Formatting for Self-Publishers
As a Senior Product Designer, I designed a streamlined book formatting tool for self-publishers, integrating directly into a SaaS platform to eliminate the need for third-party tools. Through analysis and close collaboration with my team, we provided a viable option for an in-app solution.
Problem Statement
Self-publishers often rely on third-party tools for book formatting, creating friction in the publishing process. These tools have steep learning curves and inconsistent workflows. The goal was to explore an integrated formatting solution that streamlines the process within our platform, reducing time-to-publish and improving the user experience.
Team Composition
Head of Product
Product Analyst/Product Owner
Senior Product Designer (Myself)
Software Engineer
My Impact
Analyzed third-party tools to improve self-publishing
Identified usability pain points to streamline formatting
Designed an intuitive drag-and-drop interface
Delivered a high-fidelity prototype to validate functionality
Problem Definition & Context
Self-publishing is a multi-step process that involves ideation, writing, editing, formatting, and finally publishing. While many platforms support writing and editing, the formatting stage often forces users to switch between different third-party tools, such as Vellum and Atticus. These external tools are powerful but introduce friction, requiring authors to learn new interfaces and workflows. Additionally, each platform has its own set of requirements, making it difficult to ensure consistency across print and digital versions.
Research and Innovation
I conducted competitive analysis on industry-leading book formatting tools and gathered insights from self-publishers and internal publishing coaches. These findings shaped the design of a user-friendly, automated formatting tool that balances customization with ease of use.
This fragmentation leads to wasted time, errors, and frustration for self-publishers who want a streamlined experience. Our goal was to eliminate these pain points by integrating an automated formatting tool directly into our SaaS platform. This tool would allow users to format their manuscripts without leaving the platform, ensuring their books met industry standards effortlessly. By reducing the number of external tools required, we aimed to lower the barrier to self-publishing and make the entire process more accessible and efficient.
Marketplace Challenges: Tool fragmentation, complex formatting rules, and lack of user-friendly solutions.
Business & User Goals: Reduce time-to-publish and improve CSAT scores by integrating a built-in formatting solution.
Analyzed various book layouts to understand common formatting conventions and design preferences. This research informed the tool’s customization options, allowing users to adjust front and back matter while maintaining a professional, polished look.
Research & Insights
To understand the problem, we conducted a competitive analysis of existing book formatting tools. We studied Vellum, Atticus, Kindle Create, and InDesign to evaluate their feature sets, usability, and technical requirements. This analysis helped us identify common friction points, such as steep learning curves, inflexible templates, and limited customization options. We also reviewed support forums and customer feedback to better understand where existing solutions were failing users.
In addition to external research, the team and I gathered insights from internal stakeholders, including publishing coaches and experienced self-publishers. These users provided firsthand accounts of the challenges they faced when formatting their books. Many cited frustration with switching between platforms, the difficulty of ensuring professional formatting, and the lack of guidance in existing tools. Our research confirmed that an integrated, user-friendly solution was necessary to streamline the formatting process.
Studied formatting tools like Vellum, Atticus, Kindle Create, and InDesign to identify table-stakes features and common friction points. These insights helped shape the formatting tool’s UX, ensuring it met industry standards while reducing complexity for self-publishers.
Lesson Learned
Developing a formatting tool required understanding both user needs and technical constraints. Balancing automation with customization was key, reinforcing the importance of early collaboration with engineering to ensure feasibility.
Key Insights: Users wanted a drag-and-drop interface, unified design, and reduced formatting friction.
User Personas: Aspiring self-publishers needed simplicity, while experienced authors wanted customization.
Ideation & Design Process
Once we validated the need for an integrated formatting solution, we began the design process with an emphasis on usability and scalability. Our primary challenge was balancing automation with customization—self-publishers wanted an easy-to-use tool that also allowed them to control the look and feel of their book. We sketched multiple workflow options, considering how users might interact with a formatting tool embedded in our platform.
Complex Problem Solving
This project involved breaking down the intricate requirements of book formatting—such as layout control, front and back matter, and export standards—into an intuitive workflow. We refined an experience that met both novice and experienced self-publishers' needs.
We started with low-fidelity wireframes to map out key interactions, including project selection, template application, and content adjustments. We designed a modal-based workflow to minimize cognitive load and ensure that users could access their projects quickly. The formatting interface itself adopted a side-by-side layout, mirroring other tools in our application to maintain consistency. These early design decisions laid the foundation for a seamless and intuitive user experience.
Iterative Design Decisions: Leveraged UI patterns and scoped MVP to essential formatting features.
Challenges & Trade-offs: Addressed web-based limitations while maintaining intuitive design.
Leveraged the existing design system to create a cohesive, intuitive experience while introducing enhancements for formatting-specific needs. The system provided consistency, while new drag-and-drop interactions allowed flexibility for book layout customization.
Rapid prototyping and iterative testing enabled us to refine the formatting experience quickly. A/B tests on layouts and workflows helped validate key design choices, ensuring usability and efficiency for both novice and experienced self-publishers.
Implementation & Handoff
With a well-defined design, I worked closely with engineering to bring the formatting tool to life, even in an MVP form. Given the constraints of web-based applications, we had to ensure that our implementation was both performant and flexible. I collaborated with the full-stack engineer on the team to create reusable components that aligned with our design system, maintaining a consistent visual and functional experience across the platform.
Strategic Design Leadership
I led the UX design direction for this feature, ensuring that it aligned with business objectives while meeting the unique challenges of book formatting. The approach focused on delivering an intuitive, integrated solution that reduces complexity for self-publishers.
During the handoff, I leveraged my front-end development experience to provide guidance on styling and component behavior. This ensured that the implementation closely matched the design vision while being technically feasible. We also established a feedback loop with engineering to address any usability concerns that arose during development, refining interactions where necessary.
Collaboration Approach: Provided front-end guidance and styling recommendations for engineers.
Technical Considerations: Prioritized web-based feasibility while enabling future scalability.
A dedicated celebration screen reinforces user achievement, offering easy sharing options for social media. This feature encourages engagement and recognition, helping self-publishers showcase their progress and completed works.
Reflection & Next Steps
Although the project was ultimately shelved due to shifting priorities, it provided valuable insights into the complexities of book formatting. The experience reinforced the importance of early technical planning and cross-functional collaboration. If given more time, we would have conducted additional usability testing to refine the tool further and explore more advanced formatting options.
Looking forward, the potential for an integrated book formatting tool remains strong. Expanding the feature set to include AI-driven formatting suggestions and broader export options would further streamline the publishing process. By addressing these next steps, we could significantly improve the self-publishing experience and reduce the time and effort required to prepare books for publication.
What Could Be Improved: Collaborate earlier with engineering and explore more flexible frameworks.
Future Opportunities: Expand customization, integrate AI-powered formatting, and streamline export options.
Outcomes and Results
The project resulted in a high-fidelity, interactive prototype demonstrating a seamless, drag-and-drop formatting experience within our platform. While the feature was ultimately shelved due to shifting priorities, the research and design insights provided a strong foundation for future development, validating the need for an integrated formatting tool in the self-publishing space.
