1. By: Jonathan Moran Engl. 431 Professor: Dr. Mark Mabrito
Goodreads vs. Booktalk
By: Jonathan Moran
Engl. 431
Professor: Dr. Mark Mabrito
We will be looking at the homepages for and Essentially, the two sites perform the same functionality. The primary use of each site is book discussion groups. However, the Goodreads home page leads us to believe that that site does something entirely different. While it does, in fact, allow the users to find new books to read, its primary purpose, and the reason that thousands of people visit each day is to read and discuss books with a group. Let’s take a look at how well the home page drives home this purpose.

2. Krug’s ingredients Site ID and Mission Site hierarchy Search Teases
Timely content
Deals
Shortcuts
Registration
From Chapter 7 of Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug, these 8 ingredients should be used in every home page. In addition to a few other items, these are the 8 things we will be looking for on the two home pages in question.

3. Site ID and Mission Goodreads Home Page
Here is a shot of Goodreads’s home page above the first fold. This is as much as I can see on my notebook when I first arrive there. The tagline reads, “Meet your next favorite book.” Besides creating an account or logging in, there is not much else to tell me what I can do here.

4. Booktalk Home Page Site ID and Mission
This is what Krug would call the “top fold” of Booktalk’s home page. Notice there is a drop-down box in which I can select the mobile-optimized version. Their tagline is more descriptive. It at least lets me know that I can talk about books on here. Also, the persistent navigation is more prominent. I can see this on my notebook as soon as I arrive at the site. The second listing, “Forums”, leads me to believe I can discuss books there. A good sign to a tired browser.

5. Site Identity and Mission
Goodreads
Booktalk
Tagline – “Meet your next favorite book.”
Con – “Oh. This isn’t what I was looking for. I can only find books to read here.”
Leaves out a bunch of the most important things which I could do here.
Leaves me thinking I should not be here at all.
Tagline – “Quality books. Good people. Great Conversations.”
Pro – “I can talk about books with good people here.”
Tells me what the site is for.
Tells me why I should be here.
Since the GR’s hierarchy is nonexistent on the top fold of the home page, we are going to limit our focus to the taglines in order to see how well the respective home pages reflect the possible uses of the two sites. (Click and read.)

6. G.R.’s Functionality
Find new books to read
Read reviews
Create a virtual bookshelf
Book clubs
Discussion groups
Fun lists
Social networking for authors
friends and group members
This is the only function alluded to in the tagline near the Site ID. A user looking for book discussions may quickly exit the site thinking that GR doesn’t offer that!
As an avid Goodreads user, I am familiar with what it can do. Notwithstanding, the home page does not quite fill me in on all of the juicy details. Here is a short list of what I can do here. (Click and read 6x) Do not confuse this with what the home page notifies me I can do here. As we move along, we will see how much of this functionality is talked about on the home page. So far, we just have one thing. (Click and read)

7. G.R.’s site hierarchy
Let’s read a short passage from Krug to see what we are looking for as far as hierarchy is concerned: “The Home page has to give an overview of what the site has to offer—both content (“What can I find here?”) and features (“What can I do here?”)—and how it’s all organized. This is usually handled by the persistent navigation.” In earlier chapters, we talked about conventions. Browsers love conventions because they are universal across the web. This display here is unconventional. Krug mentions that “persistent navigation” is the convention of choice for exhibiting the hierarchy. There is no persistent navigation found on the home page of Goodreads; just this mess. I see I can browse for books. There are way too many categories here to choose from. It hurts the eyes. On the right, I see that I can search for lists, find some trivia, take a quiz, etc. This is still just a limited overview of the site’s spectrum of functionality. Also, I had to scroll ¾ of the way down the page just to find this much!

8. B.t.’s Hierarchy
Notice, we are looking at almost the exact same screen shot again. The point is that the persistent navigation menu, which we have discussed and which displays the site’s hierarchy is right here waiting for you when you first reach the page. I see that I can discuss books in the “Forums” and search for them in “Books”. Not bad in just a couple of seconds. I think the “Register”, “FAQ”, and “Login” links are too small, but I do have a small computer. At least, I can register or login. (We’ll discuss this part later.) They used the conventional means of showing off their functionality and organization. Let’s give them props for that.

9. G.R.’s Functionality Find new books to read Read reviews
Create a virtual bookshelf
Book clubs
Discussion groups
Fun lists
Social networking for authors
friends and group members
We return to our list of things you can do at Goodreads. So far, there are only two of its 8 uses highlighted on the Home page. What can I do here? So far, our answer, based on the home page, is NOT MUCH!

