Building Shepherd - Catching up, user testing, and genres!
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Summary: November 1st to December 2nd
How is it December already?
Busy times! I was out last week for a Thanksgiving trip to December. I spent this week catching up on work. And now I am scrambling to prepare for the holidays (I am super excited as my mom and stepdad are coming over for Christmas!).
What happened over the last 2 weeks?
Genre and age integration...
I turned over a massive 25-page spec to our developer. And we spent 4 hours talking on Monday about the details. We aim to start this work in January, and I'll have more details as he finishes analyzing it.
I am also working with the designer to determine how genre pages, age pages, and filters will work on the site. I hope to have that wrapped up before Christmas (I will have something to show in 2 or 4 weeks).
Update on the rollout of the 3 new book pages
Everything went well, and traffic is growing fast. I love seeing readers use the new pages to find books!
We are still missing a chunk of book descriptions, but rolling out a fix over the next five days for those. Book metadata is a mess. I am hoping I can roll out my own ONIX database in 2024.
User testing!
I found a great user testing tool to help me understand any confusion on the current web design. I've already figured out some parts of the UX design I want to improve upon.
What is going on outside of Shepherd?
I had an amazing time last week in Dublin celebrating Thanksgiving with good friends (and the new addition to their family, Evie!!!). I hadn't seen them since 2017 and reuniting was amazing. I had so much fun playing games. I got a bad cold for the first five days, but even that couldn't dampen the joy too much.
What am I reading?
The Prisoner of Paradise by Rob Samborn.
My Name Was Five by Heinz Kohler.
Prentice Ash by Matt Barron
Starting soon -> Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton
I didn't have much time to read these last two weeks. I am hoping I get a lot more time on my trip.
