01 / Voices
Find
your voice.
Millions of voices to choose from. Storytelling gets personal.
The voice that shapes the story.
UX research & UI design / Audiobook app
Listen to your favorite stories
told by millions of voices.
Even yours.
Discover the project ↓One story. Your voice.
01 / The projectFrom need to interface
An app that
adapts to you.
Unwinding, focusing, finding inspiration. Bilbo is an audiobook app concept built around the different moments when people listen.
Two listening modes and a customizable voice editor turn the research into a flexible experience: from choosing a title to the way it’s told.
Inside Bilbo / Onboarding
Find
02 / Catalog
Choose
a story.
A catalog to explore, to find your next listen and let your imagination roam.
One library. All your stories.
03 / Anywhere
Take it
with you.
Download your favorite titles and listen even when you’re offline. Your stories follow you through the day.
On the go, even without a connection.
01/03
Swipe through the screens
02 / The researchContext & user research
Before you design,
listen.
A map of the competitive landscape compares five platforms on six criteria: usability, competitive advantage, service quality, price, UX/UI and performance.
From there, surveys and interviews helped pinpoint the needs, habits and pain points to carry into the project.
Research / Benchmark
The competitive landscape.
5 platforms6 comparison criteria
Swipe through the criteria
Ratings from the project research, shown on the original 0–5 scale.
| Criterion | Audible | Apple Books | Storytel | Spotify | YouTube |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usability Ease of use: navigating the platform, finding a title and handling the playback controls. | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Competitive advantage What sets the platform apart: brand recognition, a differentiated offering and integration with other services. | 4 | 4 | 2.5 | 3 | 5 |
| Service quality The value of the offering: catalog variety, content quality and the listening tools available. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Price Value for money: free or paid access, purchase options and the balance between cost and the services included. | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| UX/UI The quality of the experience and interface: information hierarchy, visual consistency and continuity across screens. | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Performance Smoothness in use: interface responsiveness, content loading and uninterrupted playback. | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| TotalSum of the 6 criteria · 30 points max | 23 / 30 | 26 / 30 | 20.5 / 30 | 21 / 30 | 20 / 30 |
Competitor comparison — Bilbo research
Usability
Ease of use: navigating the platform, finding a title and handling the playback controls.
- Audible
- 4 out of 5
- Apple Books
- 4 out of 5
- Storytel
- 4 out of 5
- Spotify
- 3 out of 5
- YouTube
- 3 out of 5
Competitive advantage
What sets the platform apart: brand recognition, a differentiated offering and integration with other services.
- Audible
- 4 out of 5
- Apple Books
- 4 out of 5
- Storytel
- 2.5 out of 5
- Spotify
- 3 out of 5
- YouTube
- 5 out of 5
Service quality
The value of the offering: catalog variety, content quality and the listening tools available.
- Audible
- 5 out of 5
- Apple Books
- 4 out of 5
- Storytel
- 3 out of 5
- Spotify
- 2 out of 5
- YouTube
- 3 out of 5
Price
Value for money: free or paid access, purchase options and the balance between cost and the services included.
- Audible
- 3 out of 5
- Apple Books
- 4 out of 5
- Storytel
- 4 out of 5
- Spotify
- 5 out of 5
- YouTube
- 5 out of 5
UX/UI
The quality of the experience and interface: information hierarchy, visual consistency and continuity across screens.
- Audible
- 4 out of 5
- Apple Books
- 5 out of 5
- Storytel
- 3 out of 5
- Spotify
- 4 out of 5
- YouTube
- 2 out of 5
Performance
Smoothness in use: interface responsiveness, content loading and uninterrupted playback.
- Audible
- 3 out of 5
- Apple Books
- 5 out of 5
- Storytel
- 4 out of 5
- Spotify
- 4 out of 5
- YouTube
- 2 out of 5
Total
Sum of the 6 criteria · 30 points max
- Audible
- 23 out of 30
- Apple Books
- 26 out of 30
- Storytel
- 20.5 out of 30
- Spotify
- 21 out of 30
- YouTube
- 20 out of 30
Surveys & interviews → 3 user personas
Different stories.
Specific needs.
Persona 01
AnnaAge 46 / Art director
Finding time
for stories again.
