An Ideal Books Landing Page

The final project for my UX class this summer was to rearchitect/redesign any website or experience. I chose Amazon’s Books landing page, in part because the BN page is almost finished a redesign (and I’ve seen the comps), so I didn’t feel I could approach the project without bias/prejudice.

Though I obviously spend a lot of time on book sites in general, this gave me a chance to do an in-depth analysis, and to articulate my ideal of an ecommerce book experience. Here’s what it boiled down to:

1. I can’t understand why the major booksellers – Amazon, BN, etc. – insist on having separate landing pages for print books and ebooks. Yes, I get why there needs to be an educational page talking about the device and the experience of reading digitally, but having similar merchandising pages for similar merchandise is redundant and confusing for the user. Talk about the books that matter, then offer purchasing options for whatever format is available.

2. There needs to be more compelling conversation. When I buy a rice cooker, all I need is a few reviews and a price – it’s not an emotional investment. But people want to feel connected to books, to others that read, and to the authors. Splash pages with lots of covers and bestselling lists just aren’t enough for this type of product.

3. Editorial POV matters. In user testing, avid readers often talk about how they trust the staff at bookstores more than flashy marketing pages – they feel that store staff make recommendations more honestly, and that it’s difficult to know if online recs are due to deals with publishers or excess inventory. They want to feel like they are getting real reader’s advisory from people who know books.

I know that eventually, digital and print will live more harmoniously, and that right now it’s just a matter of time and adoption rates. But creating an experience that encompasses the above will expedite that adoption – showing readers that books are books no matter what the format.