Introduction
This project was my first step into the world of UX / UI.
As part of a job application for a UX position, I was asked to design a new homepage for author Suzanne Collins’ website (shown below) - at least, just as much as you would see before scrolling.
Suzanne Collins’ current website
Research & Analysis
To better understand what the home page should include, I surveyed 13 people of various ages (mostly young-adult aged) to gain a better and broader perspective of what features a potential reader would want or expect to see on an author’s website.
The top three responses were:
Finding out what books the author has written
Learning about the author
Learning about the inspiration behind their books
My goal was to create a user experience that is a mutually beneficial exchange between an author and a potential fan. The author needs a livelihood and wants to acquire a larger following of people that will support her work. Users want to learn more about the author’s life, their written works, and the stories of what inspired the novels they are interested in. Because the two parties’ needs differ, the page design requires some compromise.
To better inform myself on how to reach that compromise, I researched at least a dozen other author-websites to look for any features or trends that my user research may not have covered. In my analysis, the majority of author’s websites fall somewhere on a spectrum between two main goals:
Sell the author’s books in an online store format. (The author doesn’t attempt to connect with fans and appears rather hands-off.)
Connect with fans through blog posts and updates written by the author themselves. (But makes little effort to facilitate book sales.)
Suzanne Collin’s website sits roughly in the middle of the spectrum. It’s more successful with the “connect with fans” goal by providing personalized material from the author and a detailed bio. It also makes an effort to promote her work by listing scores of awards and glowing reviews of her books. However, it provides absolutely no way for interested readers to purchase them.
Page structure
I decided to stick with a balance between the two goals, but with a stronger initial emphasis on promoting sales for the author’s latest work. Navigation across the current website is clear enough, but the design feels unpolished and does not visually represent her success and acclaim as an author. The new design needed to be clean and easy to navigate, should promote sales, and should represent Collins and her successes as an author elegantly.
Design choices
I used the same font for Collins’ name that appears on her novels for recognizability and consistency. Below the website title is a place for one of her consistently earned titles to support credibility as a popular author.
The navigation bar options are prioritized by preferences identified from research. And the navigation bar, section lines, and buttons pull colors from the cover of the book to provide a simple, unified color scheme.
Collins’ most recent book cover is displayed next to the title of the book and a brief introduction to the plot.
The ‘Buy’ button provides an easy way to purchase the book directly from the website or links to a 3rd party seller. If a reader is on the fence about buying, they can read reviews by acclaimed critics and reliable sources about the book’s popularity by clicking the ‘Reviews’ button.
“From the Author” section gives the author a space to make a personal connection with the reader so it’s not all business from the start.