Bhuku

Research

SECONDARY RESEARCH

I first implemented secondary research in which I examined the apps and websites of competitors of Bhuku (Goodreads, LibraryThing, libib, and Book Crawler) to better understand the digital library market. While most of these competitors had components in the UX and UI design that were strong, there were a few flaws and gaps in the market that I felt I could fill with Bhuku. Many of the apps and websites looked outdated and included too many “extra” features that were distracting (chat groups, quotes, etc.). Another flaw that I came across multiple times was that these companies put a limit on the number of books you would add to your library.

Interaction Design

Using the findings this far, I prioritized features of Bhuku into a task flow that depicted the decisions a user would make when updating the status of the book they’re currently reading, searching for a new book to read, finding a new book and adding it to their ‘currently reading’ bookshelf. Mapping out the task flow allowed me to better understand questions such as what information a user would need to make the decision to start reading a new book or what’s the best way to receive book recommendations? I used this information to determine what pages would need to be designed while wireframing.

The key element of the task flow that I came across in my research was how the user would organize their books. Most people wanted a simple method of keeping track of the books they have read in the past as well as books they plan on reading or are currently reading. The ability to put books onto different bookshelves was a choice that I wanted to have available to users.

Information Architecture

Once finished with research and interviews, I developed a site map to help me visualize what pages and categories needed to be created for the Bhuku app. Research showed the ways in which people organize their books needed to be simple, so my site map mainly focused on the bookshelves that would be used in the app (want to read, currently reading, and finished reading) as well as a few pages including book recommendations and book summary pages.

Wireframing

All the while keeping my task flow in mind, I designed low-fidelity wireframes for the pages that the user would come across while entering the Bhuku and finding a new book to start reading. I showed the process of a user updating the status of their current book from their ‘currently reading’ bookshelf to their ‘finished reading’ bookshelf, browsing books by genre, reading through a book summary, and adding that book to their ‘currently reading’ bookshelf. As Bhuku is an app, I only designed mobile versions of these pages. Ensuring that each page had strong visual hierarchy was the biggest challenge when designing these wireframes.

Branding

After completing the low-fidelity wireframes, I began working on logo design as part of creating Bhuku’s brand. I wanted a logo that was minimal but still recognizable as a logo for an app for books. The brand that I planned for mirror was contemporary and eye catching.

With the logo designed, I then built a style tile and UI kit to help me effectively design a clean look for Bhuku.  I ultimately decided to go for contrasting dark and brighter colors on a mostly white background with sans serif typefaces. During my research phase, I found that many digital book apps utilize more neutral colors to mimic book pages, but I wanted to use brighter colors that gave the app a more modern feel.

User Interface Design

Using the style tile and UI kit as reference, I created hi-fidelity responsive wireframes and built a prototype using Figma to show the process of a user moving their current book to their ‘finished reading’ bookshelf, browsing through genres, reading about a book, and adding that book to their ‘currently reading’ list.