Blinkist — Web Player Redesign
UX/UI | Web | 2019 – 2020
Background
Blinkist’s web player was the primary reading experience for desktop users — a significant portion of the subscriber base. As a product designer at Blinkist, I led the redesign of the web reading and audio player to improve engagement, reduce drop-off, and modernise the visual experience.
The web player had to serve two distinct modes: text reading (blinks) and audio listening. Getting both right on a single interface without compromise was the central design challenge.
The Problem: A Player That Fought Against Reading
The legacy web player had a cluttered interface with too many controls visible at once. The text column was too wide for comfortable reading, the audio controls were awkwardly positioned, and switching between read and listen modes was unintuitive.
Analytics showed that users frequently abandoned mid-blink on web — a problem much less pronounced on mobile. We hypothesised the interface was getting in the way of the reading experience.
A reading player should disappear into the background. The words are the product — the UI is just the frame.
My Design Process
Key Design Improvements
- Optimal reading column width with user-adjustable font size
- Synchronized audio highlighting — text highlights in sync with audio playback
- Focus Mode: distraction-free reading with all chrome hidden
- Dark mode and sepia mode support
- Sticky audio player — always accessible without scrolling
- Keyboard shortcuts for all core player actions
Results
The redesigned web player significantly improved completion rates. Focus Mode was adopted by 40% of web users within the first month. The synchronized audio highlighting feature drove a measurable increase in users using both audio and text together — a pattern associated with higher retention.