Create an Art Book: Preserving your artist journey into something tangible

5 Minute Journal

Add a Feature |

Aug - Sep 2024 |

UX Designer

The Problem

When journaling takes place across various platforms—apps, paper notes, index cards—entries can feel disconnected and disorganized, making it hard to revisit past ideas or memories.

Through research, I found that many people journal informally, using whatever medium is most convenient in the moment. But this often leads to scattered reflections and difficulty retrieving meaningful moments or stories later on.

This sparked a key question:

How might we create a more unified journaling experience where no memory gets lost?

01 Research

Deep Dive into the Journaling Space

Before starting the project, I researched the journaling space by exploring various apps. I focused on a mix of organized/planning apps, creative tactile journaling apps, and mood tracking tools, including Day One, Reflection, How We Feel, and Zinnia.

Competitive Analysis Takeaways

Potential features I could implement into my project:

  • Custom tags by topic

  • Calendar view of entries

  • Export as a physical book

  • Template customization

Understanding Journalers’ Needs through user interviews

Conversations with Users


I interviewed 5 people who journal regularly. My goal was to uncover common pain points and habits:

  • Journaling takes many forms—doodles, bullet points, short reflections

  • Traditional journaling with long emotional reflections can feel exhausting and hard to maintain consistently.

  • Entries are scattered across different mediums (paper, digital notes, etc.)

  • Users get frustrated when they can’t find old content they want to revisit

  • All 5 participants were interested in compiling themed content into a book

Observing how Journalers Physically Engaged with the Tasks

Hosting a Participatory Workshop


Because the idea of book creation is hands-on, I ran a participatory workshop to understand how users might physically design a book using their journal entries.


Rundown of workshop:

  • Invited 4 people who journal regularly to meet through Google Meet

  • Ask them to complete 3 tasks by showing their ideas through graphical elements and labels on a shared Google Slide document

  • Concluded by sharing each other’s ideas and group discussion


Workshop Task 1

Upload Photos of Notes & Drawings

I explored whether adding photos and other media to a journal app feels intuitive and how it might be experienced.

Key Findings:

  • Users liked the idea of uploading physical pages into the app

  • Valued the tactile, scrapbook-like experience

  • Suggested categorizing content: planning, sketches, diary entries, etc.

  • Wanted flexible layouts and visual previews

Workshop Task 2

Add Tag to Entries

I explored how users might organize their work.

Key Findings:

  • Users used tags for searchability and reflection trends

  • Valued sub-categories for things like moods, poetry, or major life events

  • Most useful for deeper, more personal entries

Workshop Task 3

Create a Printable Book

I explored how users might create their own book with existing journal entries.

Key Findings:

  • Most exciting part of the workshop

  • All participants wanted the app to visually mimic a real book

  • High desire for customization of designs

  • Book use cases included: gifts, memory keeping, personal art portfolios

Overall findings from the workshop

Personalization and creativity were highly valued

Users appreciated the ability to upload handwritten notes, express emotions, and customize entries.

Organizational tools enhanced reflection

Features like tagging and categorizing entries helped users revisit past thoughts with intention.

Flexibility and visual appeal deepened engagement

Journalers were drawn to experiences that felt emotionally resonant and visually satisfying, such as compiling printable art books.

Narrowing down on a niche audience

I decided to focus on tailoring for creative journalers, which allowed deeper exploration of emotional expression, customization, and tangible output.

Prioritizing a Niche Audience: Creative Journalers and Artists

02 Research Synthesis

Translating Insights into features of a book creation tool

Grounded in user research, the core concept centers on a flip-through book experience with customizable covers and materials. For the MVP, I prioritized the following key features for V1:

  • Upload digital art and photos

  • Tag entries and images

  • Customize book covers and layouts

  • Preview the book with a visual flip-through

  • Export or order physical copies

Features Roadmap prioritizing key features for V1:

Uncover needs and pain points through User Personas

Understanding the user is key to effective design. I created research-based personas to reflect real goals, behaviors, and pain points.

Main user pain points that I need to solve:
  • Disorganized, scattered notes and creative outputs
  • Limited time to create journal entries
  • Fear of losing precious creative memories

03 Ideation

Mapping out the user journey with a User Flow Diagram

I mapped out the user journey from creating a book, to adding entries, to editing the content. What stood out in this flow is how often users return to the book page navigation—it really anchors the whole experience.

What the user flow diagram tells me:

  • The UI for book creation and editing needs to feel smooth and intuitive to flip through

  • The design menu to be easy to find and simple to use while customizing the book

Original Flow & Insights

Originally, the user flow began by having users select journal entries first, which would then trigger the book creation process.


