Case Study
A scalable audiobook platform that supports dynamic content and user groups.
The original Penguin Random House Volumes served as a straightforward tool for industry insiders to access audiobooks for review and promotion. While functional, the app was built on a basic foundation that wasn’t equipped to scale in the way that PRH desired.
That’s where Matchbox Mobile came in. As the lead product designer, I set out to reimagine the entire experience, starting from the ground up. By rethinking everything, from the user interface to the content management system (CMS), we created a platform that not only modernized the user experience but also expanded the feature set to better serve both external users and PRH’s internal teams. Resulting in a system that seamlessly supports dynamic content and user types, with enhanced native apps and an intuitive CMS that empowered the team to manage content more efficiently.
Transforming the Audiobook Experience
To succeed in this transformation, I set out to achieve specific goals while addressing the challenges identified in the existing app:
Revitalize the UX: The interface needed a complete overhaul to meet modern aesthetics and interaction standards. Beyond simply updating the look, I aimed to enhance the experience, with a focus on making it easier for users to make quick decisions and ultimately improve conversion rates.
Expand the Feature Set: New features like curated collections and enriched audiobook previews, that enhanced content discovery had to be integrated. While the audio player itself needed to be fully redesigned to handle more advanced playback options that existing users were requesting.
Tailor Experiences for Different Users: Cater to a wider array of users, from industry insiders with exclusive access, to casual listeners who simply wanted to browse and sample new content.
Create a Content Management System: The current backend processes were holding the app back, PRH needed a CMS that allowed staff to easily manage everything from curated lists to user access.
Build for Scalability: Audiobooks have tons of metadata that can widely vary in format, the design needed to handle this complex metadata in a way that allowed PRH to grow their catalog without compromising the user experience.
Crafting an Adaptable Yet Seamless Experience
To tackle these goals, I focused on this four guiding principles:
A Bold New Vision for Volumes
The redesigned Penguin Random House Volumes app launched to an enthusiastic reception, the app is now a place where users are actively drawn into discovering new audiobooks. For PRH’s internal team, the new CMS portal made managing content easier than ever before, cutting down hours of manual work, enabling them to deliver content updates in real time and manage increased user numbers.
Transforming the Future of Audiobooks
The redesign has been a massive success, both for PRH and for users. We’ve seen:
Increased Engagement: Users are spending more time in the app, discovering and sampling more books. Sample listens and wishlist additions have risen, proving that the app is now doing a much better job at surfacing relevant content.
Improved Internal Efficiency: The PRH team has seen a dramatic increase in productivity. Tasks that used to take hours, like updating featured content, are now done in minutes thanks to the new CMS. This has improved internal agility, allowing the PRH team to keep up with trends and market demands.
Positive User Feedback: Feedback from both the app’s users and the PRH team have been overwhelmingly positive. Users are praising the modernized UX, the new discovery features, and the enhanced playback functionality. Internal stakeholders have expressed excitement about the new CMS, noting how much easier it is to manage content and track user access.
...some very impressive engagement data from the last Q of 2024! We’re extremely happy with how much the users use it! Everyone loves it.
Senior Director, Operations
PRH Audio
