HELLO
Barnes & Noble possessed a massive digital catalog and a rich legacy of literary expertise, but digital readers often missed the serendipitous discovery of browsing a physical bookstore.
The goal was to capture that magic digitally by creating an innovative discovery feature. It needed to present streams of two to five minute reads designed specifically for mobile, tailored to individual user interests, and optimized for sharing and syndication.
Goals/Objectives
Outcomes
The focus on intuitive interaction design and scalable systems delivered a significant, measurable impact.
Velocity and Scale: The end -to-end feature was designed, aligned, and successfully shipped across all touchpoints in just two months. The release of B&N Readouts directly boosted the NOOK app rating from 3 stars to 4.5.
Omnichannel Impact: The digital feature was so successful in driving engagement that it was promoted in all physical retail stores nationwide, successfully bridging the digital and physical retail experience.
Strategic Approach
Content Architecture and Visual Storytelling: To make discovery effortless, the content was architected into bite sized streams. This required a robust content architecture that could seamlessly surface diverse genres from the vast digital catalog without overwhelming the user or cluttering the interface.
Systems Thinking and Ecosystem Scale: This was not an isolated mobile feature. The design system and UX logic had to scale flawlessly across the entire digital ecosystem. The architecture was meticulously designed to unify the reading experience across the iOS and Android NOOK apps, the main website, tablet interfaces, and dedicated NOOK eReaders like the GlowLight Plus.
B&N Readouts UX Flow
Cross Functional Leadership
Successfully shipping a cross platform ecosystem feature within a tight timeline required seamless alignment. This involved grasping the technical complexities of multiple product environments early in the process and collaborating seamlessly with a geographically dispersed team of branding specialists, product managers, and engineers to ensure execution matched the strategic vision.
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