Problem
Reading becomes lonely
In the 2023 interviews, readers said they’ve read less since starting university and can’t find anyone to talk to about their books. Book clubs are far away or don’t match their tastes.
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An app to read more and read together.
- Role
- UX/UI design Solo redesign
- Project
- 2023, team of four Redesigned in 2026
- Platform
- Mobile app 393 × 852 Built on Material 3
- Tools
- Figma
App screens · Swipe to explore
Solution
Track reading and bring readers closer
Timed sessions for reading on paper, progress always in view, and a community of clubs and meetups near you.
Outcome
30 screens and a design system of its own
From the 2023 prototype to a system with light and night modes, 20 components and a prototype with 116 interactions. Not yet tested with users.
01 · The problem
Reading a lot, with no one to talk to about it
In 2023 we interviewed three university readers. All three enjoy reading alone and on paper, but they read less than before and can’t find anyone to talk to about what they read.
Reading loses to the screen
They’ve read less since starting university. One went from 20 hours a week in high school to just one.
Reading is private; talking about it isn’t
They read alone, but want to discuss what they read and don’t know anyone who reads the same books.
Small groups built around tastes
A big forum feels impersonal. A club for their favorite saga, or a one-on-one chat, doesn’t.
Design question
How might we help young readers read more and find people to share it with, close to where they live?
“There are books you’d like to talk about with someone, and sometimes you just can’t.”
Reader 1 · 2023 interview“A book can become much more special when you share it with other people.”
Reader 2 · 2023 interview“I don’t know many people who read what I read.”
Reader 3 · 2023 interview
Source: three interviews with university readers and the user personas from the original project (2023).
02 · Users
Two readers looking for someone to share with
The 2023 user personas still guide the redesign; only their names changed. Both want to read more and talk about what they read close to home.
Mateo
Student · 21
“I’m really attached to my books; I look after them like no one else.”
Goals
Spend more time on his favorite sagas and find a circle of friends who share his tastes.
Frustrations
Finds it hard to connect over his interests, lacks the drive to start a community, and can’t find some books in print.
Renata
Student · 23
“I love being able to talk with others about what we’re reading.”
Goals
A close, personal space to share her love of reading and hear other points of view.
Frustrations
Traveling to faraway places without finding a club that suits her, and not being able to talk about lesser-known books.
- 01
Open and sign up
Creates an account
In the redesignThree-step personalization
- 02
Library
Searches for or adds a book
In the redesignRegister it if it isn’t in the catalog
- 03
Guided reading
Reads on paper with the timer
In the redesignPhoto and note without stopping the session
- 04
End the session
Expects to see progress
In the redesignSummary with time, streak and notes
- 05
Share
Wants to talk about the book
In the redesignStatus posts, clubs and nearby meetups
03 · Starting point
From the 2023 prototype to four destinations
The 2023 sitemap split the app into two branches, competitive and social, under a start menu. The redesign keeps that content and spreads it across a four-destination bottom navigation.
Destination 1
Home
Sums up the day: continue reading, weekly streak, LectoContador and leaderboard.
Destination 2
Library
Manage, search, add and register books, as the user flow called for.
Destination 3
Community
Feed, status posts, clubs and local events. The full leaderboard lives here.
Destination 4
Profile
Full stats and LectoContador, achievements and my notes.
Built as a team on Material Design 2: a brown palette, Montserrat and Mulish, 4 px corners and IonIcons.
The same features with a system of its own: Home as a dashboard, a clean session and a community with clubs.
Before redesigning, I ran my own heuristic review of the 2023 prototype: 36 px touch targets, unlabeled fields, a low-contrast timer and feedback that never made it to a screen. It helped me prioritize; it doesn’t replace testing with users.
04 · Decisions
Four decisions that change the experience
Decision 01
Home as a dashboard, not a bookshelf
The 2023 home screen opened with the whole bookshelf. Now it answers a single question: what were you reading, and how do you pick it back up. The streak and the daily goal are visible without opening the stats.
