Mid-Fidelity Prototype
Mid-fi wireframes created from initial ideations.
Bookish's mission is to connect readers in local communities and to increase the accessibility and sustainability of reading physical books. In the app, users can submit books they own into a personal catalog, which other readers can then borrow. Users are also recommended books located near them, forming a decentralized quasi-library that exists both online and in person.
In the project, I was responsible for creating Bookish's brand identity, including logos, colors, and typography. I also designed the app's user interface, taking feedback from both the engineers and user research to create an optimal iteration.
Avid bookworms know that books can be purchased in the spur of the moment to be read once and never again. Then, they are either left to gather dust on bookshelves, or thrown out (gasp!) as waste. At the same time, books are becoming increasingly more expensive, making it harder to read without turning to digital options.
The solution: An app where readers can share their favorite books and form communities, allowing books to be reused by multiple readers.
To understand what potential users would be seeking in an app like Bookish, we conducted surveys through the "Book Enjoyers" Discord server, where we were able to reach out to 70+ individuals to discuss their reading habits and goals. From our research, we drew the following conclusions:
Almost all (96%) respondents have unused books lying around their home, with many (32%) respondents owning more than 100 unused books.
A substantial majority (78%) of respondents expressed a desire to read books more often.
Respondents generally expressed discontentment with obtaining access to books, with many believing that purchasing books was too expensive (62%) or that borrowing books from the library was inconvenient (36%).
Mid-fi wireframes created from initial ideations.
I received feedback on the mid-fi prototypes from both the engineers and previously interviewed respondents, who proposed some changes.
Take a look at our final deliverable below!
This was my first time working with engineers on a working product. The experience taught me the importance of designing with the programming and development process in mind. Instead of focusing on aesthetics, I found it crucial to have a product mindset and think critically about how my designs would be implemented into the app.
It was very important for me to be able to adjust my designs accordingly as I received constructive feedback. In the future, I'd like to work on drafting multiple iterations of a design in the ideation stage, rather than solely making adjustments in later stages.
