Reimagining Kids
Non-Fiction
After a decade of designing software, I wanted to apply design thinking to reimagine children’s non-fiction and get kids excited about the idea reading books.
ROLE
Head of Design
PROJECT TYPE
0-1 Launch
Industry
Book Publishing
Users
10K+
Challenge
Reading rates have declined dramatically among children, even though research highlights the many benefits of reading books. I wanted to address this crisis by creating books grounded in design thinking.
Results
We’ve sold over 10,000 box sets in the past two years, generating an ARR of $500K. Our Amazon listings maintain a 7% conversion rate and an exceptionally low return rate of just 0.05%.
Why children hate reading books
The book publishing industry has remained stuck in the pre-internet era. Books haven’t been reimagined to coexist with screens — they’re still treated as static fact dumps. I set out to change that.
95%
Prefer screens or videos to learn new concepts
92%
Value the interactive element of reading with a parent or grown-up
10%
Blame books as the problem, not their own lack of interest
Grassroots marketing to help parents understand the value behind spending $50 on high-quality books.
While most authors launch individual books, I chose to launch box sets to maintain healthy margins that could sustain marketing initiatives. The biggest challenge with this approach was convincing customers to spend $50 on books — which led me to launch a grassroots campaign to communicate the product’s value.
I fostered a community of teachers, parents, librarians, and homeschoolers around our shared mission to make learning engaging and accessible.
These early users became the key demographic for understanding perceived product value and price point. Their testimonials, videos, and feedback helped communicate the vision and ultimately led to a successful launch on Amazon.
I designed the books, brand, and marketing assets, while also managing inventory and financial planning to ensure profitability as a bootstrapped company.
Ad marketing has been highly successful, with a strong 7% conversion rate, a low 0.05% return rate, and sustainable net margins of 15%. The business continues to grow steadily, supported by partners who now manage day-to-day operations.
"Parents, teachers, and librarians have raved about the new real-world books. Some consider them game-changers for kids with short attention spans, especially in the age of AI."
New York Post