E-commerce website
A shop worthy of one of Germany's most influential publishers
A responsive website for Suhrkamp Verlag where readers can discover authors and, for the first time, buy books directly.
- Client
- Suhrkamp Verlag
- Role
- UX/UI Design Lead
- Year
- 2020
- Platform
- Responsive website
- Website
- Visit
Overview
- Situation
- The old website showed the catalogue but had no integrated shop, so readers had to buy elsewhere. Books from different publishing houses were mixed, pages looked inconsistent and the site did not work well on mobile.
- Task
- As UX/UI Design Lead, redesign the website into a shop that respects the publisher's heritage, works on every device and lets people buy books directly.
- Action
- Workshops with the team, books grouped by publishing house, author pages with biography, bibliography and events, a purchase flow with clear prices and buy buttons, and a visual style that nods to the publisher's print history.
- Result
- For the first time readers could buy Suhrkamp books directly on the website, also on their phones.
Situation
A catalogue without a shop
The old website showed the catalogue, but there was no integrated shopping, so readers had to find a seller somewhere else. Books from different publishing houses were mixed together, subpages looked inconsistent and calls to action were unclear.
The site was not built for mobile, and the art direction changed from page to page.
Task
Modern and usable, without losing the heritage
Goals
- Shop: buy books directly, with clear prices and buy buttons.
- Structure: group books by publishing house and give authors a home.
- Every device: a responsive layout that works on the phone.
- Identity: a modern look that nods to the publisher's print history.
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