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Product sensewarm-up
Design an app for a public library system.
How to approach it
Ask what the library wants: more members, more borrowing, or more people using its events and spaces.
How a strong answer opens
“I'd like to know what the library wants most: more members, more borrowing, or more people using its events and spaces. That choice shapes everything else.”
Outline of a strong answer
Try answering out loud for a few minutes before you open this.
- Clarify goal and the library's services beyond books
- Pick a user group, such as working parents
- Pain points: holds that expire, unknown events, overdue fines, finding kids' books
- Ideas: hold alerts, digital card, event calendar, reading lists by age
- Prioritize the feature that best serves the goal
- Measure active members and items borrowed per member
Where this question usually goes wrong
Designing a book-search app and forgetting that libraries offer events, spaces and digital loans, then never tying the design to the library's goal.
Learn the method
Worked answers 9 to 12 in Module 1, Product sense and design.
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