How Qidian Redefined Its Bookshelf to Boost User Engagement

About the Bookshelf

From traditional wooden shelves to early app mock‑ups, the bookshelf remains the place where readers store and organize books, but for web novels it functions more like a subscription feed, offering list and wall modes, with 90% of users preferring the richer list view.

Background

As the industry matures, the bookshelf's accumulated features create usability challenges. In 2022 Qidian saw a massive user surge, leading to diverse user needs and a demand for refined interaction and recall capabilities.

Challenges

Users feel their personal space on the bookshelf is crowded by sign‑in rewards, reading time, and guide features, causing anxiety. Frequent updates and removals also destabilize the list order, while heavy users with hundreds of books demand advanced management tools.

Insights

Deep interviews with power users and content operators highlighted four key pain points: personal space being encroached, anxiety from automatic updates, dynamic expectations for bookshelf functions across scenarios, and distinct user groups forming varied usage patterns.

Design Solutions

1. Redefine Information Layout

Separate daily guide and book list areas, enlarge the list region, and introduce a management toolbar that aggregates sorting, filtering, and batch actions, with an optional toggle for low‑need users.

2. Provide Efficient Tools

Add quick group switching, a global "All Books" view for cross‑group actions, and gesture‑based multi‑select to streamline batch operations for users managing hundreds of titles.

3. Strengthen Connection Between Users and Books

Enhance follow‑up reminders with lightweight triggers, node‑based update alerts, and "grown‑book" tags for overdue content, while improving interaction via monthly ticket mechanisms and clearer single‑book function cards.

4. Rethink Industry Paradigm

Replace the traditional four‑cover grid grouping with folder‑style groups using color cues and customizable covers, improving visual recognition for large collections.

5. Every Good Book Is a New Beginning

Adopt a "river" visual motif to convey the expansive, lively nature of web literature, aligning the bookshelf background with the brand promise "Let good books thrive forever."

Conclusion

The redesign aims to deliver a simple, enjoyable reading experience, supporting both casual readers and power users, and reinforcing Qidian's role in the flourishing Chinese web‑novel culture.