Addresses
Three destinations and no home
Decision 02
A distraction-free LectoSesión
The paper book takes center stage, since it’s how the interviewees prefer to read. A 64 px timer, photo and note one tap away (to take notes without marking the book), and night mode for reading in low light.
Addresses
The session competed with its background
Decision 03
Closing the loop at the end
The user flow called for feedback at the end of every session. The summary brings together time, streak and notes, and offers to share it as a status post that can be edited before publishing.
Addresses
The feedback never made it to a screen
Decision 04
A local community: clubs and meetups
Interviewees preferred small groups that share their tastes, not big forums. The community moves from a feed to clubs near you and local meetups with a date, time and place.
Addresses
Small groups built around tastes
05 · Visual identity
Warm and homey, now as a system
The visual language builds on SproutQuest, my previous project, swapping the green for Lecto’s original earthy palette. The structure (color roles, type scale, shape and components) follows Material 3.
Final logo
A single book seen in three-quarter view: the spine and the page edges draw the L, and the cover is separated by a strip of negative space. The symbol replaces the L in “Lecto.”
Construction
A 40 × 40 grid with modules of 4. A spine with a rounded top corner, a cover with rounded top corners, and page edges drawn with a round-capped line.
Logo variations
All of them use the app palette: the two-color versions separate the L from the cover, and the single-color ones work on colored backgrounds and one-color uses.
- #443222CoffeeBars and brand
- #846549CoyotePrimary buttons
- #E0A44AHoneyAccent: one action per screen
- #5F7140OliveAchievements and success
- #F1E7DELinenSurfaces
- #FAF6EFCreamBackground
Typography
- Literata
- Headings, numbers and quotes
- Roboto
- Interface and body
Design system
Figma variables with Light and Night modes, styles and components. Every piece of text on the screens uses one of the 15 styles.
- 30base colors in use
- 26color roles in use
- 15text styles
Accessibility
Designed for reading with the phone on the table
36 px→48 px
Minimum height for buttons and controls. The main session control is 88 px.
No label→Labeled
Outlined fields with an always-visible label, helper text and an error state.
Light→Night
The active session switches to night mode with the same variables, for reading in low light.
Components
Buttons in five styles and three states, chips, book card, session control, streak days, leaderboard, stats and posts. 20 components with variants are in use across the screens.
06 · Prototype and validation
A clickable prototype, not yet tested with users
The decisions come from three interviews, the 2023 personas, sitemap and user flow, and a heuristic review. The next step is testing it with real readers.
Screens
30
across six flows, plus the active session in night mode.
Interactions
116
with sticky bars on scroll and Smart Animate in the navigation.
Starting points
3
full journey, signed-in user and LectoSesión.
Components
20
with variants in use, built on variables with Light and Night modes.
Proposed test
Five readers aged 18 to 25, 30 minutes
- T1
Log a reading session with a note.
To test - T2
Add a book that isn’t in the catalog.
To test - T3
Find a nearby club and its next meetup.
To test - —
Measure completed tasks, time per task and SUS.
Metrics
The figures in this section describe the prototype, not how it performs. Testing is the next step before iterating further.
Still to design
- Chat between friends, planned in the original 2023 sitemap.
- Loading, error and offline states, and real covers from a book catalog.
- Night mode for every screen, not just the session and welcome, plus profile editing and settings.
What the prototype already covers
- Sign-up and three-step personalization: genres, authors and a daily goal.
- The full session: start, pause, note, finish, summary and share.
- The four destinations, with the animated bottom-navigation indicator.
07 · Wrap-up
What I learned and what’s next
What I learned
There’s always something to fix, test and improve.
I wrote that in 2023, and the redesign proved it: looking at the project with some distance revealed small touch targets, unlabeled fields and feedback that never reached a screen. A system of variables and components made it possible to fix all of it without losing consistency.
Next steps
- Test the three proposed tasks with five readers and measure with SUS.
- Design the friends chat from the original sitemap.
- Loading, error and offline states.
- Real covers from a book catalog.
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