UX Design / Service Design / Spatial Design
Project
Team Project · 5 members
Period:
2022
Role:
Spatial Design
User Research
Service Blueprint
Tools:
Figma
3D Modeling
Illustrator
00 — Overview
01 — Objective
Give members a place that builds belonging and puts events within reach
02 — Design Criteria
One lounge for four reading styles: social, solitary, discussion, and family day
03 — Deliverables
Lounge concept · 6-zone spatial plan · service blueprint (Blue Lanes)
01 — Context
How might we give members an offline space they can actually use, one that builds belonging and brings events within reach?
Minumsa launched Korea’s first publisher membership in 2011. Members pay a yearly fee and receive three books of their choice, two club editions, and goods, plus access to lectures, book talks, and the annual Family Day.
Research surfaced three limits. Compared with Munhakdongne and Maumsanchaek, the club offers little sense of belonging. Goods are renewed every year while participatory events stay the same, so members finish the year with little to show for it. And Family Day, held only at the Paju warehouse, has moved online, leaving members outside Seoul with a thinner experience.
Cumulative members since 2011, mostly women in their 20s and 30s
New members in 2021 alone
Family Day happens only at the Paju warehouse, and now online only
Three limits we found
Limit 01
Little sense of belonging
Munhakdongne runs a community-first club and Maumsanchaek gives a small, hand-picked group its own hideout. Minum offers few programs or perks that make members feel part of something.
Limit 02
Benefits need rethinking
Since 2017 the welcome goods change every year, but the participatory events barely do, and COVID shrank them further. Members end the year without a sense of achievement, and some say the goods just become waste.
Limit 03
Events are hard to reach
Family Day, the club’s signature event, is held only at the Paju warehouse and has moved online. The online version has smaller discounts, shipping fees for the donate-and-take campaign, and none of the atmosphere.
How competitors build belonging
경쟁사는 소속감을 어떻게 만드는가
MUNHAKDONGNE · 문학동네
Read books, connect people
Tiered perks, a wide event program, and a monthly finish-the-book club. Even in the pandemic it kept members connected with online pen pals.
MAUMSANCHAEK · 마음산책
Small, selective, and close
A hand-picked group, two-way conversation, and frequent offline meetups in a members-only hall that becomes their hideout.
TREVARI · 트레바리
Paid, managed, high-barrier
Four meetings a month for ₩210,000, a facilitator, and a mandatory review before each session. Deep reading, but a heavy price and commitment.
MINUM BOOK CLUB · THE GAP · 민음북클럽의 빈틈
Big, well-known, and out of touch
The widest audience and the strongest brand, but less communication than its rivals. Strong recruitment promotion, weak event promotion, and no place to meet.
02 — Approach
Research at a glance
리서치 한눈에 보기
3
Book cafés visited
Café Comma (Munhakdongne), Café Changbi, and Eojjeoda Sanchaek
1
Peer shadowing
An offline reading club at Agreeable, from booking to write-up
2
In-depth interviews
Members from Seoul and Daegu, one who attends events and one who never has
3
Market frameworks
3C, Five Forces, and STP, then a UCDC canvas
4
Personas
Built with a stakeholder map, journey maps, and AEIOU
1
Scale model
Role-played the four personas in two groups to test the route
01
Discover — from market to member
3C, Five Forces, and STP framed the market. Field research at three book cafés, peer shadowing at an offline reading club, and in-depth interviews with two members showed where the club’s promises break down. A UCDC canvas pulled it into one problem statement.
02
Define — four members, one lounge
03
Develop — ideas into a floor plan
04
Deliver — six zones, front to back
What we found
리서치에서 발견한 것
FIELD RESEARCH · BOOK CAFÉS · 북카페 필드리서치
Mixed-use lowers the barrier
Blending a bookstore, café, and exhibition space made reading spaces feel less stiff. Own-brand goods gave regulars something to belong to.
But publisher-run cafés barely promoted their publisher, and workshops required room rental, so casual visitors stayed away.
Insight: a lounge should welcome non-members too, and make the club visible.
PEER SHADOWING · READING CLUB · 독서모임 피어 섀도잉
Discussion needs structure
Being reassigned from the booked group felt unfair, and a friendship-first mood was pleasant but hard for people who came to talk about books.
Hearing others present widened our horizons, yet everyone wished they could pick a genre.
Insight: give discussion its own room, with genre-based groups and a guide for first-timers.
INTERVIEWS · TWO MEMBERS · 회원 2명 인터뷰
Good value, little achievement
Events felt one-directional and hard to keep up. Members wanted to choose their welcome gift and get more casual content.
