good
reads
Buddy Reading
Project Type:
Feature Add
Role:
Sole UX/UI Designer
Duration:
2 Weeks
Project Overview
Background
As the largest literary social media network, Goodreads is a gathering place for readers. The platform allows users to search books, track books they’ve read, connect with friends, and create “shelves” for books they’d like to read. It is one of the only online communities for people who like to read, with over 150 million registered users in 2024.
Goodreads has seen few improvements since it was established in 2007, leaving users frustrated and switching to competitors. With such an extensive network of users, there are opportunities to improve how the platform is used socially.
Project Goal
Add a social feature that helps users connect so that we can alleviate current user frustrations, address unmet needs, retain users, and fulfill the Goodreads’ promise of being a haven for readers.
Discover
Research Summary
I conducted research in order to learn about the social needs of Goodreads users. I wanted to understand where there were gaps in how readers connect so that the online social experience might be enhanced through a feature.
Who
(Target Users)
Readers
Goodreads users
People in book clubs
Users on competitor platforms
What
(Objectives)
What do readers use Goodreads for?
How do users connect with other readers?
What are the pain points of connecting?
How else would readers like to socialize?
How
(Methods)
Discussion Forum
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews
Competitive Analysis
While Goodreads is the market leader and excels at searching for books, tracking books read, and finding new books to read, competitors offer far more social features. Competitor strengths include better formats for discussion and interaction with friends. Bookclubs and Storygraph boost engagement through features like buddy reads and read-alongs.
User Interviews
I interviewed 5 participants who were all readers that sought out some form of connection or engagement over what they read, whether it was through book clubs, social media, or commenting on Goodreads. There are both individual social needs as well as book club needs that are not being met such as platforms for discussion, book selection, and general communication.
Define
User Personas
I decided to create 2 separate user personas given that the social needs of readers can be widespread. At a high level, the basic social need of wanting to connect is the same across the board. However, there are nuances in HOW they want to connect and in what formats. Some readers are extroverts and some are introverts, but both still want to interact. The feature designed needs to address the goals of both the more passive “organizer” and the more outgoing “commenter”.
User Flows
The user flows follow the related actions of creating a shared shelf, adding books to the shelf, and starting a buddy read. The flows were created with the current app setup in mind so as to minimize switching between tabs or adding unnecessary content.
Design
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Buddy Reading
Start a buddy read from my books and invite friends to read alongside. View friend activity and add comments in buddy read feed.
Buddy Shelves / Shared Shelves
Create a new shelf or shared shelf. Add books and view shelves by category. Invite friends to collaborate and add books.
High Fidelity Mockups
Usability Testing
Test Goals
1. Observe if the user could locate the added features, create and share a shelf, and start a buddy read.
2. Evaluate if the added features are well integrated
3. Evaluate if features were located in appropriate locations and accessible
4. Resolve if added features solve initial user goals
5. Receive feedback on how features would be utilized
Test Plan
I conducted usability testing with 5 participants. I had participants complete 3 main tasks based on the user flows created for each aspect of the feature concepts.
Task 1. Participants imagined they just started a new book club and created a shared shelf for club.
Task 2: Add books to the shared shelf created in part 1.
Task 3: Start a buddy read with the book added in part 2.
Test Results
Majority of participants found the new features easy to locate, the tasks quick, easy, and intuitive to perform, and the location of the new features well integrated within the existing Goodreads ecosystem. The main source of confusion was redundancy with the create shared shelf button. Minor iterations were required.
Overall, users expressed enjoyment over the new features. Most participants would utilize the added features either for book club use, with friends, or with family in a way to make their reading habits more social and shareable. There was 100% success rate in completing the usability tasks.
Deliver
Revisions
Usability Result: Users found it confusing to create a shared shelf and did not notice the difference between personal and shared shelves. Two CTA buttons perform similar actions, and scrolling to a different type of shelf is unnecessary.
Revision: I combined and created a single CTA button for creating a shelf. I created a simplified yet clear distinction between shelf types.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Conclusion
Challenges
The biggest challenge I faced was working within the existing product architecture and UI. I had to try my best to stay consistent with the current state of design. My feature had to implement good design principles while integrating into a system that did not adhere to good design principles.
Tradeoffs
I almost had to make a tradeoff between two features – shared shelves and buddy reading – but after taking them both into user testing I found that users perceived both features as working in tandem. I was able to implement both features as part of a singular user journey.
What Worked Well
Although constrained, I was able to creatively investigate new ways to solve problems and develop solutions that could exist cohesively. I had to learn not just about unmet user needs, but about current user behaviors in order to not disrupt existing user flows.