UX Case Study:
Anthropology Book Forum

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The Anthropology Book Forum is an online platform for scholarly book reviews and discussions that needed a clearer, more intuitive user experience.

Challenge: Understand how users interact with the existing website and identify usability issues that limit engagement. Using research with users, understand how to design content discovery, readability, and contribution workflows, while also meeting organizational goals.

In addition to usability improvements, the journal had two key requirements:

1. A main landing page that could function as a high-visibility asset for advertisements and revenue generation.

2. A dedicated donation page

Balancing user needs with these business requirements was a central consideration throughout the redesign.

Deliverables: Strategy, User research report, Persona, Sketches, Prototype, Final Product

Role: User Experience Researcher and Product Designer

Original Webpage

CRITIQUE: The original interface presented significant usability challenges, characterized by a confusing navigation hierarchy and multiple functional redundancies that hindered the user journey.

PROCESS

1. Stakeholder Alignment & Requirement Gathering

I began by aligning with stakeholders to clarify both user needs and organizational priorities. This included understanding the importance of monetization through ad placement on the homepage and the need for a way to collect donations.

These requirements informed early design decisions, particularly around layout, ensuring that revenue-generating elements would feel integrated rather than intrusive.

2. User Research

I first identified three groups of key users: students, faculty, and other academic researchers (lecturers, non-tenured faculty, postdocs). I then conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals from these three categories (n=17). The goal was to understand user's goals and key pain points.

In addition to interviews, I also ran usability tests on the existing site, asking participants to complete tasks such as:

Finding a specific book review
Browsing by topic or author
Submitting a book review
Submitting a request to review a book

During this process, I mapped key user flows to identify where users were getting stuck or dropping off. Core flows included:

Finding and reading a book review
Exploring related or relevant content
Requesting a book to review, or trying to submit a book review

This revealed breakdowns in navigation, unclear next steps, and friction caused by hidden or fragmented contribution pathways.

Together, these explorations revealed consistent friction in navigation, multiple redundancies that caused confusion and frustration, unclear labeling, and difficulty scanning dense content. There was also a desire for greater accessibility through phones, particularly from the student group (the original website did not support mobile use).

4. Synthesis & Insight Development

Using affinity mapping, I organized research findings into key themes of:

Content Discoverability: Users struggle to efficiently find relevant material
Patterns observed:

Difficulty locating new or recent reviews
Ineffective or limited filtering/search
Unclear categorization of content

Navigation & Information Architecture: Users are unsure where to go or how content is organized, leading to unnecessary friction.

Patterns observed:

Confusing menu structures
Too many steps to reach key pages
Inconsistent labeling and pathways

Contribution Workflow (Writing & Submission): All contributor types (faculty, students, researchers) face friction in requesting books to review and submitting reviews.

Patterns observed:

Submission process is unclear or hidden
Lack of step-by-step guidance
No clear entry point for contributing

From these, I developed key insights and defined user needs. I also created user personas to represent the three core user groups:

5. Information Architecture & Content Strategy

Drawing on user research, I restructured the site’s information architecture to address major pain points around navigation, discoverability, and unclear contribution pathways.

This included:

Simplifying navigation so users can find relevant content faster
Improving categorization and tagging to support both browsing and targeted search
Adding a dedicated “Request Books & Films to Review” section to give users a clear, structured way to request materials for review
Creating a separate submission tab that takes users directly to a form, reducing friction in the contribution process
Establishing clearer entry points between reading content and taking action

6. Wireframing (Low-Fidelity Design)

I developed low-fidelity wireframes to explore formats.

The focus was on:

Reducing cognitive load through simpler layouts
Making navigation more predictable and intuitive
Introducing clear, visible entry points for requesting materials and submitting reviews
Strengthening content hierarchy to support quick scanning

7. High-Fidelity Prototyping

I translated wireframes into high-fidelity designs, refining the experience through visual design.

8. Usability Testing & Validation

I tested the prototypes with users to evaluate whether the redesign resolved the identified pain points.

