Revolutionizing the Used Book Market with a Personalized Mobile App
How I designed a book marketplace that reimagined the reader experience and fostered community engagement
Solution + overview
You’ve finished a great book, but now it’s just gathering dust. Selling or giving it away seems like too much work.
With our app, you can easily turn your unused books into a marketplace, connecting with other book lovers who’ll enjoy them.
It’s a bookshelf that keeps sharing stories.
Success metrics
88%
of testers would keep using the platform post-launch.
+68%
higher engagement than industry benchmarks.
90%
felt the cross-functional cooperation was key to delivering a successful MVP.
Problem
Collector complexity
We encountered multiple challenges: firstly, finding a compelling narrative to stand out in a market dominated by Amazon and eBay. Our research revealed that existing platforms treated books as mere commodities, missing the emotional connection readers have with their collections. User interviews showed that 72% of readers wanted to share the "story behind the book" when selling but had no way to do so. We also faced technical constraints with barcode scanning capabilities that frequently misidentified older editions, and struggled to balance the clean interface casual users wanted with the detailed filtering system (by publisher, edition, condition grades) that serious collectors demanded.
Key Decisions
01 Prioritize community features over marketplace functionality
02
Build recommendations based on reading history
03
Balance nostalgic design with modern usability
04
Create custom illustration set to capture the emotional journey of books
05
Focus on effortles barcode scanning technology
05
Create "book story" sharing for sellers
Process
Creative Leap
I led brainstorming, research, and design for a mobile app aimed at book enthusiasts. To ensure the app truly met user needs, I conducted user research through interviews and surveys, gathering insights into their preferences and behaviors. Using Figma, I crafted a cohesive visual style and explored building a simple design system to tie everything together.
Although the project didn't move forward, I gained valuable experience in refining my skills in creating intuitive interfaces
Learning
Balancing Priorites
Through testing, I realized that book lovers care about the story behind a book just as much as the book itself. Adding a feature where sellers could explain why they loved a book helped create a more personal connection between users. We also made the listing process easier with barcode scanning, which encouraged more people to share their books. This project taught me how important it is to stay flexible and open to feedback during the design process to create something truly valuable.
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