Spartacus Books
Designing a digital home for a 50-year-old community bookstore
Team
Ana Rodriguez
Aoi Netsu
Daianne Malabanan
My role
User Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
Tools
Figma
Duration
5-day hackathon
Overview
Spartacus Books is an independent Vancouver bookstore that's served as a community hub for readers, activists, and artists since 1973. While the physical store fosters connection and discovery, its digital presence didn't reflect that identity. Over a 5-day hackathon, we designed a brand style guide and a redesigned site to make books, events, and community initiatives easier to find online.
Problem
Upcoming events weren't clearly displayed, books had no clear way to browse by category, and the site read as a plain storefront rather than the community space the physical shop actually is.
Research
Interviews surfaced two user types: Community Explorers, who come for events and connection and don't care about browsing books first, and Intentional Visitors, who already know the store and just want quick access to updates. The key insight that shaped everything after: Spartacus isn't a bookstore with events. It's a community space that happens to sell books.
Solution
A cohesive brand style guide paired with a redesigned site: a clearer landing page, an events calendar, book filtering by category, and a content library, all framed around community first, retail second.
Reflection
Design is prioritization. Removing clutter made the experience stronger, and reframing the project around community rather than retail changed how I approached every decision that followed.