Novel Ideas

A digital publication website for all things books– new releases, reviews, book lists, and more. Created high-fidelity screens and prototype after user research & user testing.

UX/UI Design

Novel Ideas banner, laptop and phone mockup of home screen
Project Overview

Project Type: UX Research, UI Design, Prototyping
Project Timeline: November 2025
Tools: Figma
Problem Statement: Digital publication websites about books have outdated UIs, or feature an imbalance of reviews/ratings to book contents/story. Finding new books to read online is inconvenient and time-consuming. Can I make a website that addresses these common concerns users have?


User Experience Research
  • Based on research gathered from 6 users of various age groups/reading levels - High School Student, College Student, Teacher, Software Developer, Manager (IT), Manager (Finance). Users were asked about how they find new books, what websites they use, what they like/don’t like about those websites, and what they use the websites for.

  • Collection methodology: questionnaires, user interviews

  • These are my consolidated user personas categorized by age group and the type of reader they are.

User One

User Two

User Three

User persona of a young adult readerUser persona of an avid readerUser persona of a casual reader


Solution Approach

What is a priority for users?

Why is it important?

How was it addressed?

  • Efficient and quick exploration of books, paving the way for a deeper dive later

A way to see what the book is about without opening an entirely new page can help see what's interesting and what's not, without having multiple open tabs, navigating back and forth, and saving time.

Quick Glance View featuring Title, Author, Rating, Summary, and Add to Favorites Button

  • Highlighting and showcasing the books and their covers, combined with a quick-glance view for enhanced exploration.

Topic Links

  • Link to popular topics in the book summary to explore books with similar topics for deep dives

  • Streamlined and simple navigation

Easy and consistent navigation can encourage exploration so readers can discover hidden gems and their next favorite book easily.

  • Intuitive navigation bar based on broad categories

  • Categories and tags for each book for better organization

  • Curated recommendations

Beat decision paralysis with curated recommendations from site editors and users like you, so you don't waste time buying a book you won't finish.

  • Book lists feature with inline block quotes, inline book view.

  • Pleasing look and feel

Visually compelling, letting the book covers speak for themselves. An uncluttered site can make it much less overwhelming.

Clean, sleek look that evokes editorial, paper mediums, and exploration

  • Editorial feel with serif text

  • Paper feel with cream and brown color

  • Encourages exploration through display of covers in horizontally scrollable rows, like scouring bookshelves


Design Solution

Ready to design something beautiful?

I'd love to hear from you!

Ready to design something beautiful?

I'd love to hear from you!

Ready to design something beautiful?

I'd love to hear from you!

©

2025

©

2025

©

2025