Hey Everyone. I'm thinkting of building a reading tracker to help myself and other stay consistent with reading i want it to be opinionated, sociable and gamified… think of Letterboxd but for books and i need your help to brainstorm ideas and validate my hypothesis xD
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to make money, i'm a product manager and i wanted to build smt for my portfolio but i want to build smt meaningful that i can resonate with and personally enjoy using.
Here is a break down of what i'm building
Tracking app: similar to Goodreads or whatever app you are using this one is simple. On top of which you have more gemified and sociable experience.
A. Gamification: it actively enforces the small progress you are making and the reading habit:
- Progress: Bar showing completed vs. remaining pages for each book.
- Badges: similar to reddit badges that displays next to your name. You collect them by reading ex. Top 1% reader.
- "Wrapped" Reports: Monthly and Yearly recap graphics designed for Instagram/social sharing.
- Notifications: Gentle daily reminders to pick up your current book.
B. Sociable: it promots social activities like reading together, creating shared reading lists or easily sharing your profile, status report, or the book you are currently reading to social media stories:
- Shareable Profile: Displays "Top 4" books, recent reads, current status, badges, and shelves.
- The "Read Along": Checkpoint System: Discussion threads locked to specific chapters (e.g., you can't see the Chapter 10 discussion until you finish Chapter 10).
- Margin Emojis "for Read Along": Allow users to double-tap a paragraph to leave a reaction emoji (😂, 😭, 😱, 😡).
- Rants "for Read Along": At the end of a "Checkpoint" (e.g., Chapter 10), allow users to leave a 30-second "Voice Rant."
- Quote Cards: Highlight text to instantly generate an aesthetic image of the quote + book cover.
C. Opinionated: It promots actually sharing your thoughts and this part is heavily inspired by Letterboxd:
- Review Logs: similar to letterboxd one that promots writing your opinion not just giving a star review. These reviews include:
- Diary Entry: Log when and where a book was read.
- Spoiler Curtains: Ability to blur out specific paragraphs in a review to prevent spoilers.
- Public/Private Toggle: Choose who sees your logs.
- Custom Shelves: Create collections (e.g., "To Read," "Favorites") with custom names, cover and descriptions and make it public or private.
It will require a hella work so i would really appreciate your help validating this hypothesis before i proceed.
If you have any ideas feel free to drop it xD
by Toxic-MG