She wants to get back into reading without giving up her daily commitments. She’s looking for relevant content and an experience that helps her manage her time.
Content discovery · Personalization
Interests
- Enjoys going to the gym.
- Loves her job.
- Hiking and mountain walks.
Influences
- Behance / Pinterest
- Family
- Colleagues
- Friends
Goals
- Staying youthful and toned.
- Being able to plan every moment of her day.
- Setting a good example for her children.
Needs and expectations
- Quickly finding content that interests her.
- Would like to get the most out of her time.
Motivations
- Would love to bring reading back into her life.
- Keeping her mind sharp.
- Staying young at heart.
Pain points and frustrations
- Can no longer read without the risk of getting lost in a book for too long and falling behind on all her commitments.
- Struggles to find content that interests her.
Backstory
Biography
Anna is a successful art director at an advertising agency in Rome. She has a degree in marketing and a broad background in the creative industry. She owns her home, where she lives with her husband and their two children, both now grown up. Anna is passionate about her work and spends long hours designing ad campaigns and collaborating with creative teams. As an art director, she’s often involved in complex projects that demand creativity and attention to detail. Her role involves client meetings, project management and working with other industry professionals, which calls for strong organizational and multitasking skills.
In her free time, Anna loves going to the gym and attending cultural events such as art exhibitions and theater performances. With all these activities, though, she finds it hard to make time for reading, a passion she’s had to set aside in recent years. Anna has started exploring audiobooks as a way to bring reading back into her life, but has struggled to find content that interests her. She’s looking for solutions that help her manage her time better and stay connected to the creative world, without sacrificing her efficiency and productivity.
Relationship with Bilbo
Brand affinity
Time management
The app aims to help users make the best use of their time: instead of giving up their passions, they get help fitting them around their commitments, thanks to customizable timers. With her packed schedule, Anna would appreciate a time-management feature that helps her organize her days between work and leisure.
Personalization
The app aims to fully personalize its services around each user’s tastes, making content easier to find. An algorithm that learns users’ preferences, and from time to time sends notifications about the new releases that suit them best, would help Anna find content, since she’s used to apps and services that rely heavily on these features, such as Pinterest.
User research / Persona 01 of 03
Persona 02
CarloAge 34 / Market analyst
Listening as
the day goes by.
He listens in the car and while cooking. He prefers a straightforward interface, with few interruptions and no complicated settings.
Flexibility · Uninterrupted listening
Interests
- Reading crime novels and thrillers.
- Takes short road trips whenever he can.
- Loves cooking.
- Listens mostly to prog rock.
Influences
- LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram
- YouTube
- Friends
- Family
Goals
- Moving up at his company.
- Making the most of every spare minute.
- Keeping a healthy work-life balance.
Needs and expectations
- Would like to listen to audiobooks while driving, without taking his attention off the road.
- Appreciates minimal, refined design.
- Looks for plug-and-play experiences. Doesn’t want to waste time configuring settings or preferences.
Motivations
- Would like to use his time behind the wheel to listen to new books.
- Would rather not get grease on his phone while cooking.
- Shares a love of reading with his girlfriend and would like to talk with her about the latest books they’ve read and listened to.
Pain points and frustrations
- Traffic and long drives.
- Doesn’t want to risk taking his hands off the wheel to switch audiobooks while driving.
- Hates having to wipe his hands every time he wants to use his phone while cooking.
Backstory
Biography
Carlo is a market analyst at a company in Rome. He lives with his girlfriend in a one-bedroom apartment outside the city and drives to work every day. His job is to analyze market data and trends to guide the company’s decisions, which takes focus and precision.
In his free time, Carlo loves to cook and often listens to audiobooks while he makes meals. He’s a big fan of crime novels and thrillers, but work makes it hard to find time to read. He’d like to be able to listen to them on his commute, too. Carlo is fairly introverted but values quality time with friends and family. He’s very organized and values flexibility, always trying to get the most out of his free time. His interest in audiobooks comes from a wish to put his downtime to good use and the need to avoid distractions while driving.
Relationship with Bilbo
Brand affinity
Flexibility
The app aims to support multitasking, letting an audiobook keep playing in the background while you use another app. For Carlo, background playback while driving would mean he could always keep an eye on his navigation app.