10. G.R.’s Search Box
The first problem is that I have to scroll way down GR’s home page to find a search box. The second problem is that I am here for the thing they do well, which is hosting a vast array of reading groups. I cannot find groups from the home page, I can only find books by Title, Author, or ISBN. Again, they are leaving some very important stuff out. Neither can I search for quizzes, trivia, or lists. I can click for “more”, but there is no search box from the home page which will take me straight to what I am looking for.
Krug lists “Shortcuts” as a separate item. Due to space constraints we are not going to analyze the two separately. Suffice it to say, these shortcuts to quizzes, lists, and other fun stuff are all that the GR home page has to offer. It lacks a place to 1) search for discussion groups, and 2) a shortcut to possible discussion groups.

11. B.T.’s search box
The only search box located on B.T.’s home page is for an advertisement of Amazon. Instead, they have a long list of every book discussion they have ever had on the site. Furthermore, it is all the way at the bottom of the page. Suffice it to say, this page desperately needs a search box.
Again, this is where we find the shortcuts offered on the home page. This is done well in that the user can quickly find the book discussion he or she is looking for. However, this is done poorly in the sense that this is a mess of tiny words. Aesthetically speaking, this is terribly ineffective.

12. G.R.’s Content & Features
Krug suggests that the home page have some teasers, which will entice the first-time browser to begin using the site. These come in the form of Content and Feature Promos. Here is an example of some of what Goodreads has on their home page. Working down on our checklist, this is the part they have handled the best. In the second article, in the tiny text, I finally find out that someone might be discussing the book I’m looking for. This information still does not tell me that they have thousands of reading groups on every type of book possible, and that there are tens of thousands of people on here discussing them. Unbelievable that they would leave this information off the home page. There is a nice example here of someone finding more books to read though. That is done well.

13. B.T.’s Content & Features
Booktalk gives users a list, complete with virtual book covers, of the books either being discussed or recently discussed. Also, on the far right, you see Featured Books, which offers a link to other important books. This serves as a prominent and adequate teaser to get a new user interested in a book discussion.

14. G.R.’s Timely Content
There are only two items of interest here on GR’s home page. The first one is a list of annual rewards. This is a really interesting section of this wonderful site. However, that, in itself, doesn’t let me know that the site gets updated often. Just that it has been updated within a year.
The second timely feature, which is higher on the page, does the trick though. It shows you some of the readers currently logged in. This certainly works to make a new user want to join, or a returning user want to log in.

15. B.T.’s Timely content
Notice here that cosmetically, Booktalk is way behind Goodreads. However, I think we are seeing a pattern develop that BT’s home page addresses Krug’s concerns more efficiently. Do you want form or function? Here, we are primarily interested in Function.
BT’s timely content is not bad. The first feature is a running scroll of some interesting, recent posts. (Click) The second feature lets us know how many people are logged in presently. Like I said, though, neither of these two dated items compete with the “good looks” of GR’s home page.

16. G.R.’s Deals
There are only a few ads on GR’s home page: a free audiobook and a couple of book offers. These are both geared towards the type of user expected.

17. B.T.’s Deals
BT’s deals have a little more variety. For one, (not shown here), if you scroll down further on the page, you can check out deals on Jeeps. The ones pictured are just some random books which potential users may or may not be interested in. I would call this an ineffective use of advertising.

18. G.R.’s Registration
This is far and away the best part of GR’s home page. It is all right here. You can sign in with your GR credentials. You can sign up for a new account. Or you can sign in through your social network of choice. The last one is a really convenient option and it works too. I’ve tried it!

19. B.T.’s Registration
BT’s registration tools are also effective, but there is a problem. The text is just too small. Also, it is obviously not as prominent as the login boxes and sign up link of GR’s.
We are seeing that the deeper we have delved into Krug’s guidelines that the effective site has traded places with the ineffective one. It is not like someone set out to purposely make a terrible site. There are some trade offs which have to be made. I am no doubt calling Goodreads ineffective because they really dropped the ball on displaying a lot of their features on the home page. That far outweighs the things BT’s home page doesn’t have in order.
Let us review the effective/ineffective features of each as a conclusion.

20. Goodreads Timely Content Deals (Less is more.)
Effective
Ineffective
Timely Content
Deals (Less is more.)
Registration (Their best feature.)
Site ID and Mission
Site Hierarchy
Search
Teases
Shortcuts

21. Booktalk Site ID and Mission Site Hierarchy Teases
Effective
Ineffective
Site ID and Mission
Site Hierarchy
Teases
Timely Content (Recent Posts)
Registration (too small though)
Search
Deals (too many)
Shortcuts