Gentosha

Website renewal for a publisher with a diverse range of books. UI/UX design of a website that “allows you to encounter” content based on user experience

Gentosha is involved in a wide range of genres of books, from entertainment to business and literature.
For this project, we designed the UI/UX to improve the user experience, aiming to increase the number of visitors and conversion rate to the website.

Movable Type was also introduced to reduce human costs associated with website operations, such as updating book information.

We developed an original updating system that works with Movable Type, and worked to create a system that enables efficient updating of the site.

UI design that provides users with new discoveries

Prior to the website renewal, we held a workshop with Gentosha. Personas and customer journey maps were created to derive the experience value to be provided to users, and a renewal concept was formulated.

The concept of the site was “to display information on a wide variety of books in an easy-to-understand manner, allowing users to encounter ‘books they want to read now’.
We designed the UI to suggest books that users might be interested in, and to provide chance encounters with new books.

Movable Type was introduced as the CMS, and the book search function was expanded.

While allowing users to filter books by various attributes, Gentosha has built a system that allows users to pick up content such as “this month’s bestseller ranking” and “special features featuring seasonal books” and post them on the website themselves.

In addition, the book detail pages are equipped with a recommendation function to draw users’ interest in related books.

Development of tools for conversion of book information to improve efficiency of management operations

To reduce the workload of the site administrator, we introduced a system that enables smooth management and updating of book information.

Movable Type, a CMS, was introduced to efficiently manage book information. We developed our own conversion tool to import data exported from the core system into Movable Type.

Previously, Excel data had to be manually copied and pasted, but with this tool, book information can now be updated quickly, significantly reducing operating costs.

Project member review

Ms. Yamamoto, Gentosha(Deputy General Manager, Content Business Department, Editorial Division)

One of the issues that came up after repeated meetings with TAM was “how to present the wide range of book genres that Gentosha has to offer.

Through this renewal, we believe we have achieved a well-balanced design that takes into account various user groups.

The book cover image on the first view of the top page is a simple yet impressive design that highlights the individuality of each book and gives users a sense of anticipation for new discoveries and encounters. In fact, the increase in sales via the site exceeded expectations.

Positive feedback has been gathered from within the company following the renewal, such as “The design has been refined and visibility has improved,” “Cooperation between departments has become smoother,” and “The time and effort required for updating the site has been reduced.

We believe that the structure of the site, which is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate even more diverse forms of work in the future, is the result of our firm's understanding of the fundamental issues we face.

Mr. Yagyu, Gentosha(Assistant Manager, Content Business Department, Editorial Division)

TAM was really attentive to our needs.
At first, we had a requirement to build a website using a different system, and we approached TAM because of their track record.

After hearing about our company's internal flow and other details, they proposed Movable Type along with that system, and when we examined the advantages and disadvantages, we found that Movable Type certainly had the advantage, and they were flexible about the cost, We adopted TAM's proposal. We felt that TAM had a high level of understanding of each CMS.

As a result, not only have we been able to reduce labor costs by saving on data entry, but the CMS is also easier to use and has stronger security, making it possible for staff from other departments within the company to use the site.

The site now gathers information from all departments, and as a result, PV has tripled. The site is also easier to navigate, which leads to more CVs, and it is easier for authors and readers to share on social networking sites.

The documentation was well-documented, and it was easy to understand what we needed to do and when we needed to do it. I could feel in every corner of the production that the coding was well-balanced and up-to-date with the latest technology, so I could leave the work to them with peace of mind.

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