Moleskine Smart
Writing System App
Exploring how users interact with Moleskine today and discover opportunities to elevate their experience.
The Moleskine Smart Writing App adds a social twist to digital note-sharing. Driven by research on user habits, we created the “Moleskine Mock-up” feature for easy content sharing and a sleek filing system for organization. Usability testing showed high satisfaction, highlighting how blending tactile and digital elements boosts creativity and engagement.
General Assembly
3 weeks
2024
Setting the stage
Imagine capturing your ideas on a classic Moleskine notebook, then watching them come to life in the digital world.
Moleskine’s Smart System bridges this exact gap, allowing users to enjoy the feel of writing by hand while seamlessly digitising their notes.
My team’s challenge? To take it further by adding a social feature—turning this creative tool into a platform where users can not only jot down their thoughts but also share, connect, and inspire.
User research
Wireframes
Prototyping
Usability testing
Empathise: the hunt for insights
User interviews
To crack the code of how a social feature could fit into Moleskine’s Smart System, we dove into people’s note-taking habits and creative routines.
Through user interviews, we uncovered how they juggle between physical notebooks and digital tools, their love (or hate) for social media, and how they express creativity—whether writing or sketching.
Armed with these insights, we used affinity mapping to connect the dots, revealing key patterns and opportunities to make this social networking feature something Moleskine users would actually want.
Main insights:
“I like how fast and easy it is to save and organise my digital notes/drawings”
“I like sharing my creative work on social media to connect with people and gain a broader audience.”
“I am not interested in posting on social media, especially when I am not proud of my work or feel insecure.”
Scoping out the competition:
To kick off our competitive research, we had two goals in mind:
1. Dive into social media features from popular platforms
2. Examine the writing and sketching functionalities of paper tablet competitors.
What we discovered was a playground of great tools—sharing capabilities, creative control, and stellar organisation across the board.
But something stood out: none seamlessly combined the tactile joy of sketching with the social flair of sharing. It’s this unique blend that set us apart and fuelled our design direction.
Define: nailing the dilemma
User spotlight: who are we designing for?
Meet Hannah
Hannah, a 25-year-old interior designer, sketches on paper before refining her work digitally. She shares her designs on Instagram and her company portal, gaining global recognition. One post even caught her employer’s eye and got her featured in a magazine. For Hannah, sharing her work creates new opportunities and fuels her creative journey.
“I use Instagram for both personal and design-related posts”
“I use notebooks almost every day for note-taking and sketching.”
“I share notes with colleagues by passing the notebook or uploading notes to a computer.”
Whats the key problem?
Moleskine users need a way to get their work from their page to their network.
How do we go about solving this?
How might we help Moleskine users to feel confident in organising and sharing their work?
Site Map: plotting the adventure
The site map helped us see how the existing Moleskine app was organised and where we could add new features. We introduced things like mockup additions, Canva editing, and easy exporting with Instagram tagging—making the app more creative and social.
By mapping everything out, we made sure these new features fit smoothly into the app and improved the overall experience for users.
Ideate: imagining possibilities
User needs:
Users need a way to share their work so that they can grow connections, discover new opportunities and collaborate.
Users need a way to improve content quality so they feel confident to share.
Users need a way to organise their content.
Business needs:
Introduce a social networking feature to Moleskine's smart notebook and explore how it can meet the needs of Moleskine users who wish to share their work.
Investigate how Moleskine is currently used and identify areas for improvement.
We set out to prioritise solutions based on their impact and the effort required from Moleskine with a prioritisation matrix.
We created the "Moleskine Mock-up" to help users turn rough sketches into polished, shareable content. With AI-generated backgrounds and creative layouts, this feature makes it easier to showcase ideas and engage Moleskine’s 378K Instagram followers.
Next, we focused on retention. To help users stay engaged, we designed a filing system and included a direct link to the Moleskine store for easy reordering. Since many users stop once they’re out of notebooks, this feature aims to keep them on board longer.
Finally, we explored future collaborations with platforms like Canva to give users even more creative tools. And, after some deliberation, we decided to discontinue refining the beta version of myMoleskine’s social platform, which has been inactive for three years and hasn’t resonated with users.
User flow:
Picture this: Hannah sketches a vibrant sunflower on her Moleskine, eager to try out the new mockup feature. With just a few taps, she edits her design, saves it to a folder, and effortlessly shares it with the world on Instagram. From the first stroke to the final post, her creative process flows seamlessly.
Annotation station: the sketches behind the app
Here’s where the magic happens: this sketch maps out where each new feature will live in the wireflow.
Right on the Home screen, users will find the fresh folder system, accessible both here and in the side menu, which also links to the Moleskine online shop for easy reordering.
When it’s time to edit, Moleskine Mockup and the “Edit in Canva” option pop up, letting users save their creations to folders or prep them for social sharing at any point.
And here’s a fun touch: when users post a Moleskine mockup to Instagram, a subtle “Moleskine Smart Notebook” tagline appears under their profile name (fully removable if desired). It’s all about making sharing both seamless and stylish!
Test: rough draft, real insights
To put our new features to the test, we ran usability testing on our lo-fi prototype, aiming to see if users found the app easy and enjoyable to use.
Participants were asked to add a frame to a sketch, save it to a folder, and share it on Instagram.
Here’s what we found:
2 out of 3 users completed the tasks with ease.
100% of users were happy with the experience.
66% said a mockup frame would encourage them to post.
We also ran a system usability survey (SUS) with 10 questions, measuring ease of use. The results? Our average SUS score was 71.6, comfortably above the usability benchmark, and our users rated their satisfaction at 4.6 out of 5. Every user completed their tasks successfully, underscoring a smooth, user-friendly design.
Crafting connection: a peek into our UX design system
Our design system is crafted to keep things simple, stylish, and engaging:
Colors: With a base of black, white, and grey, the look is sleek and minimalist. We added a pop of orange to energize the design and highlight what matters most.
Typography: Helvetica Neue takes the stage—modern, clear, and super readable across headings and body text.
Icons: The icons are clean, line-based, and easy to spot, fitting seamlessly into the minimalist theme.
Voice and Tone: We keep it direct and supportive, with gentle, personalized touches like “My Notebooks” and “My Folders” to build a sense of ownership and creative connection.
Accessibility: Accessibility is a priority. With thoughtful colour contrast, font sizes, and clear icons, our design meets WCAG standards, ensuring a smooth experience for all users.
Prototype: blueprint of the vision
Takeaways
Listening deeply to users means reading between the lines—often, their core needs are hinted at more than spoken. Our research and prioritisation matrix showed that a social platform for Moleskine was just the start; integrating with Instagram unlocked fresh creative pathways, but there’s still so much potential to explore as this vision grows.
Eager to see the app in action? Let’s connect!
I’d love to share my design journey and discuss how we can create exceptional user experiences together. Reach out at tayabaginai@gmail.com!