Safety
The app aims to make listening easy in any situation, even when users are doing something else at the same time and can’t use their hands freely. Carlo would welcome voice control, since it would let him give spoken commands both while driving, without distractions, and in the kitchen when his hands are dirty and busy.
User research / Persona 02 of 03
Persona 03
PaoloAge 22 / Student away from home
Unwinding.
Feeling closer.
He looks for a moment of calm before bed and would love to listen together with friends, even from far away.
Relaxation · Quality · Sharing
Interests
- Loves arthouse films.
- Loves good food.
- Enjoys meeting people who share his interests.
- Loves story-driven video games built around exploration.
Influences
- Instagram / TikTok
- YouTube
- Discord
- Friends
Goals
- Becoming a lawyer.
- Meeting new people.
- Finding free time for his hobbies and interests.
Needs and expectations
- Wants an easy way to bring back his group listening nights, even long-distance.
- Wants a way to unwind before going to sleep.
Motivations
- Looking for a way to feel less homesick.
- Likes the idea of growing his “book club.”
Pain points and frustrations
- Watch / audio party.
- Feeling isolated.
- Has a hard time falling asleep whenever he goes to bed.
Backstory
Biography
Paolo was born in Avellino, a city in southern Italy, and moved to Rome for university. He rents a room in an apartment he shares with three roommates and, to save on rent, he lives in Ciampino, a town just outside Rome.
Alongside his studies, Paolo works part-time as a sales associate, which covers some of his expenses and gives him a bit of work experience. Between classes, work and his social life, his schedule is fairly packed, but he always tries to carve out time for his hobbies and to keep in touch with family and friends back in Avellino. His hectic pace makes it hard for him to fall asleep at night, so he looks for ways to relax, and audiobooks are how he does it.
Paolo is outgoing and loves organizing evenings with his friends. He used to host get-togethers to listen to and discuss books, but since moving to Rome he’s found it hard to keep the habit going, because of the distance and technical hurdles. He has tried the Watch Party features on Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+, which let him keep sharing his interests and passions from a distance. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet found a similar service for audiobooks, apart from integrations on Discord, YouTube or Spotify.
Relationship with Bilbo
Brand affinity
High quality
The app is committed to offering only quality products, with books read by well-known, highly professional voices and no room for amateur work. Paolo prefers to listen only to high-quality content with big names behind it.
Social
The app aims to build a strong community of enthusiasts that encourages discussion. Paolo loves talking with people who share his interests.
Sharing
The app aims to let people share the listening experience in real time, even across long distances. For Paolo, being able to listen to audiobooks with his friends again would be a great reason to get back into the audiobook habit.
User research / Persona 03 of 03
03 / From research to experienceDark mode
Designed
for evenings.
over80%
of research participants use, or would use, the app in the evening.
Dark surfaces, turquoise accents and primary CTAs in yellow. The palette suits evening listening and keeps the hierarchy of controls clear.
- Surfaces
- #080D10
- Accents
- #02CBBE
- Actions
- #FEB601
The controls right where they belong.
Two modes / Two ways to tune in
01 / Immersive modeLet yourself
Let yourself
drift away.
50% of research participants listen to relax or to fall asleep. A pared-back environment leaves room for the narrator’s voice, with a background designed to follow its rhythm.
Listening · Relaxation · Fewer distractions
02 / Study modeFollow.
Follow.
Note. Revisit.
For people who listen to study, the text follows the narration. Note-taking tools stay close to the content, without breaking the flow.
Reading · Notes · Focus
04 / AI Voice EditorPersonalization
The same story.
Your own voice.
Among the pain points the research brought up: little variety in voices and narration that isn’t always expressive.
The Voice Editor concept lets you pick a voice and adjust its language, accent, intonation and pace. A guided flow, from selection to saving.
Choose
Start from a voice in the catalog.
Define
Set the language and accent.
Shape
Adjust intensity, intonation and pace.
Save
Find your voices in the library.
The personalization flow, screen by screen.
05 / The prototypeFigma / Interactive prototype
Now, explore it.
Step into the original prototype and try the app’s flows.
The interactive prototype.
Tap and scroll the screen
to explore the app.
Loading Figma…
Launch Bilbo to try the app.