This flow caused confusion:

  • Many users didn’t realize they were in the process of creating a book or that a book creation option even existed.

User Flow Diagram Version 1 - Create an Art Book

Revised Flow

To address this, I revised the flow to begin with an explicit “Create Book” action. Once users initiate book creation, they’re then prompted to select entries and proceed with customizing the design and content. This change made the process feel more structured and intentional, improving clarity and overall user confidence.

User Flow Diagram Version 2 - Create an Art Book

04 Design

Crafting thoughtful Interfaces for book creation and editing flows

With a clear understanding of user needs, I translated insights into purposeful design solutions—focusing on usability, visual clarity, and seamless interaction.

05 Testing

Usability Testing

This usability test evaluated how easily users could navigate a journaling app prototype for documenting creative outlets like drawings and calligraphy. Participants completed tasks like creating entries, tagging and compiling them into an art book, editing its design, and previewing it. The test aimed to identify usability issues and gather feedback on task flow, interface design, and overall satisfaction through both moderated and unmoderated sessions.


Usability Test Results Summary


Task 1 – Create a Journal Entry

  • Most users found this task straightforward.

The entry creation flow felt intuitive and easy to navigate.


Task 2 – Start a New Book

  • Users were confused about the order of actions—many expected to create a book first, then add entries.

  • The affordance for selecting entries to include in a book was not clear enough.


Task 3 – Edit and Design Your Book

  • High mis-click rate when users tried to upload a photo to an existing page.

  • The color palette felt too strong—suggested to tone it down for clarity.

  • On mobile, users felt the design navigation might be easier to use if placed at the bottom; further testing needed.


Task 4 – Preview Your Book

  • Overall, this task was straightforward for most users.

  • Minimal friction observed during the preview process.

Wrapping up Usability Testing

Overall, the core features of the journaling app were well received, with users finding basic tasks like creating entries and previewing books intuitive. However, key usability issues emerged:

  • Confusion around task flow and interaction clarity—particularly in starting a new book and editing existing content.

  • Lack of affordances, disorganized navigation, and inconsistent experience with the design navigation

Overcoming roadblock: How do I make the navigation more intuitive?

Looking Outward: Additional Comparative Analysis to Spark Ideas

I hit a roadblock trying to make the navigation feel intuitive—like flipping through a physical scrapbook. To get unstuck, I looked to Canva’s interface for inspiration.

That exploration helped me simplify the UI while adding clear, visual affordances that made interactions feel more natural and guided:

  • Designing a single menu with contextual interactions that trigger the corresponding options.

  • Separating the design tools (top navigation) from the page-flipping controls (bottom), this interface feels more focused and less cluttered—allowing the journal itself to remain the central visual focus

06 Final Designs

Delivering the Final Book Creation Experience

The final screens bring together user insights, design refinements, and tested interactions—resulting in a cohesive, intuitive experience that balances function with creative expression.

Priority Revisions

Based on the test results and additional research, I mapped out the main revisions to focus on:

  • Clearly delineate ‘new entry’ versus ‘new book’ options

  • Eliminate visual clutter when creating a new entry

  • Shorten the book creation task all in one screen

  • Streamline the book design navigation experience

Future plans for 5-Minute Journal

To keep improving the 5 Minute Journal while staying true to its simple, mindfulness-first vibe, I explored a few thoughtful feature ideas. These would help support user growth, add more personalization, and encourage long-term use:

  • Mood & Gratitude Trends Dashboard: Visualize patterns in mood and reflections over time to help users gain deeper emotional insight.

  • Customizable Prompts: Let users select themes (e.g., “Productivity,” “Healing”) to tailor their journaling experience to personal goals.

  • Voice-to-Text & Photo Support: Allow journaling via voice notes or attaching daily photos for richer, more accessible entries.

  • Gentle, Purposeful Notifications: Expand reminders with encouraging quotes, breath work cues, or reflection prompts to support daily consistency.

  • Optional Community Sharing: Create a safe, anonymous space to share or read reflections, and join gratitude challenges for added motivation.

My Reflections

Through this feature addition case study, I deepened my understanding of user-centered design by grounding all decisions in direct user feedback. One key learning was the importance of balancing simplicity with personalization. Users loved the minimal structure of the 5 Minute Journal, but also desired more flexibility to reflect and track their well-being in ways that felt authentic to them.

A core challenge was introducing a new feature without disrupting the flow of the app’s well-loved journaling habit. I had to be mindful of the emotional tone of the product and maintain its calming, non-overwhelming aesthetic while incorporating customization.