Rana AbudeebWork

National knowledge platform · WebNational platform

Maktabedia

The national reference for Saudi libraries: search, discovery and reservation in one experience.

One search field across libraries, and reservation right on the resource page.

Role
UX/UI & product design
Scope
Search, discovery, reservation, account
Context
Saudi libraries
Year
2024
Problem
References are spread across separate library catalogues, pages and channels.
My part
UX/UI and product design, 2024.
Key decision
One search field across libraries, reservation on the resource page itself, then follow-through in the account.
Evidence
The real product screens: search, filters, availability and account.
Result
An unbroken five-step journey: search, filter, evaluate, reserve, follow up. No numbers published.

Context

The information exists, it’s just scattered.

Reaching an academic reference in Saudi Arabia usually means moving between library catalogs, institutional pages and separate channels. Maktabedia gathers it into one interface: a searchable national catalog, a clear page per resource, and a direct path from discovery to reservation.

Search

One field, results read on the same criteria.

One search reaching resources across many libraries: title, author, holding library and availability, in the same order on every card.

Result cards in a fixed order.
A count beside every filter option.

Discovery to reservation

Reserve in place, not on another page.

The resource page answers in order: what it is, who wrote it, its bibliographic record, then the reservation action sits right there, with a table of where copies are and whether they’re available.

Each copy: available to borrow, in-library only, or reserved.

The account

It doesn’t end when the reference is found.

The account gathers reservations with pickup dates, borrowing history, reading lists and notifications, and flags what needs renewing.

Foundations

One green for action, real library photography.

The interface was Arabic from the start: right-to-left layout, Cairo type, and neutral surfaces for long reading.

  • Action green#50A284
  • Deep black#000000
  • Light mint#EBF1EE
  • Reading neutral#F5F5F5

The journey

Five steps, one path.

  1. 01Search
  2. 02Filter
  3. 03Evaluate
  4. 04Reserve
  5. 05Follow up

Outcome

A broad knowledge system, made searchable and usable.

The work wasn’t attractive screens; it was answering how a distributed catalog is searched, how a resource page is read, how interest becomes a reservation, and how the relationship continues.

Delivered

  • Discovery & search architecture
  • Reservation path
  • Account experience
  • Arabic-first interface
Original on Lady Design