Product Designer · WDC Corp · 2023 → 2024
Shortcast
Most of a 5,000-summary library sits behind Premium. I designed the app so a locked book still sells itself.
Overview
The problem and my role.
Context. Shortcast is a book-summary app by WDC Corp: bestsellers on business and self-improvement, cut into short audio you can also read, plus ideas from well-known CEOs and quotes recorded as audio. The people it’s for want to learn but rarely have time to sit with a book, so the app had to work on a commute, with one hand. And since most of the library is Premium, the free experience had to do the selling.
My role. Product designer for the whole product: deciding which features made the cut, designing the app from onboarding to the paywall, and the landing page that sells it.
One decision, start to finish
Let the book sell the upgrade.
- Problem
Most of the library is Premium. If a locked title refuses to open, a free user only ever sees the paywall, and a paywall on its own says nothing about the book.
- What I saw
The book page was already the best sales pitch: a cover, a one-line promise, a synopsis. At checkout, the worry is often less the price than being charged again without being asked.
- Options
Stop free users at an upgrade screen, or let the title open and lock only the listening. For pricing: plans that renew automatically, or plans you buy once.
- Choice and cost
Open the page, lock the listening. A locked title shows its cover, promise and full synopsis, with one line above the title: “Upgrade to listen to this podcast”. The plans follow the same no-surprises idea: 1, 6 or 12 months, none renews by itself, cancelling is one tap, and there is a bank-transfer guide for anyone stuck at in-app payment. The cost: with no automatic renewal, every renewal has to be won again.
- The result
The lock became a line instead of a screen. The same line marks every Premium title in the app, and the landing page’s pricing puts the no-renewal promise next to the plans, so a free user always meets the book before the price.
The work
Real screens, and the reasoning behind them.
Inside the app
One loop: find a summary, listen or read, save it for later.
Designed phone-first, for people who listen on a motorbike, in a queue or before sleep.
Browse first, search second.
People who want to grow rarely arrive with a title in mind, so the Library tab opens on category tiles big enough for a thumb, instead of an empty search box. Search is one tap away and splits results into All, Books and Quotes. Every row has its own play button, so a result can start playing without opening its page.
Listen or read, without leaving the summary.
The player works with one hand: skip, speed, sleep timer, repeat. The “Read the content” button under it opens the summary as pages, and a mini player stays pinned at the bottom, so you can switch between listening and reading at any point.
A feed for a spare minute.
Shorts is a vertical feed of short clips and quote cards that play like stories. Each one names the person or book it comes from, so a minute of scrolling still ends with an idea and a name to look up.
Save it for the commute.
Any summary can go into a playlist from the three-dot menu, and a new playlist can be created in the same sheet. A playlist plays straight through, which suits a long ride.
Premium, without the wall.
Premium titles open like any other; only the listening is locked (the reasoning is just below). The profile shows minutes listened next to the upgrade card, and Premium features such as playlists and downloads show a lock instead of disappearing.
Landing page
A page that answers questions in the order people ask them.
What is it, what’s inside, how does it work, what does it cost, and how do I stop? Each section answers one of those, in that order.
Click for the full page