The Last Bookstore LA - Website rebuild

The best worst bookstore website you’ve ever seen...

By any heuristic standard the Last Bookstore LA website has some issues. I chose it as a project in my bootcamp because it seemed to be laden with low hanging fruit. The navigation is unnavigable, links function in different ways, no search bar, different fonts and aesthetic styles on each page, different ordering processes for different products, and a composition style that could only be generously called busy. My research testers universally disliked the nav, product listings, and checkout process. Armed with this I launched into the rebuild with a rampant fervor to turn The Last Bookstore into a clean bookselling giant of the type to keep Jeff Bezos up at night.

However as I worked on it something about my direction didn’t feel right. The site always had a alternative “punk rock” vibe and seemed more interested in drawing customers into the brick-and-mortar store rather than sell books online. I did more research into the customers and most importantly the owner. I found a great documentary about him and realized he’d rather never sell a book online again than have a website that didn’t reflect the image of his store. The message was more important than the function and therefore became the function.

And so I scrapped all the work I had done up to date and started over with a drive to deliver a selling website that also satisfied the message, event promotion, and community building the owner wanted. Honestly I feel pretty good about the results.

  • Solo site rebuild

  • September 2024 - 9 days 36 total hours

  • Interviews - 5 current site, 4 prototype

  • 1 HUGE pivot then 3 iterations

Interview Comments

  • No search function

  • Challenging navigation

  • No easy contact

  • Different ordering processes for different products

  • visually overstimulating

Additional research

  • Competitive analysis

  • User journey

  • Heuristic evaluation

  • Site flow

  • Persona creation

“Bookshops are dreams built of wood and paper. They are time travel and escape and knowledge and power. They are, simply put, the best of places.” – Jen Campbell


PERSONAS

Name: Ian Kemper Occupation: Tech

Age: 24-36

Ian has been an avid reader since childhood and has a particular love for retro books—both for their tactile charm and the hipster cred they bring. He deliberately avoids Amazon and big-box bookstores, preferring to support independent, local shops. Ian also values community and culture; he regularly checks the TLB website for updates on events and community-building initiatives.

Name: Josh Spencer Occupation: Owner - The Last Bookstore LA

(note - all data extrapolated from my research and the documentary about him - not actual fact)

Josh is a passionate lover of books as well as music (punk, J-pop, and metal). Books played a crucial role in his recovery from a serious accident, and he continues to seek out tactile media over e-books and digital alternatives.

He brings that same passion and love of reading into his store, which is a key driver of its unique atmosphere and appeal. Josh is not a fan of most modern media and treats the store’s website as more of a promotional tool than a full-fledged e-commerce platform.

For him, the focus is on building and supporting the local book community—not maximizing online sales. In his view, the means are more important than the result.

Site Rebuild Before/After

BEFORE

“Every project is an opportunity to learn, to figure out problems and challenges, to invent and reinvent.” - David Rockwell

After

CONCLUSION

This site redesign—while a bit more visually dense than I typically prefer—adds the flow and functionality the current site lacks, while preserving the majority of the chaotic, alt-punk rock vibe that I believe is essential to properly represent the owner’s vision.

I believe implementing this rebuild would not only increase sales but also strengthen the store’s role as a community-building hub in Los Angeles.