Redesigned the Bible Gateway app with a modern visual language and user-centered approach, transforming complex tools into a streamlined experience that makes Scripture reading, search, and study intuitive and enjoyable.
BibleGateway is one of the most popular digital Bible platforms, used by millions globally. However, its mobile experience lacked clarity, accessibility, and a modern UI approach. This project reimagines the mobile interface for BibleGateway to create a more user-centered reading experience—focusing on readability, ease of navigation, and spiritual utility in day-to-day life.
BibleGateway serves a massive, diverse user base—from casual readers to daily devotioners and scholars. However, its mobile experience felt outdated and unintuitive. Users struggled with inconsistent navigation, limited personalization, and poor readability, especially in low-light or long-form reading scenarios.The app lacked essential features found in modern spiritual reading tools, such as dark mode, intuitive verse search, and adaptive typography. This redesign aimed to create a calm, accessible, and modern mobile experience that respects the sacredness of the content while enhancing usability for everyday spiritual routines.
I began with a heuristic review of BibleGateway’s mobile app, which revealed outdated UI patterns, small tap targets, and low visual hierarchy. A competitive analysis of leading apps like YouVersion and Olive Tree showed that users expect features like personalization, dark mode, and clear navigation. User reviews and informal testing highlighted the need for a clean, focused reading experience. Accessibility also emerged as a key priority. Especially adjustable fonts, strong contrast, and simplified layouts for long reading sessions.
This project challenged me to reimagine a legacy product through a modern, user-first lens. It strengthened my ability to balance content-heavy design with simplicity and spiritual sensitivity. I gained a deeper understanding of the role accessibility plays in long-form reading experiences, specifically the importance of contrast, font sizing, and reducing cognitive load. I also realized that modernizing UI for legacy products goes beyond visuals; it involves revisiting core flows, simplifying navigation, and aligning features with current user behaviors. Designing for a platform like BibleGateway also reinforced how clarity, tone, and visual hierarchy build trust, especially when working with sacred or emotionally resonant content.
We kicked off the project with a full audit of the existing Bible Gateway app and website, identifying key usability issues through user feedback, app reviews, and stakeholder input. Common pain points included outdated navigation, visual clutter, and difficulty accessing core features like search and reading plans. This discovery phase aligned the team around clear priorities and set the foundation for a focused, user-centered redesign.
Users found the homepage overwhelming and cluttered, with too many competing elements and no clear entry point into the experience.
The core reading experience felt outdated and lacked readability, with inconsistent typography and limited customization options.
Discovery tools and secondary content were buried under confusing menus, making it difficult for users to find devotionals, reading plans, and study resources.
In this phase, we took initial low-fidelity wireframes and refined them based on feedback and user goals. We focused on layout clarity, navigation flow, and ensuring the content structure aligned with the app’s primary purpose.
Mapping out key user journeys to ensure that navigation felt intuitive and efficient. By testing and iterating on these flows, we reduced friction in tasks like finding passages, switching translations, and exploring content.
In this phase, we explored visual styles, typography, color, and layout patterns that balanced readability with modern aesthetics. We referenced other media and spiritual apps for inspiration while aligning everything to the Bible Gateway brand to ensure familiarity and trust.
We designed a fully dynamic dark mode to enhance readability in low-light environments and reduce eye strain. Careful attention was given to contrast, color shifts, and maintaining a warm, inviting tone throughout the interface to preserve the app's comforting feel.
Working on a faith-based app meant designing for users across a wide range of ages, tech comfort levels, and spiritual practices. I learned how to create inclusive, accessible experiences that resonate with both seasoned Bible readers and first-time users.
It was crucial to honor the sacredness of Scripture while introducing modern UI patterns. This taught me how to thoughtfully modernize a legacy product without alienating its loyal user base.
User testing and feedback were essential in guiding design decisions. I learned how to listen closely, synthesize qualitative input, and prioritize changes that would make the biggest impact on real-world usability.
Working side-by-side with developers, I gained a deeper understanding of how to prepare clean, functional Figma files and communicate design intent clearly—ensuring a smooth transition from design to production.
I helped establish a flexible design system that could scale across both app and web platforms. This experience strengthened my systems thinking and attention to visual consistency.
Over the course of a year-long project, I learned to pace design decisions, anticipate downstream needs, and think beyond launch—designing with sustainability and future iterations in mind.
Redesigning a product as established and widely used as Bible Gateway presented unique challenges. A key focus was balancing modern usability with legacy familiarity—many users had deep habits formed around the old interface, so updates needed to feel intuitive without alienating long-time users. The project also involved cross-functional collaboration with HarperCollins, developers, and stakeholders, requiring clear communication, flexibility, and alignment as priorities shifted throughout the process.
Addressing the challenges of redesigning Bible Gateway meant honoring what long-time users already knew while thoughtfully layering in modern functionality. By preserving familiar elements and introducing enhancements through intuitive, gradual shifts, the redesign stayed accessible while delivering a more refined experience.
Reflecting on the redesign process, several key insights emerged that shaped both the development and final outcome. One of the most valuable takeaways was recognizing the emotional connection users have with an established product. With Bible Gateway, many users were deeply familiar with the legacy interface, so redesigning wasn’t just a matter of improving functionality, it was about respecting the history, habits and trust that had been built over time.
