Personalizing the Patron Expereince to Improve Retention and Engagement

While Open Library excels at patron aquisition, it struggles with retaining the patrons- this happens due to a break in flow as post sign up patrons are met with an empty dashboard and lack of personalization. Without clear guidance, patrons struggle to find 'What to do next?' and drop off without engaging with the library or features such as reading lists and social connections. This project aims to bridge that very gap between 15 million patrons and 40 million works by introducing a progressive onboarding flow and a highly personalized dashboard for its patrons. By capturing user preference on sign up, we can personalize their dashboard ridding of the empty experience and providing clear Next steps, along with redesign of the dashboard to emphasize the high value features. Deliverables: Progressive Onboarding Flow (A 3-part form that captures and stores broad patron taste, specific book taste and yearly reading goal), Personalized Dashboard (Overhaul of the present 'My Books' page to priortize high-value features and addition of the 'Next reads' system), and the Recommendation Engine that powers the 'Next Reads' components using existing solr infrastructure.