Description
This application will serve as a home library tracking system for users to list, categorize, and rate the books they own. The main purpose of this application is to help readers get through their potential backlog of books that are left unread and forgotten on a shelf. By motivating users to read books they already have, this discourages spending money on new books. PageTurner is open to exploring a “rewards” feature, which would allow users to “earn” the ability to check out or purchase a new book after having met self-set reading goals; for example, a user would be allowed to obtain one new book upon completion of their goal of reading three unread books from their library. Other possible features may include the ability to add tags to books and find/make friends with people who enjoy/are reading the same books as the user.
Brand and Background
The PageTurner brand is proudly created by booklovers, for booklovers, in pursuit of fixing a common problem that many of us face: overconsumption. Our mission is to encourage readers to think about their book consumption habits and consider the value of each purchase in fostering a more sustainable and intentional personal library. We want our users to have access to a platform on which they can manage and organize their book collection in a way that makes sense to them. Additionally, our goal is that our users will learn to be more conscious in their consumption, perhaps donating titles they do not read as often or taking advantage of libraries and used bookstores. To help achieve this, PageTurner is investigating the possibility of partnering with local libraries, used bookstores, and LFLs (Little Free Libraries) in the future.
Audience
PageTurner is for booklovers who have or would like to start managing a personal library. Readers who are looking to work through their TBR (to-be-read) or open some shelf space by parting with any non-favorite books are welcomed as target users of this application as well.
Messaging and Tone
We want to equip our audience with a simple and intuitive library organization tool that allows them to reach their personal reading goals. By using the PageTurner application, readers can rediscover their old unread books, develop a stronger sense of what they like, and hopefully develop more sustainable book consumption habits.
Assets and Deliverables
The final product of this project will be a mobile application that is accessible, easy to use, and visually pleasing to users. Any images or videos used will likely come from online book listings or reviews. Any icons used will either be found on the internet or personally designed using Adobe Illustrator and/or Photoshop.
Challenges and Objectives
The biggest overarching challenge PageTurner will face is attempting to encourage our user base to abandon consumerist mindsets and adopt more sustainable consumption habits. Some of the objectives towards achieving this goal lie in the “rewards” feature of the application. In “rewarding” readers with the ability to obtain a new book for their library, we can suggest that the reward book they choose comes a library, a used bookstore, or even a friend or family member. Furthermore, we can add a feature that tracks how many books the user has obtained from these sustainable sources and show them the resulting data; for example, an end of the year wrap-up would report things like “you supported [number] public libraries/used bookstores/LFLs/etc. this year” and “you saved [dollars] by borrowing instead of buying”. These data points may be the best way to convince readers to switch up their habits. Other challenges come in the form of competition from other book tracker services listed below.