Refreshed Greenlight Bookstore’s website to better connect with its community

Greenlight Bookstore is a beloved independent bookstore based in Brooklyn that brings its community-driven spirit online through its website. As its offerings grew, the existing site struggled to keep up with the increasing volume of content and evolving user needs.

We improved the website with a focus on intuitive navigation and mobile responsiveness, to create a seamless and engaging experience for book lovers across devices.

My Role

User Research

Usability Testing

Product Design

Branding

Team

1 Product Designer (Me)

2 UX Researcher

1 Product Manager

Duration

15 Weeks

Challenge

Greenlight Bookstore’s online presence extends its reach beyond the local neighborhood. However, as the website grew, it lacked a clear strategy to handle the increasing amount of information. Additionally, the outdated interaction model made it difficult for the Greenlight team to continue delivering a top-notch customer experience.

The Solution

Introducing new interaction patterns and intuitive navigation, delivering a seamless browsing experience across all devices.

Identify the Roadblocks

Cluttered Navigation and Low Engagement

Tackling these obstacles was essential to delivering a more enjoyable and smooth user experience.

I led the end-to-end redesign by streamlining navigation, improving content structure, and refreshing the visual design to simplify book and event discovery, better understand user preferences and motivations, and encourage repeat visits across all devices.

Strategy

Clarifying complexity through structure and visual design

Greenlight’s growing content and community offerings called for a more strategic, user-centered approach to digital design. To meet this need, we focused on simplifying the experience, making it easier for users to find what they need while reflecting the bookstore’s unique identity.

We prioritized three key principles: improving navigation, enhancing content hierarchy, and modernizing visual design. For each area, we mapped core user flows, defined content requirements, and created high-fidelity prototypes to test with users and guide implementation.

Design Highlights

Takeaways

Attentive UI Designs

CTA button plays a crucial role in driving user engagement and should be designed to effectively motivate users to buy. Through the use of engaging language, strategic placement, and visually appealing design, CTA buttons can greatly influence user behavior and encourage them to take the desired action, which is what we should consider iteration in future designs.

Moderated User Testing

We found that moderated user testing is an effective method for identifying specific moments where users face challenges during the testing process. By observing real-time interactions and gathering direct feedback, we were able to gain deeper insights into user behavior and needs.

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