Recruitment promotion is strong, event promotion is weak, and members outside Seoul rarely get to attend.
Insight: make events easier to find and attend, and let a year of activity add up to something.
Who we designed for
페르소나 4인
나
Na, 21 · Student
Beginner · 입문자
“Is the book club okay for someone shy like me?”
Needs: a guide to what the club actually does, and a low-pressure way to join a discussion alone
고
Ko, 43 · Homemaker
Collector · 수집가
“Anywhere there are books!”
Needs: events near home in Cheongju, a club that feels special, and real exchange with other members
도
Do, 27 · Influencer
Trend seeker · 트렌드 추구형
“Two birds: post it, and get the perks.”
Needs: shareable content, a record of every event, and offline meetings with other readers
박
Park, 32 · Office worker
Solo reader · 혼독족
“Nothing beats reading alone, quietly.”
Needs: a quiet place to read, event news without social media, and points he can earn on his own
From insight to zone
인사이트를 바탕으로 도출한 공간 구성 계획
INSIGHT
ZONE
나
NA · BEGINNER · 입문자
Schedule desk · open meeting room · beginner program · lounge open to non-members
일정 안내 데스크 · 열린 회의실 · 입문자 프로그램 · 비회원에게도 열린 라운지
Public lounge + meeting room
공용 라운지 + 회의실
Anyone can walk in, see what the club does, and sit in on a discussion.
누구나 들어와 북클럽이 하는 일을 보고, 토론에 참관할 수 있습니다.
고
KO · COLLECTOR · 수집가
Gift choice and in-person pickup · pop-up lounge for regions · activity kiosk · curation
기프트 선택과 현장 수령 · 지역 팝업 라운지 · 활동 키오스크 · 큐레이션
Premium lounge
프리미엄 라운지
A members-only floor with a library layout and books curated by members.
도서관 배치에 회원이 직접 큐레이션한 책이 놓인 회원 전용 층입니다.
도
DO · TREND SEEKER · 트렌드 추구형
SNS events · stamp kiosk · curation experience · regional meetups
SNS 이벤트 · 스탬프 키오스크 · 큐레이션 체험 · 지역 모임
Family Day zone + exit kiosk
패밀리데이 존 + 퇴장 키오스크
Donate-and-take all year, and points and stamps earned on the way out.
1년 내내 열리는 기증·교환, 나가는 길에 적립하는 포인트와 스탬프.
박
PARK · SOLO READER · 혼독족
Furniture for solo readers · schedule leaflets and posters · activity kiosk
혼독족을 위한 가구 · 일정 리플릿과 포스터 · 활동 키오스크
Solitary zone
혼독존
Partitioned seats with a bookmark kiosk that remembers your page.
읽던 페이지를 기억하는 책갈피 키오스크가 있는 칸막이 좌석.
03 — Design Decisions
Key decisions and why they mattered
핵심 결정과 그 이유
01 — Two tiers of access
Open to everyone, deeper for members.
Non-members buy a ticket at the kiosk and use the public lounge, meeting room, and Family Day booth, so the lounge doubles as the club’s best advertisement. The premium lounge and solitary zone stay members-only, giving the yearly fee a place to be felt.
Design Decisions · 01
02 — Six zones, four reading styles
One route that serves the social reader and the solitary one.
Public lounge, meeting room, premium lounge, solitary zone, Family Day zone with a bookstore, and kiosks at entry and exit. Each zone answers a persona: open seating for the beginner, a library floor for the collector, partitioned desks for the solo reader, a stamp kiosk for the influencer.
Design Decisions · 02
04 — Outcome
Outcomes and learning
결과와 배운 점
What we delivered
최종 산출물
01 · FLOOR PLAN
Six zones, two access tiers
Four zones open to anyone with a ticket, two kept for members, all on one route.
02 · KIOSKS
Three kiosk touchpoints
A ticket at the entrance, a bookmark in the solitary zone, stamps and points at the exit.
03 · BLUEPRINT
Blue Lanes service blueprint
Blueprint plus swim lanes: customer action, front stage, back stage, and support for every zone.
04 · VALIDATION
Scale-model role-play
Four personas played in two groups on a scale model to test the route before the plan was fixed.
Learning
Last year I designed goods and branding, where the craft lived in small details. Owning the space meant fitting four teammates’ products, four personas’ routes, and a members-only line that still feels welcoming into one plan.
Grouping the affinity diagram by AEIOU produced ideas that flowed straight into the zones and kiosks we delivered.
We studied tools beyond the ones taught in class and talked far more than last year. That is what made the project coherent.
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