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LocalBooks

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LocalBooks is a mobile app that provides a space where people can exchange books

within a neighborhood, zip code, or city.

Why LocalBooks?

This app is an answer to the books found in the streets to give away at the doors of buildings, houses, and public spaces. It is an opportunity to interact with the neighbors and find new books without having to buy them. This concept aims to create a social and sustainable project.

How does LocalBooks work?

LocalBooks presents two ways of being used:

  • The quick Version: When the user finds a book on the street and uploads a photo and the location.

  • The swapping version: Neighbors upload to the app the name or picture of the books they have available to give away or the books they want to swap.

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The goal

The goal is to find a meeting ground where people can interact through the literature.

Role

  • UX, UI Designer

  • Graphic designer

Tools

  • Sketch, Adobe Illustrator

  • Miro

Method

  • Qualitative

  • Unmoderated usability study

User research

The concept of LocalBooks was introduced to potential users, and from the interviews,

these were some of the highlights:

It's a good excuse to meet the neighbors if you're new to the building.

I have a large collection of books, it would be good to swapping them close to home.

Trading books is always good, especially children's or baby books.

Humanizing and giving a face to the research results:

Humanizing and giving a face to the research results:

User journey map + persona Lucia.png

The following questions derived from the user research.

  • The problem: Neighbors or individuals seek a platform to exchange books and foster social connections.

  • How can we create a space where people near each other can swap and interact with books?

  • How can we create a mobile app for digital natives and non-natives?

First sketches & wireframes

  • I started the sketches with the idea of an app with focus on accessibility.

  • It was important to have direct access from the home page to the other pages with direct buttons.

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Wireframes:

A lo-fi prototype was created to carry out a usability study and these were the results

  • The quick access buttons have been modified for a more ergonomic use and
    to indicate their importance.

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  • Buttons were added to the forum to filter the comments.

wireframes_forum.png

Hi-fi prototype

  • The prototype in action

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  • The latest updates and shortcuts are concentrated on the home page
     

  • The forum is where the interaction between users happens.

  • The colors are friendly for users with visual problems.
     

Forum.png
home_menu.png

  • My alerts page is where specific searches are communicated.

  • Here it is demonstrated how the menu icons change color to denote the page they are on, as well as the names of the pages to enhance the usability
     

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  • The text fields were changed from lines to boxes to guarantee better readability and writing

Information Architecture

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User flow

  • Quick version

Screenshot 2023-01-23 at 15.27.19.png

  • Swapping version

Screenshot 2023-01-23 at 15.28.10.png

Design elements

Design_elements_localbooks.png

What I learned

It is a lot of responsibility to create a product for a broad spectrum of users living in residential buildings and neighborhoods. The list of considerations is long, but it is essential to keep these aspects in mind for any digital project.

Next steps

  • Continue testing the prototype with users.

  • Do more tests to improve accessibility for less tech-savvy people.

Thank you!

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