Keep The Story Going

Audible Integration into the Kindle Ecosystem

My role

As the design lead, I oversaw a team of four designers. We collaborated closely with product managers, developers, and designers from both Audible and Kindle.

The challenge

In 2015, Audible sought to expand its reach within the Kindle ecosystem. Although Whispersync for Voice, a feature syncing ebooks and audiobooks, existed, the discovery and consumption experience was limited. The main goal was to seamlessly introduce Audible to Kindle customers and encourage them to explore audiobooks.

After looking into the current state of the product, doing multiple usability studies, and discussions with team members from both Audible and Kindle to understand their future roadmaps, I immediately started to plan out the areas we could improve to achieve the overall ebook+audiobook seamless discovery, purchasing, integration, and consumption experience. They can be roughly grouped into two:

Discovery experience

  • Platform Consistency: Ensuring a cohesive design across all major platforms (iOS, Android, Web, Fire Tablets, eReaders) while adhering to platform-specific guidelines.

  • Leveraging Existing Content: Highlighting discounted audiobooks for customers who already owned the ebook.

  • Reaching eReader Users: Engaging users who primarily discovered and consumed content on eReaders.

Listening experience

  • Feature parity: Bridging the gap between Audible's full-featured player and the Kindle audio player.

  • Bluetooth connectivity: Streamlining the Bluetooth pairing process for a seamless listening experience.

  • Subscription integration: Encouraging Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading subscribers to try free audiobooks.

Understanding the Kindle Platform

Audible had 16 touchpoints within Kindle, with potential for 8 more. However, design approvals were slow. I analyzed existing designs and user scenarios. Key findings included:

  • Design inconsistencies across platforms due to varying user bases and guidelines.

  • Two primary user scenarios: users who owned neither ebook nor audiobook, and those who owned the ebook but not the audiobook.

Design solutions

1. Streamlined purchasing experience:

Adopted the successful Amazon.com ebook detail page design for consistent purchasing across platforms.

2. Enhanced MatchMaker discoverability:

Created dedicated tablet and mobile flows for MatchMaker, Audible's tool for matching ebooks with audiobooks.

  • Secured prominent placement within the Kindle Library and Fire Tablet store navigation.

  • Promoted MatchMaker after the "Thank You Upsell" flow on various platforms.

  • Result: MatchMaker became the third-highest revenue source for Whispersync for Voice.

3. Bridging the player gap:

  • Implemented a just-in-time tutorial for the Kindle audio player, highlighting features like sleep timer and narration speed.

  • Result: 46% completion rate, 30% increase in full player view usage, and reduced customer support inquiries.

4. Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited integration:

Designed clear user experiences distinguishing between free and discounted audiobooks within these subscription services.

  • Result: Fastest major project completion, benefiting Audible's Prime Channels initiative.

5. Reaching eReader users:

  • Capitalized on the growing popularity of audiobooks and Bluetooth speakers to integrate Audible into the Kindle Oasis eReader.

  • Designed a user-friendly storefront, Bluetooth connectivity flow, and various purchase scenarios.

  • Considered eReader-specific design constraints like tap target size and screen refresh rate.

Conclusion

Through strategic design solutions, we successfully enhanced Audible's presence within the Kindle ecosystem. We improved audiobook discoverability, streamlined the purchasing and listening experiences, and expanded reach to eReader users. This project contributed to Audible's growth and paved the way for future initiatives like Prime Channels.

Note: This case study focuses on the design aspects of the project. Development, marketing, and other efforts were also crucial to the overall success.