Biblioteca Virtual

Making an educational product as accessible as a streaming platform

I strengthened the product’s commercial positioning by redesigning the digital experience with inspiration from streaming platforms, making a technical educational service clearer, more attractive, and easier to sell.

Context and Challenge

Business Goals and Product Challenges

Virtual Library serves more than 3 million users across 400 plus institutions, operating under a B2B2C model.

After a technical platform renewal and the launch of a new app, the existing website no longer represented the product and began limiting conversion and commercial communication.

The challenge was to translate a complex service, including catalog depth, licensing, access models, and institutional contracts, into a simple, attractive, conversion oriented experience without losing technical credibility.

Brand update
Strong product, weak communication

Key Insights

Discovery, Research, and Synthesis

Benchmarking against streaming and digital reading platforms revealed a central insight:

“Users already understand the streaming consumption model. The barrier was overly technical educational language.”

By simplifying the narrative and structuring the experience around catalog discovery, perceived complexity dropped consistently without changing the product itself.

Mental model
Benchmark

Strategic Decision

Product Strategy and Solution Prioritization

The decision was to anchor the experience in established mental models.

The strategy defined:

  • Architecture inspired by streaming platforms
  • Discovery oriented content navigation
  • Clear, commercial, and contemporary visual language
  • Distinct journeys for institutions and end users

Approaches focused only on technical descriptions were discarded, as they maintained cognitive barriers to conversion.

Structural transition
Two separate journeys

Execution & Design

Solution Execution and Experience Design

With the strategy defined, the work included:

  • Conversion oriented information architecture focused on findability
  • Mapping of critical paths across catalog, search, subscription, and differentiators
  • Low fidelity wireframes for structural validation
  • Mid and high fidelity prototyping focused on visual hierarchy and fast reading
  • Definition of visual identity with colors, typography, and icons aligned with an innovation driven proposition

The work considered catalog expansion and new offerings, ensuring a foundation for growth.

Site map

Sketches

Wireframes

Prototyping

Colors

Typography

User Validation

Data-Informed Iteration

Hypotheses were validated through:

  • Quick navigation tests with users
  • Evaluation of call to action clarity
  • Adjustments to information hierarchy and visual language

Testing confirmed stronger product understanding and smoother navigation, especially for new users.

Strategic Reflection

Impact and Learnings

The site began operating as a strategic acquisition and positioning channel, not just an institutional showcase.

Earnings

Repositioned the product as a digital experience comparable to streaming platforms
Clearer value communication for technical and non technical audiences
Smoother navigation across catalog, search, and subscription
Architecture prepared for feature expansion and new audiences

The project reinforced a core insight:

Perceived value sustains acquisition as much as the product itself.

By aligning language, navigation, and commercial positioning, the platform began communicating its value directly to decision makers and end users.

This experience strengthened my work in B2B2C products, using design as a lever for acquisition and positioning.

Other works

I’m committed to delivering customized design solutions for each client.

ricardooliveira design @outlook.com