Kedron Rhodes

In 2009, the publishing industry was staring down an existential shift. The Kindle had already begun reshaping how readers discovered, purchased, and consumed books—ushering in an era of instant access, dynamic pricing, and collapsing physical shelf space. Meanwhile, whispers of a new device from Apple—the iPad—were stirring both anticipation and anxiety.

It wasn’t just a new format; it threatened to redefine the very nature of reading. Publishers found themselves unprepared for a future where content was digital by default, where distribution channels were collapsing or consolidating, and where readers increasingly expected a direct, immersive connection with the people behind the pages. The old model—built on intermediaries, catalogs, and static experiences—was losing ground fast.

Re-imagined zondervan.com with a user-centered, author focused B2B e-commerce experience.

Zondervan—a leading Christian publisher under HarperCollins—recognized it needed to evolve from a B2B wholesaler into a B2C brand capable of forming direct relationships with readers. The company’s existing website functioned as a digital catalog for distributors and resellers. What it needed instead was a consumer-facing platform that elevated authors and reflected the publisher’s value.

As a UX designer at Zondervan, I led a ground-up reimagination of zondervan.com. Working within a small, self-initiated team alongside a front-end and back-end developer, we sought to redefine what it meant for a publisher to engage with its readers online.

Challenge

The challenge was as strategic as it was technical. We weren’t just designing a new website—we were reshaping Zondervan’s relationship to its readers and redefining its digital presence. The project required:

• A complete overhaul of the information architecture to move beyond the BISAC-category system used by booksellers
• A user experience that served two radically different audiences: existing wholesale partners and emerging direct-to-consumer readers
• Elevating authors as the central entry point to the site while maintaining traditional product navigation
• Accommodating complex product families, including books, study guides, journals, curriculum kits, and DVDs
• Designing for Bibles—a uniquely complex category with variations in translation, size, binding, and supplemental content
• Supporting multiple imprints, each with distinct tones and audiences (e.g., Zondervan Academic, Zonderkidz)

All of this had to be achieved while maintaining the legacy site and managing competing priorities from across the business.

Approach

We began by rethinking the mental model of the site. The new information architecture introduced dual primary pathways: one organized around authors, and the other around products. This allowed us to:

• Humanize the experience by highlighting author personas, social feeds, and behind-the-scenes content
• Preserve key catalog functionality for booksellers and internal stakeholders
• Enable new narrative and relational experiences for readers

Connecting users with a richer author-centered experience.

I developed a design system and component library to handle the site’s complexity at scale. This system allowed:

• Consistent yet flexible UI for different content types
• Tailored experiences for Zondervan’s varied imprints
• Clear communication of bundled products, bulk ordering options, and format-specific metadata

Design system that supported strong branding and visual storytelling.

I conducted user research and usability studies, especially around the Bible-buying experience, to ensure the interface met the nuanced needs of readers, churches, and academic institutions. We leaned into storytelling, personal touchpoints, and immersive visual design to shift the feel of the site from corporate catalog to something more akin to a curated bookstore or boutique publisher.

Information architecture and UX supporting a wide variety of product variations.

Robust UX and information architecture supporting complex purchasing decision.

Integrated UX across a wide variety of use-cases.

Outcome

While the full vision never launched—due to leadership turnover, a major merger with Thomas Nelson, and a wholesale tech platform change—our work left a lasting impact.

• The author-centric experience became a model that influenced the current Zondervan and Thomas Nelson sites
• The concept of directly engaging readers through immersive UX has since become table stakes in the industry
• Internally, the project shifted how Zondervan thought about customer relationships and the role of the website

Various interaction states, and of course everything was designed on a solid grid system.

For me, this project was foundational. It cemented my commitment to design systems thinking, showed me the value of front-end skills in bringing UX to life, and deepened my belief in the power of small, autonomous teams. Despite the outcome, it remains some of my best work—a reminder that in UX, the journey often teaches more than the launch.

My Roles: UX design, information architecture, front-end development, design systems

Team: 1 UX/UI designer, 1 front-end developer, 1 back-end developer

Tools: User research, usability testing, HTML/CSS/JS, design systems, component libraries, Photoshop, Illustrator