Users were able to:

Find content more efficiently
Navigate with less confusion
Clearly identify how to request materials or submit a review
Move from reading to contributing without unnecessary steps

9. Iteration & Refinement

Based on feedback, I refined the design to further reduce friction.

This included:

Improving layout on mobile devices
Adjusting layout and spacing for readability

Outcome

The redesign improved how users find, read, and contribute content by removing barriers in navigation and submission. Clear pathways for requesting materials and submitting reviews make participation more immediate and accessible.

​

1. Stakeholder Alignment & Requirement Gathering

I began by aligning with stakeholders to clarify both user needs and organizational priorities. This included understanding the importance of monetization through ad placement on the homepage and the need for a way to collect donations.

These requirements informed early design decisions, particularly around layout, ensuring that revenue-generating elements would feel integrated rather than intrusive.

2. User Research

I first identified three groups of key users: students, faculty, and other academic researchers (lecturers, non-tenured faculty, postdocs). I then conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals from these three categories (n=17). The goal was to understand user's goals and key pain points.

In addition to interviews, I also ran usability tests on the existing site, asking participants to complete tasks such as:

Finding a specific book review

Browsing by topic or author

Submitting a book review

Submitting a request to review a book

​During this process, I mapped key user flows to identify where users were getting stuck or dropping off. Core flows included:

Finding and reading a book review

Exploring related or relevant content

Requesting a book to review, or trying to submit a book review

4. Synthesis & Insight Development

Using affinity mapping, I organized research findings into key themes of:

Content Discoverability: Users struggle to efficiently find relevant material Patterns observed:

Difficulty locating new or recent reviews

Ineffective or limited filtering/search

Unclear categorization of content

Navigation & Information Architecture: Users are unsure where to go or how content is organized, leading to unnecessary friction.

Patterns observed:

Confusing menu structures

Too many steps to reach key pages

Inconsistent labeling and pathways

Contribution Workflow (Writing & Submission): All contributor types (faculty, students, researchers) face friction in requesting books to review and submitting reviews.

Patterns observed:

Submission process is unclear or hidden

Lack of step-by-step guidance

No clear entry point for contributing

From these, I developed key insights and defined user needs. I also created user personas to represent the three core user groups:​

5. Information Architecture & Content Strategy

Drawing on user research, I restructured the site’s information architecture to address major pain points around navigation, discoverability, and unclear contribution pathways.

This included:

Simplifying navigation so users can find relevant content faster

Improving categorization and tagging to support both browsing and targeted search

Adding a dedicated “Request Books & Films to Review” section to give users a clear, structured way to request materials for review

Creating a separate submission tab that takes users directly to a form, reducing friction in the contribution process

Establishing clearer entry points between reading content and taking action

6. Wireframing (Low-Fidelity Design)

I developed low-fidelity wireframes to explore formats.

The focus was on:

Reducing cognitive load through simpler layouts

Making navigation more predictable and intuitive

Introducing clear, visible entry points for requesting materials and submitting reviews

Strengthening content hierarchy to support quick scanning

7. High-Fidelity Prototyping

I translated wireframes into high-fidelity designs, refining the experience through visual design.

8. Usability Testing & Validation

I tested the prototypes with users to evaluate whether the redesign resolved the identified pain points.

Users were able to:

Find content more efficiently

Navigate with less confusion

Clearly identify how to request materials or submit a review

Move from reading to contributing without unnecessary steps

9. Iteration & Refinement

Based on feedback, I refined the design to further reduce friction.

This included:

Improving layout on mobile devices

Adjusting layout and spacing for readability

Outcome

The redesign improved how users find, read, and contribute content by removing barriers in navigation and submission. Clear pathways for requesting materials and submitting reviews make participation more immediate and accessible.

Original

Final Result

During this process, I mapped key user flows to identify where users were getting stuck or dropping off. Core flows included:

Content Discoverability: Users struggle to efficiently find relevant material
Patterns observed:

From these, I developed key insights and defined user needs. I also created user personas to represent the three core user groups: