary genre preferences, behaviors, and difficulties. Based on this, I created the persona as follows: During the process of developing the proto-persona, I identified difficulties that the interviewed readers face when it comes to finishing their books, which are:
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Lack of discipline/reading routine
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Lack of interest in the content
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Lack of time
The mentioned challenges were considered during the creation of the application, including the "Discussion Group" feature. This feature allows readers to seek other opinions in the groups, even if they feel uninterested in the book's content, helping to reignite their interest and motivate them to read the book completely. Another feature, the "Reminder," assists the reader in scheduling a reading routine with flexibility, allowing them to create a new reminder whenever needed.
Based on this, I created the following user stories:
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User Story - Reading App:
As a user, I want to navigate the reading app and explore how I can improve my reading habits.
User Story - Reminder: As a user, I want the app to remind me to resume reading and help me establish a reading routine.
User Story - Group: As a user, I want to have a "place" where I can discuss books of my interest, receive support, and continue reading my books until I finish them.
Ideation
I sketched low-fidelity wireframes to visualize and conceptualize the app's ideas throughout the entire process.
Benchmark
In order to better understand existing reading incentive applications, I analyzed the functionalities of the apps Ubook, Cabeceira, and Skoob. After analyzing and comparing the three apps, I noticed that Skoob has various features for managing books, which, in my opinion, might confuse users and make them feel lost during use. Cabeceira has a clean and user-friendly visual design, ensuring that the user doesn't feel lost during use. Ubook has a visual layout similar to Spotify and Youtube, making it easy to use due to its familiarity. After completing the analysis, I decided to follow a simpler visual design with familiar elements for the user.
Style Guide
I developed the style guide for Alura Livros, defining colors, grid, and typography.
I tried to maintain a color palette close to the main color of the Alura brand, which is dark blue, and created some variations while sticking to the blue theme. I also added variations of blue and included neutral, error, and success colors, along with different shades of black and white.
For the grid, I used the dimensions of the Material Design to ensure the application's consistency and responsiveness.
I used the Roboto font family in regular, medium, and bold weights. I chose this font because it is a Google font developed for Android.
App Screens
Prototype
So you can see the Alura Books in live here
Final Remarks
As my first UX/UI project, I was able to put a lot of learning into practice and gained valuable experience. As with everything in life, theory is always easier than practice. I learned that I need to handle deadlines better and be prepared for changes in strategy and approach. It was quite different from what I expected, and in truth, I'm not even sure what I expected, but it was a significant and rewarding growth experience to go through the entire journey from UX to UI.
Next Steps
As the next steps, I will conduct usability testing with real users to identify points for improvement for future versions of the Alura Livros app. Additionally, I will design the dark mode version.
Thank you for your time!
Let's collaborate and create something great together!