The Book of the Month Bookclub is a new feature that allows the user to efficiently organize and operate a reading group. The way it works is the leaders of the club establish a team and invite their members to join on our site. The leaders then select their monthly pick for the team from our curated BOTM selection. The books will be shipped to members within their club. Happy reading!
Step 1: Understand the goal (Why)
A great way to start any project is to define what it is that we're aiming for and how it helps the business. The BOTM mission is to connect people with their love of reading. We already have great variety of members - many of those are already in their own personal bookclubs.
Building this feature is a great extension of the company's mission that
Manages to leverage its existing audience
Increase its value to customers
Provide the company with another revenue stream
Step 2: Define the audience (Who)
After defining our goal, understanding who are we building a product for is essential. The main question that I ask myself is what are the categories of people who have significantly different motivations for using this product. In this case it would be leaders and club members.
The leaders. The leaders have control over their bookclub. They get to pick a book for their bookclub on our site. They also have the power to invite and remove members. We have an assumption that these leaders would be mostly female and in their 20s and 30s.
The members. The members will be invited by their leaders to join the bookclub. We suspect that the members will also be mostly female in their 20s and 30s.
Step 3: Understand the customer's context and needs
Once I have defined my audience, the next step is to understand when and where they experience this problem, and how can I solve it. This information will help me understand what kind of user flow we should create. Since we have two high-level audience groups: leaders and club members, each would have different motivations of using this feature.
For leaders, their motivation would be being in control of their bookclub. In order to be in control, they need to know:
the list of members in their club
the book selection each month
where the book is shipping to / estimated arrival date
the billing information
the ability to opt-out if needed
For members, their motivation would be to be informed of what's the leader has done for them. Here are some of the information they need to know
the book selection each month
where the book is shipping to / estimated arrival date
the billing information
the ability to opt-out if needed
Step 4: Solve
To start designing the product, I mapped out user-tasks that explain the steps leaders and members should take to use the product successfully:
For leaders:
Name the bookclub
Make shipping selection (single address or multiple addresses)
Send out invites to members via link or email
See the status of my bookclub (4+ member until the club is active)
See the list of members and their shipping statuses
Once the club is active, choose the book
Confirm shipping address/method and billing info
Announce to my member that the book has been picked
Opt-out of the month's shipment if needed
See the opt-in/out status of the members
The book ships
See the book tracking number and estimate delivery date
Happy reading together!
For members:
Receive an invite from the leader
Enter personal information (name, shipping info etc)
Once the club is active, browse the book
Wait for the leader to pick the book
Receive the announcement from leader which book he/she picks
Opt-out of the month's shipment if needed
The book ships
See the book tracking number and estimate delivery date
Happy reading together!
Explorations
We decided to tackle the leader's club home (dashboard) first because it's the most complex piece of the entire project. Here are some of the explorations:
