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Platform Exploration
Purpose:
To understand how users discover, track, and engage with books across different platforms, and to identify opportunities for trope-based discovery.
Process:
We conducted rapid research of various book and storytelling platforms, including general book discovery sites, romance-specific curation apps, influencer-driven platforms, and trope databases. We examined user flows, search and filtering functionality, content categorization, and social/community features.
Key Insights:
Existing platforms often have inconsistent or incomplete trope tagging, making discovery difficult.
Users want to filter books by specific tropes, themes, moods, and other personal preferences.
Visual organization, curated lists, and social recommendations increase engagement and help readers find relevant content.
Current platforms lack a centralized, intuitive way to explore tropes across multiple romance books, leaving an opportunity for a more focused, user-friendly experience.
Impact on Design:
These insights informed the Trope Finder’s information architecture, visual hierarchy, and feature set, including advanced filtering, curated lists, and clear trope tagging to enhance discoverability and user engagement.
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Lean UX Artifacts
Purpose:
To synthesize early research insights and collaboratively define the product direction, audience, features, and success metrics for Trope Finder.
Process:
We conducted six structured brainstorming sessions with the team to explore the domain, target users, gaps in existing platforms, product strategy, initial audience, and success metrics. These sessions produced user personas, a hypothesis table, and a set of guiding insights that informed all design decisions throughout the three-week sprint.
Key Insights:
Avid romance readers are the core audience, especially those seeking trope-specific discovery and social engagement.
Existing platforms lack consistent trope categorization, personalization, and community features.
Personalized filtering, curated lists, mood-based recommendations, and social sharing emerged as priority features.
Success will be measured by engagement with search/filter tools, repeated interactions with curated lists, and organic community growth through social sharing.
Impact on Design:
These artifacts guided feature prioritization, information architecture, and design iterations, ensuring Trope Finder addressed real user needs while staying aligned with business goals.
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User Sessions & Feedback
Purpose:
To gather ongoing, hands-on feedback from potential users throughout the project, validating design decisions and iterating on usability, features, and overall user experience.
Process:
Over six weeks, we conducted multiple user interviews in structured, iterative cycles:
Week 2: Three interviews discussing what users want from a trope-based book discovery site; insights were collected and analyzed.
Week 3: Two interviews focused on user expectations and their reactions after exploring the website; we also reflected on what went well, what could be improved, and what to try next.
Week 4: Reviewed the Lean UX artifacts from the previous sprint to determine if updates were needed.
Week 5: Three interviews following the same process questions, then hands-on website feedback.
Week 6: Three interviews; afterward, the team reflected on usability issues, lessons learned, and improvements for future iterations.
Key Insights:
Users valued advanced filtering, curated lists, and trope-specific search but wanted clearer visual feedback and easier navigation.
Social and community features, such as sharing lists or seeing friends’ recommendations, were highly requested.
Iterative feedback highlighted usability pain points early, allowing the team to adjust features and flows in real time.
Continuous reflection after each week’s interviews ensured learnings were captured, discussed, and applied in the next iteration.
Impact on Design:
These ongoing sessions guided interface refinements, improved navigation clarity, and enhanced feature accessibility, resulting in a more intuitive, user-centered trope discovery experience. The iterative process also helped align the team around priorities and informed decisions for future improvements.
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