BMIND
A reading app that brings a social aspect to daily reading ritual
My Role & Responsibilities
Lead UI design, Research, Visual Design,
Design System, Testing, Prototyping
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
4 weeks
TOOLS
Figma, Procreate, Adobe Illustrator,
Google Docs, Google Sheets
ℹ️ OVERVIEW
Reading has been the major way for people to explore the world and absorb more knowledge. However, in modern society, the fast pace of life and distractions from the crowd may keep you away from sitting down and thinking deeply about a book. While some people may keep their traditional reading habit, it may seem that reading from a book and keeping their thoughts to themselves is dull.
📖 BACKSTORY
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A reading group, usually consists of a number of people who read and talk about books based on a topic or an agreed-upon reading list. It's common for book clubs to choose a specific book to read and discuss at the same time. Formal book clubs meet on a regular basis at a set location. Most book clubs meet monthly in order to give members time to read the next book.
🎯 OUR GOAL
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As designers who have a passion for reading, observing, and expressing, we want to find a way to encourage people to join the reading community, be brave to share their own opinions and be open to others, find out their interests and make friends whom they may find like-minded.
➡️ DESIGN PROCESS
3. Conducting interviews
6. Prototyping & present
5.Discuss & finalyze design
4. Analyze & narrow down features
1. On site field trip
2. Desktop research
🤔 WHY DO WE DESIGN LIKE THIS?
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Traditionally, spaces for book clubs have ranged from private living rooms to libraries, bookstores, and other public venues where readers can connect to discuss a particular book.
online social platforms and other forms of new media have become spaces for readers to connect. From Facebook and Instagram to book-specific apps like Litsy and Reco, many readers are turning to the Internet to interact with other readers. Penguin Random House has a number of reader- and book-club-focused online communities, including Random House Reader’s Circle, the Reading Group Center, and Read it Forward. Book clubs are also cropping up as podcasts, (here is a good roundup of a few); in newsletters, including a partnership between Penguin Young Readers Group and the Clover newsletter; as part of subscription boxes like Book of the Month and Quarterly; and even as live shows.
📍 KEY FINDINGS FROM USER RESEARCH
Find Community
A lot of people are interested but don't know how to find a book club
Desire to share
After reading a book, there is a strong desire to share
Find Friends
Will care about whether people who participate in the reading club will recommend the books they are interested in
Seeking feedback
I hope to gain reading experience through feedback exchanges
Require info
The same organization, the same group of people, and need information update from the same organization
Social aspect
I want to know more people who are the same or different from me through book sharing
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LET'S LISTEN TO OUR USERS:
The greatest significance of reading clubs is that I get to know all kinds of people and understand their personalities, experiences, and thinking.
Our participants come from all walks of life. According to our observations and interviews, they can be roughly divided into three types of people.
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One type is that reading has become a daily habit and has a daily writing habit. These people usually share more substantive and detailed content, and they listen more seriously when others share, and are willing to think deeply and discuss the topic without being picky about the topic. , any subject matter is acceptable and they are willing to try to understand. They also have a strong desire to write and share. They are usually the most active type of people (I think it should be counted as the main target audience)
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The other category has no daily fixed reading habits, relatively weak curiosity, and a great change in attitude towards different types of books. Those who are interested can concentrate on listening, and those who are less popular may be distracted. For short and easy-to-understand things, you can Has some interest, but rarely reads entire books, usually fragments
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Another category may be due to introversion and shyness, or lack of relevant knowledge reserves, seldom speak, and will not share too much content, purely listening in, I don’t know much about this kind of people, I can do more research in the follow-up.
95% of the interviewees have acquaintance social reading attributes
📈 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Reading ability
Willingness to read
People who attend
to reading club
So, how might we improve reading experiences while allowing users to socialize by sharing their comments?
USER FLOW
According to the users, they wish to have a reading app that has higher communication quality, while they can also meet friends, share thoughts and integrate information.
Based on that, after prioritizing according to the insights gathered, we decided on the main elements:
1. Share button
2. CTA - easy access to info
3. Logo & color scheme
4. Notification
5. Splash screen
6. Profile
7. Reply
8. Follow
9. Archive
10. Reward system
OUR DESIGN
Social interaction within a reading APP
How can we draw users attention without overwhelm them with too much information? Well, we started the program with a paper-like beige undertone to imitate the visual affect of paper, and created a letter reading system where user can receive and share their recommended books and thoughts.
New Message notification
Eye-catching logo
Paper-like color tone
Obvious CTA Button
The landing page where the reading note written by another user：
Date shown for daily check-in
Preview card
Send new insights
Inspiring quotes
User profile
Reading level
Show more
Message box
After opening the notes from other user, the entire article will pop out:
Books recommended by other users
Insights sent by other readers
Reply
Location of users
Like & collect
Users hit reply to write back to the sender:
Faded effect with scrolling
Preview of book remains
Tap to start writing
View their full profile
Here's how do you send a note:
Tap the "add" button
Tap to add your book
Add location and content here
Draft is autosaved
Send your message
Review your content
Text body
Congrats! Message sent successfully
Tap to see full card
Share it to other platform
You can also set up your personal profile:
Insights sent by other readers
Your personal profile
Like & collect
The archive:
Books recommended by other users
Insights sent by other readers
Reply
Like & collect
🎨 DESIGN SYSTEM
