© sarah hakimah 2024
Samsung Library Time (S Lime)
Redesign and add an e-book feature
Samsung Library time (known as S LIME) was a reader app for magazine and newspaper for Samsung phone user in Indonesia. All the magazines and newspaper are free for users to read. In this project, S LIME added a new feature - selling e-book with the objective of increasing active users. As we worked on this project, we also redesign the mobile app altogether.
Role
Product Designer
Date
Nov 2021 - Jun 2022
Phase
Samsung Research Indonesia
Client
S LIME
Problem
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Adding new feature into existing app that has different approach (selling e-book in a previously app for users to read magazines and newspaper for free).
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Redesign the app to be more engaging and increase active users.
Solution
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Thorough research on apps that sells e-book and what matters most to e-book readers.
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Fresh and new feeling of the app to tell the users the change in S LIME direction as an app while still catering previous users who reads the free magazines and newspaper. Also encourage them to engage with the new e-books at the same time.
The Process
Discovery
Competitive Research
UI/UX
I kickstart the project by researching existing reader app in the market. I downloaded the app, screenshots the pages and lay them down in Miro. I analyze which features are nice for a e-book app, and which can be improved. From this research I gain many insights of what e-book app are like today.
I analyzed 7 applications: iJakarta, iPusnas, Eperpusdikbud, Kindle by Amazon, Apple Books, Gramedia Digital and Scribd.
Some of the insights I got were:
1. Use tabbing to differentiate publications, since S LIME has 3 (Books, Magazine, Newspaper)
2. Sort features when exploring books (Latest, Rating, Most Read)
3. Simple reader UI but customizable enough to cater user perferences
4. Low commitment actions to encourage people to try reading the book (Free pages)
Feature-focused
Other than general positives and negatives, I also take a closer look at the flow of the features especially how user explore books, the reader UI and payment flow. Those are the essentials features in e-book app to make user comfortable using the app.
User Research
Interviews
To get more deep insights, I interviewed three readers. Two of them are avid reader, and one is casual reader so I get both perspectives. The objective of this interviews are to identify problems and how can I solve it with S LIME.
I asked about 20 questions and process the result qualitatively. The questions are separated into three parts:
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Knowing where people are today
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User experience within an ebook app
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Desired change
Some of the highlights of the results are:
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Bring physical book experience to e-book. For example, user can 'stick' a post it on the page
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Add 'reading mode' feature. This enables user to read in peace without distraction. Maybe this feature can help to disable all notification when user are in a reader.
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Create an engaging and fun to browse homepage. So readers can feel like they are looking around in a bookstore.
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Simple payment method. Bring in Indonesian easy payment method such as Gopay, OVO that most Indonesian has.
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Collaborate with book reviewers or author. Where they can buy the book exclusively on S LIME.
Explorations and Design Ideas
The first wireframe reflect the result of the research. We also include Samsung OneUI into the design consideration, to create a uniform UI/UX from the rest of the Samsung's Apps.
I really had fun with the design explorations, as I can create design solution that solve user's problem and really get creative with it. Some of my ideas include:
Easier and quicker access to book synopsis
As per the user research result, user mostly decides if they want to buy the book or not by reading the synopsis. So with this interface, when user click a book cover, a pop up will appear with the synopsis. And user can simply swipe to the left to read another book synopsis. This experience allow user to read the synopsis quicker without having to click the book cover one by one.
Compile reviews and recommendation into one place
As user also decide to buy a book because of reviews and recommendations, why not bring the reviews and recommendation to S LIME?
In Review tab, user can see reviews and recommendation from other people around the internet. It could be from Goodreads, or other social media like YouTube or Instagram. User can also follow the creator page in S LIME, creating a book community within the app.
Bite-sized reading
This is one of the way to engage user more within the app. Because S LIME also provide free pages, S LIME can show a little bit inside. With this section, user can have more fun while browsing in the app as well as might find something that they like that they did not plan before.
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Notification Block
Some of the user's problem when reading through their phone is that they often get distracted by notifications. With this feature, notification is blocked so user can read without distraction.
Screen Time Reminder
Staring into a screen in a long period of time can cause eye strain. This feature could help user keep track of time. The time collected reading could also turned into statistics user can review.
Sticky Note
In an attempt to bring physical book experience into ebook, user can stick a note on a page. This makes the experience of annotating in ebook more casual and fun.
App Requirements
Considering the timeline for this project, the earlier phases will be focused on smoothly transitioning and introducing S LIME as an reader app as well as the MVP of the app. In the new S LIME app, user will be able to:
- Browse and purchase e-books.
- Read e-book comfortably.
- Access and read the free newspaper and magazine.
The redesign aspect will focus on applying Samsung OneUI components and freshen the look of S LIME. The features and ideas above will be applied on the later phases.
Samsung apps that use One UI
Usability Testing
After redefining the requirements, I designed the high-fidelity prototype and did usability testing before development. This usability testing is more behavioral, as I create simple tasks and observe how users use the app and find either problems or design opportunities. This usability testing is done offline and online, with participants who read books or not. The users are mainly Samsung phone users.
Below are some of the report from the usability testing.
Information Architecture
Final Design
The new S LIME was released in February 2023. If you have a Samsung phone from Indonesia or have an Indonesian Google Playstore, you can download the app on your phone and see the final design there! (aaand, maybe, check a book or two!)
Before
After
Feedback
S LIME right now has 4.0 rating out of 5. The review about the design are positive. However, there are still many improvements to be done. Such as providing the app in English (right now it's only available in Indonesian) and accessible features such as read aloud.
