Research showed the problems plaguing the company are market based, and stemming from not being technologically competitive.

• Most people prefered Amazon for both price and ease of use of their app and website.
• Compounding this challenge was the fact that Barnes and Noble's mobile app was basically a clone of their mobile responsive site. As a result it experienced very slow load times and crashed often, both of which were chief complaints contributing to the 1.7 out of 5 rating on the iOS app store.
• Users do like Barnes and Noble as a destination. Those who were interviewed said they enjoyed wandering the store looking for a book to catch their interest, which was something they couldn't do with Amazon.
• Additionally, instant gratification was a chief motivation for purchasing from the store despite their less user-friendly experience and Amazon's better prices.

From the research a strategy to help boost Barnes and Nobles standing in the market began to take shape.

• A Reimagined Mobile App That Works and Creates a Simplified and Personalized Experience: Upon registration user is given the opportunity to give information on their reading preferences. App is limited to only showing books the user would be interested in most, based on self-identified preferences and purchase history.
• Make Barnes and Noble Price Competitive: Registration for the app makes users eligible for 5% discounts on all purchase in store and online. Other specials exclusive for the user are made available, based on their interests.
• Enhance In-Store Browsing and Searchability: The app can be used to scan barcodes to access more information such as what the discounted price would be, user reviews. Using location services users can search for books and get results based on the inventory of the store they are currently in and other locations nearby.

The development of a storyboard that details the vision of this solution was a crucial first step, as the strategy on paper wasn't concrete enough to move forward. Visualizing the app in action helped the team understand what we would be creating.

The user persona was crafted as a bit of a composite of the Barnes and Noble customers who were interviewed, mainly because most of the the answers to the interview questions were so similar. The user journey was also crafted based on overwhelmingly common experiences shared with the team by the interviewees.

Sketches of the layout and development of a paper prototype helped sort out what the elements of the app would roughly look like as well as their general placement.

Following that was the first of two sets of wireframes where the layout of each page, the sizing and spacing of elements, and the iconography all became more developed. Preliminarly feedback on this iteration indicated that the design seemed "busy". The second iteration would address this by simplifying the layout.

The second set of wireframes refined some of the iconography for further clarity (i.e. the barcode scanner went from a lens to something that more literally communicates "barcode scan"). The layout was also simplified in ways that helped improve usability:

• Giving the viewer fewer clickable items and taking the opportunity to make elements on the home screen and search results larger.
• The QR code screen only has the 5% code, as we realized the additional codes below it were redundant.
• The top navigation had elements either left or right justified and not centered, which gave the navigation less of a feel that the elements were floating relative to the design below it. User feedback indicated that of the two iterations this navigation was preferred.

This iteration also saw the elimination of the hamburger menu in favor of a layout that didn't require one since all of the apps features could be accessed in the top and bottom navigation. The placement of which depended on the likely frequency of their use (with the features more likely to be used being on the bottom).

Future considerations for this project include extensive user testing to see not only their reaction to the features but how well they would understand and use them, followed by continued iteration of the design based on the results.