I would want to create an app that encouraged people to read more books in a “post-pandemic” world. For me I found a lot more time at home to read books that I wanted to, but realized it may be hard now that life is going back to normal. The goal would be to read at least one book a month, or the user can pick whatever fits their lifestyle.
In chunks this goal would look like one to two books a month, depending on the person. The different levels would be after you complete a book or month of reading. This would hopefully encourage users to read their books in order to level up. The leveling up would be a reward in itself as you could unlock certain things within the app to make reading more fun. Rewards could be badges for each book you read or maybe after reading a series you could get points that allow you to redeem something. I would like to have points in the game to be redeemed for book related things, something like gift cards.
I think the theme would have to be something clean and approachable for people of all ages. It would have to be simple to use as well. I could see this app being used by many different types of people due to its shared interest in reading. To make it fun I think a social aspect would be really interesting. People can share book recommendations through a social media type section, and maybe even write little reviews on books that they enjoyed. It could also be a place for new authors to advertise their books, and maybe rewards could be offered for reading certain books at certain times of the month or something like a “book of the week” reward.
The Interface:
This is a little sketch of what the interface might look like. It would have progress bars for the books you are currently reading and the reward would be for if you complete it in your time limit. The time limit would be chosen by you because everyone reads at different speeds. There would be a total point area and a place to redeem those points for special rewards.
The challenge is to read more books, and to try to keep up with reading books in a busy life. Even though the pandemic is winding down, people may still want to enjoy these types of things that keep them interested while at home.
The choice comes from your ability to choose what books to read. You do not have to read your quota of books each month if you do not want to. You won’t be penalized, but you will get rewards if you do.
The change can come from increase of difficulty in challenges. I think maybe the app could do harder levels like read a 1,000 page book in one week. If there is a reward I think people would be interested in trying these harder challenges.
I don’t think chance really fits with this app as I have imagined it. But maybe there could be like a random book of the week kind of situation that would always be switched up.
The outcome of this app would be a fun way to track progress in reading. By giving out rewards are offering challenges this becomes a fun way to get people to read more books.