This week marked a big milestone in my journey to build a digital product – my audiobook companion journal is now officially complete and ready to launch. After three weeks of building and testing, I spent the past few days putting on the finishing touches and ensuring that the experience feels clean and intuitive.

Final Touches and Testing

The biggest updated this week were about usability. I added example books across every category so that the user can see, upon downloading, how the template works. I also designed a custom audiobook themed header image to give the product a more aesthetic and professional feel.

To test the product, I ran two user testing sessions with two of my friends who listen to a lot of audiobooks. I gave them three tasks:

1. Add a new audiobook that they’re currently listening to and jot down some notes.
2. Check how many books they’ve listened to in the Romance genre.
3. Add a new audiobook that they would like to read.

The feedback I received was extremely positive. Both of my friends liked how simple and customizable the template was and appreciated the ability to add links to their Goodreads account and listening platforms. One of them even mentioned that it felt less like a standalone product and more like an integrated hub to her.

The only major piece of constructive feedback that I got was that one of my friends wished that the overall summary of a finished book appeared at the top of the page so she could quickly reference it when revisiting the book. I did consider moving the summary section to the top of the page, but decided against in the end because I thought keeping it at the end created a more natural flow. First the user records their notes and reflections and then ends with their summary.

100% Complete and Organized

The majority of my work this week happened inside of Notion. After working deeply in Notion, I feel like I finally have a good, strong grasp of its features. I also began looking more in depth at sales platforms, like Gumroad, but have decided that for now I’m going to first list the template on the Notion Marketplace. Since my product is made on Notion, I thought that starting there made the most sense. In the future, I’m going to consider other platforms to help broaden its reach.

At the end of the week, my product is 100% complete. It’s organized and fully functional. I’ve added helpful usage directions in the areas where it was needed and I’m in the process of finalizing the product description for the listing. After all of my hard work, I’m most proud of simply reaching the finish line. For a while, especially in the middle point of development, I felt like I would never get there. Now seeing the product come together gives me a huge sense of accomplishment.

Challenges and Insights

The biggest challenge this week wasn’t anything technical, but it was actually knowing when to stop building and refining. With a template product, I kept feeling tempted to add different features or more layers of customization. I had to find the right middle ground – make sure that the template is polished and useful, but not too overwhelming to use.

Because of this, I didn’t learn any new tools or techniques this week. Instead, I focused on refining what was already there. That focus allowed me to make sure that the every element of the template worked smoothly.

Next Steps

Now that the build is done, the next phase is all about launch preparation. This means:

• Finalizing my product listing and description
• Creating marketing materials and visuals
• Preparing the sales funnel and instructions for new users

I’m excited to take this next step and officially share the template with a wider audience. If the testing sessions are any clue, I think this product can really help audiobook lovers to better track, organize, and enjoy their listening experiences.