Redesign of Koji's Sell E-books app to increase audience engagement
🚀 Released to the public in February 2023
Background
Koji is a platform that gives creators the tools to monetize their content, engage with their audiences, and build their personal brands. With Koji's Sell E-books app, authors can easily publish and sell their e-books directly to readers through social media.
Our goal was to redesign the app to enhance user experience, boost engagement, and ultimately increase sales for creators.
Our goal was to redesign the app to enhance user experience, boost engagement, and ultimately increase sales for creators.
Problem
Creators found it challenging to share their books effectively, limiting their reach and sales potential. The existing tools and features on the current app, while functional, fall short in providing an intuitive and streamlined experience for authors to create, customize, and promote their storefronts.
Solution
By focusing on improving the product landing page, simplifying the storefront creation process, and enhancing promotion tools, I was able to create a more user friendly and effective platform for creators.
My Role
Product Designer
Team
Abdul Wahab (Engineer)
Marko Fajler (Engineer)
Paul Bakaus (Product Manager)
Chase Klitzner (Scrum Master)
Marko Fajler (Engineer)
Paul Bakaus (Product Manager)
Chase Klitzner (Scrum Master)
Duration
4 months
Tools
Figma, Linear
OUTCOME
Revamped Product Landing Page
Content creators' audiences can quickly access the most relevant and useful information about the product. The description field and reviews sections provides potential readers with a clear understanding of the content, themes, and what they can expect from the book.
Guided Onboarding Experience
A step-by-step onboarding process that guides authors through each stage of storefront creation. This approach breaks down the process into manageable tasks, reducing the complexity and helping creators set up their storefronts with ease and confidence.
Improved Sharing &Â Previews
Authors can create previews of their e-books or audiobooks to entice potential readers and encourage them to explore further. They can then choose to link directly to either their previews or book details in their promotional posts on social media.
First month Results:
26
%
Creator App Installs
89
%
Creator Revenue
33
%
Koji App Revenue
After just one month, we found a strong increase in app installs by Koji creators followed by a dramatic increase in creator revenue. As more customers purchased books, Koji saw a 33% increase in revenue from platform fees.
Research
The redesign of the Sell E-books app began with comprehensive research to understand the needs, pain points, and behaviors of both Koji content creators and their audience. This was important in ensuring that the redesign would address real user challenges and enhance the overall experience for everyone.
What are our competitors doing?
I conducted a competitive analysis to research other platforms and their unique features and strengths. By doing so, I was able to identify areas where our app could excel and features that would be key differentiators.
Understanding the users.
We conducted user interviews with sellers and buyers to understand how and why users purchased e-books. Various topic specific questions were asked such as:
- What factors influence your decision to buy/sell e-books through an app?
- What features or functionalities do you value most when it comes to purchasing/selling books?
- How do you feel about features like sample chapters or the ability to preview a book before buying it?
- What might encourage you to use an e-book app more frequently or make more purchases/sales through it?
What did we learn?
After gathering interview data, we collected common patterns/pain points and determined the following:
IDEATION
Feature Roadmap to MVP.
As I moved into the development of the app, I created this list of features based on my user definitions and research that would help sellers gain more successful sales. Since we were trying to push out an MVP as soon as possible, I mapped out the features to determine which ones would take priority in designing.
- E-book Reader & Player
- Multi-format downloads
- Access to previously bought books
- Mixed-format bundle
- Rating and Reviews
- Customer Previews
- Rich Landing Page Editor
- Discounts
- Responsive Web Page
- E-book Link Sharing
How the app will flow.
These user flows were created to visually represent how users would navigate through the app and identify opportunities to streamline the user journey. Two separate user flows were created: Seller’s onboarding and Customer’s purchase experience. One of the most challenging parts of designing this app was that for every customer facing feature, I needed to create a seller’s setup in the configuration of the app.
Redesign of the product landing page.
In the redesign of the e-book product landing page, I focused on improving the user experience and providing more relevant and useful information to the customer. As a result, I included a description field and icons to quickly highlight the product's rating, number of pages, and language.
The redesign also features a prominent section for customer reviews and ratings, with options for customers to leave their own feedback.
Additionally, a preview option was implemented to encourage users to make purchases. By including these features, IÂ hoped to help build trust and confidence in the product and increase conversions for Koji Creators.
The redesign also features a prominent section for customer reviews and ratings, with options for customers to leave their own feedback.
Additionally, a preview option was implemented to encourage users to make purchases. By including these features, IÂ hoped to help build trust and confidence in the product and increase conversions for Koji Creators.
Improving creator onboarding and sharing.
As part of the new E-books app, the onboarding process has been significantly improved to ensure a seamless and user-friendly experience for sellers. A guided streamlined configuration process was implemented with clear navigation options, making it easy to understand and complete each step. This includes prominent buttons and clear instructions to guide sellers through the configuration process, reducing confusion and potential errors.
Revision process for first page of storefront configuration
During our user interviews, sharing of the creator's store was one of the most commonly experienced pain points. As a result, we wanted to focus on helping creators promote and share their e-books with their readers. To facilitate sharing, I designed a "Share" button prominently placed on the e-book landing page, making it easily accessible to users.
When creators tap on the "Share" button, they are able to share specific parts of their product's page, such as such as their book details, book preview, or audiobook preview. From there, they can directly send the link through social media, email, or messaging.
When creators tap on the "Share" button, they are able to share specific parts of their product's page, such as such as their book details, book preview, or audiobook preview. From there, they can directly send the link through social media, email, or messaging.
Product preview and add-on configuration
One of the key features that was added to the sell e-books app was the ability for authors to create a book preview that potential buyers could view before purchasing. In order to implement this feature, I needed to create a simple and intuitive preview creation tool in the onboarding.
After multiple iterations, I finalized the tool which allowed authors to select which parts of their book they want to include in the preview. Once the preview is created, it is easily accessible to potential buyers from the book's landing page.
After multiple iterations, I finalized the tool which allowed authors to select which parts of their book they want to include in the preview. Once the preview is created, it is easily accessible to potential buyers from the book's landing page.
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I also designed a desktop version of the app so that authors can create their storefronts on their desktops and customers can purchase a creators' e-book on any platform.
Implementation & Launch
Shipping the design.
After loops of feedback and weekly design critiques from the Product Design team and the Engineering team we finished development our MVP and shipped it. I continued working with the engineers and customer support to address any design edge cases that were missed.
After premiering the changes and new features, the new E-books app was well received by our Koji creators. Despite the short time frame of this project, we were able to keep the simplicity and intuitiveness of the e-books app while adding numerous improvements to the app. Many features were cut from this MVP release due to time constraints, but future versions will build off of this foundation and continue improving the app.
After premiering the changes and new features, the new E-books app was well received by our Koji creators. Despite the short time frame of this project, we were able to keep the simplicity and intuitiveness of the e-books app while adding numerous improvements to the app. Many features were cut from this MVP release due to time constraints, but future versions will build off of this foundation and continue improving the app.
See this project in:
Learning &Â Takeaways
Some takeaways from this project are that:
- Communication with engineering and project management throughout the design process was important to ensure that their input is properly incorporated into the design and that they are satisfied with the end results
- Using the right workflow practices can make the difference in project timelines. After incorporating an Agile workflow into our design and engineering processes, we were able to progress smoothly and quickly with minimal road bumps.
- ‍Group collaboration is important to ensure project success. Listening to other team members and establishing a setting where everyone's voice is heard allows for a blend of great design and working conditions
