The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries logo

The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries

Subscribe
Archives
September 11, 2023

#154 - Book Clubs For All

My customer research approach to book clubs, buddy read comment improvements, and an exciting new AI-powered feature coming soon... 👀

View this email in your browser
#154 | 11 September 2023

Book Clubs For All


Last week I started customer interviews for our upcoming book club feature.

Normally the set of people I interview for a given research round all match specific criteria.

But I've done something different for book clubs...
 
Screenshot of me in a Zoom call with a big grin on my face.
Being the friendly, smiley person that I am while on a customer call! 😊

I'm interviewing people running completely different styles of club: small and in person, large and online, several meetings on the same book every two weeks, one meeting per book every six weeks, books that all fit a specific theme, a random assortment of books that have grabbed a member's attention...

Here's my thinking: if we can build a book club feature that can make running and participating in all of these club styles easier and more enjoyable, then we've got something very special on our hands!

My research will tell me if it makes sense to try. 😁

 

Since last time...
 

We've made a long-awaited update to how the page number, or timestamp, against buddy read comments are displayed.

If someone is reading the same edition as the author of a comment, they'll see the exact page number or timestamp the author filled out. And if you're reading a different edition, instead of an exact conversion, you'll instead see a spoiler-free rounded-up estimation of the page number or timestamp! 🙌🏾
 
Screenshot of a StoryGraph buddy read comment. Above the comment text is a progress bar, filled a third of the way in green, with the label "13%, 28 pages" alongside it.
A buddy read comment in Dark Mode. 😎

I also did a bunch of other maintenance tasks and bug fixes! 💪🏾
 

Next two weeks


Rob has been working on an exciting new feature for several weeks now, which we hope to get our volunteer librarians beta testing before the next issue of this newsletter is out... 👀

We also plan to start working on upgrading the Plus Compare Stats feature with all of the new options and revamping our recommendations page!

And I've got a birthday in there so have lots of fun activities planned for myself amongst all of my work. 😊
 

What I'm reading


Started these two short story collections yesterday and am really enjoying them!
 
StoryGraph book panes for The Haunting Season: Nine Ghostly Tales for Long Nights by Bridget Collins and others and Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love by Huma Qureshi.

Have a great week,

Nadia

P.S. Know somebody who's an avid reader or would enjoy following along with this journey? Please do forward this email to them! Thank you. :-)
 
Haven't tried The StoryGraph yet? Check it out today!
Love the app? Consider upgrading to our Plus plan!

Want to volunteer? Apply to be a Librarian!
Use Mastodon? Check out our server!
Were you forwarded this email?
If you liked what you read, you can subscribe for future updates and catch up on past ones.
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Copyright © 2024 The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries, All rights reserved.

Subscribe for a behind-the-scenes look at my StoryGraph founder journey and beyond.



Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
Don't miss what's next. Subscribe to The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries:
Bluesky Threads X Bookshop.org LinkedIn Instagram Personal Website
This email brought to you by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.