Goodreads
An Amazon-owned book tracking and reviewing app.
- Centers on the book edition
- Public reviews front and center
- Recommends the book you just finished
- Hides reviews behind taps
- Shows what friends say
- Friends' opinions are the main signal
Margins deliberately differed from Goodreads' review-first design
From Paul Warren, Margins founder
What was said about Goodreads
Goodreads recommending a book you just finished was a founder's pet peeve. Paul Warren, who built the reading app Margins, disliked that Goodreads suggested the book he had just finished. That annoyance fed into how he approached Margins.
Goodreads centers on the edition and puts reviews front and center. Margins takes the opposite approach: it hides reviews behind taps and shows what friends say. Warren's team treated Goodreads' review-first design as the thing to differ from.
The contrast is between public reviews as the main content and friends' opinions as the main signal.
How Margins Built a Viral Reading App
Paul's pet peeve was Goodreads suggesting the book he had just finished. It centers on the edition and makes reviews central, while Margins hides them behind taps and shows what friends say.
Goodreads recommending a book you just finished was a founder's pet peeve. Paul Warren, who built the reading app Margins, disliked that Goodreads suggested the book he had just finished. That annoyance fed into how he approached Margins.
Goodreads centers on the edition and puts reviews front and center. Margins takes the opposite approach: it hides reviews behind taps and shows what friends say. Warren's team treated Goodreads' review-first design as the thing to differ from.
The contrast is between public reviews as the main content and friends' opinions as the main signal.
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