Novel Tea

Virtual book club mobile application

Novel Tea Click here to jump to the visuals.

  • Overview

    Novel Tea is a virtual platform for readers to host and attend book clubs. It aims to promote a "friends chatting about books by the fireplace" environment by suggesting common snacks, drinks, and a time to discuss via in-app videoconference as well as make reading more fun and inviting to those who disfavor it.

  •  Tools

    Qualtrics, Figma, Maze, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

  • Timeline

    March 2020 - Present

  • My Roles

    UX Research, Product Design, Graphic Design, UI/UX Design

Defining the Problem

Although many people enjoy reading, it can be difficult to find others nearby who are reading the same book at the same time. With this, many readers enjoy discussing or hearing others' thoughts on the books they read.

"You can watch a film with someone, you can listen to music with someone, you can play a video game with someone but you can't read a book with someone. I enjoy reading but there's no doubt that it's a lonely hobby."

-Redditor Devils_Demon

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many readers who participate in book clubs now host them virtually. Their efforts to do so have highlighted areas in which virtual book clubs, organized with or without existing apps, can be modernized and more reflective of their in-person meetings.

The Users Readers

Because reading appeals to a wide variety of people, Novel Tea has a diverse target market. Although reading is for everyone, my research supports that some subsets of the population would be more likely than others to participate in a virtual book club, tapering the audience to the following.

Global reach, with largest audiences in North America, Europe, and Asia

Millennial women compose approximately 50% of Novel Tea's demography

"Avid" and "casual" readers are roughly equally likely to use the application

Project Scope and Limitations

Novel Tea is a personal side project for which I have the following goals:

  • Create a timely project as videoconferencing apps are on the rise
  • Wear many hats within the product design process
  • Have fun!

One limitation is that due to a very small team size (of 1!), the design process moves more slowly than that of its competitors. Although there are currently no immediate plans for Novel Tea to enter development, I believe it is important to produce and adapt design solutions for virtual meeting platforms as swiftly as possible, given there importance during the pandemic. Further, while I did examine how the application, which has an international audience, can appropriately accommodate language and cultural differences among users, this research was likely not as robust as that of other global applications and may be biased toward American perspectives.

My Process

1. Research into Readers

To design the most effective and innovative product, I conducted qualitative, quantitative, primary and secondary research to delve into readers' values and habits and what impact community has on them.

Primary research:
  • a survey of 103 readers, how often, what, and why they read
  • two social media polls gauging interest in virtual book clubs
  • interviews with 18 readers, ranging from casual to avid and aged between 15 and 61
Secondary research: Distilling the insights:
    When looking for patterns in the information, I found that the core benefits of book clubs fall on a spectrum ranging from a focus on books to one on people, as illustrated below.

2. Product Strategy and Current Market Research

Based on the user needs and values outlined above, I developed Novel Tea's product strategy, features, and monetization opportunities.

Core Functionality
  • readers can host and join virtual, video-enabled book clubs
  • reminders ensure readers' pacing is consistent with club meeting schedule and/or personal goals
Auxiliary Features
  • readers can participate in forums and discussion boards about books
  • book recommendations are delivered based on readers' preferences and schedules
Novel Tea's Monetization
  • earning a percentage of book sales
  • ad-supported vs. paid version of app
  • sponsorships from food/beverage companies as their products are recommended for club meetings

In constructing the strategy outlined above, I also examined direct and indirect competitors. This allowed me to better understand the market and identify its gaps and trends.

Direct Competitors

Three virtual book club platforms that exist today are Novellic, Book Club, and BookMeet. Novellic is Novel Tea's closest competitor, focusing on in-app book clubs and encouraging readers to set goals as they read. However, the club meetings are not held on specific dates or via videoconference; rather, they are ongoing discussions held over chat. Book Club and BookMeet introduce in-person elements and streamlined local meetings.

Distilled current market comparison
Novellic Book Club BookMeet Novel Tea
Social Aspects Chat-based virtual book clubs In-person meetups Dating, in-person meetups, chatrooms Video-chat, common food/beverage
Book Recommendations From sponsors and other members Generated from user preferences ✗ From user preferences, other members
Partnerships Various publishers Amazon ✗ Food/beverage
companies
Price Free Free $1.99 / month Free with ads or $2.99/mo
Year Launched 2016 2017 2019 2021
iOS Rating 2.8 4.1 3.2 ✗
Indirect Competitors

I also took an in-depth look at Meetup, which allows users to host online events, and Houseparty, a "face-to-face social network" that aims to bring friends together when they're apart with group videochat and games. My objective in examining these platforms was to delve into how they recreate a fun, seamless virtual atmosphere that mimics an in-person one. A key element in doing so is to give all participants equal weight, when appropriate, as though they are all in the same room, rather than host-centric platforms, such as Zoom, that feel more formal.

3. Developing Personas and User Journey Maps

To further build empathy and focus on the major needs and motivations of Novel Tea's target users, I developed three user personas: Allison, Cameron, and Eve. Click any of their photos below to learn more about their backgrounds, challenges, goals, and user journeys.

Allison
Cameron
Eve

4. Wireframing and Usability Testing

I created interactive wireframes to test the structure, layout, and basic functionality of the UI with five participants. Click here or on the image below to interact with the lo-fi prototype.

5. Revising Information Architecture

My main takeway from testing the wireframes was that users could very easily navigate to the core features, or anything related to book club meetings, but no one was able to, on a first attempt, find book recommendations or reading goals.

I conducted open card sorts (two physical and 14 remote sessions) to better understand how users group the content, which resulted in the following tabbed navigation structure:

If you'd like to participate in my research, click here to perform an unmoderated, virtual card sort!

6. Visual Design Elements

When selecting a color palette for Novel Tea's interface, I focused on hues that are unique, bold, warm, inviting, and appealing to all ages and genders. This split complementary palette of green and orange is also reminiscent of cozy living rooms, libraries, backyards — common settings for club book meetings — and of book covers themselves.

Another part of Novel Tea's identity is the presence of a friendly, helpful mascot that is memorable and recognizable. The mascot reminds and encourages users to read, assists with onboarding, and gives book recommendations. In addition to researching the design behind well-known characters like Duolingo's owl and Microsoft Office's now-discontinued Clippy, I drew the following rough sketches of three concepts and distributed a survey to 44 potential users. It asked them to rank the three characters, explain their rankings, and provide feedback on how the mascots made them feel.

Testing the reception of different types of mascots — a female human, a male inanimate object (a bookmark), and a gender neutral animal (a worm) — resulted in very insightful feedback on users' values and their expected or desired tone for the app. Many participants thought Bib was "funny" and "playful" but one noted that the bookworm motif may be a bit hackneyed or cheesy. The human mascot, Tea, was met with favorable responses, including that she appears kind, ambiguous in age and ethnicity, and "could promote inclusion within the bookworm community." Conversely, she makes the app appear more feminine and could therefore be alienating. The bookmark was described as "cute" and a bit "sassy" (this was interesting and not intended :)).

7+. Next Steps: Refining and Prototyping

As of October 2020, I am reconceptualizing and fine-tuning Novel Tea's mascot based on the user feedback above and have begun creating medium-fidelity mockups of several features to explore and test elements of the app's look and feel for further refinement. This iterative process is ongoing!

Thanks for reading!

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