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Case Study
Gospel Library Online
The Problem
How might we make the process publishing content in 100+ languages more efficient.
Business Needs
The Church produces content in 100+ languages, but for the lesser used languages, business resources allowed for only one medium of publication — print.
In an attempt to make these materials available worldwide, though, this meant that certain employees were spending at least 10–20 hours each week manually sourcing and uploading print-oriented PDF files to static language-specific version of the main website. Even putting the files in the correct locations (of a complicated architecture) was laborious.
Adding to this, the church produces and releases new content constantly — sometimes weekly. So those static webpages were often left with
- outdated lists of download links
- static, print-oriented PDFs
- inconsistent organization across languages
- 10–20 hours spent per week by producers trying to work around these problems
In other words, this was a horribly inefficient and error-prone system.
The language page for Swedish contained 120+ downloadable PDFs
User Needs
As we dug in, we saw that even the English language experience on the site was disjointed and unincorporated when it came to library content.
“Nothing looks the same!”
User feedback told us that they found content such as teaching manuals or conference talks difficult to find and access. The consistency and study tools they had come to expect in our mobile apps was not available on the web.
Screenshots from 2016: The first chapter of Matthew, the Gospel Topic on “Employment”, and the list page for April 2016 General Conference talks
While the content was available online (if occasionaly only as downloadable PDFs), it was scattered across the site and often inconsistently formatted or organized. Most of the study tools in the mobile apps weren't available at all on the web.
- unfindable content
- inconsistent organization
- confusingly different formats. layouts, and design patterns
- users’ highlights and bookmarks were unavailable on the web
The Solution
Automate all publishing to the web, including users’ study tools.
“We can use the systems and content that we already have!”
The Thought Process
I took a step back and thought about the actual need for those language pages—to provide the library content to people in their own language.
The speed at which single person can update a page manually with new PDFs becomes irrelevant if we can automate delivery of the content itself.
We already had
- A mobile app with full, multi-language support
- A centralized common content repository for the app's content that is always up to date.
- The content here is already formatted and organized in a way that is cross-platform (it has to be served out to both iOS and Android). Thus that same content can be served online in those languages.
- Existing mobile patterns and IA are already familiar to users and are used daily around the globe.
Prototyping and iterating
So, to prove the viability of the idea, I …
- acquired a copy of the content we have already in xhtml,
- researched and set up Gitbook on my laptop and ran it locally, and
- used Framer to prototype interactions with footnotes and tables of contents and test them with users.
Through a lot of work and effort by a cross-discipline team, we created Gospel Library Online.
Screenshots taken in 2026: The first chapter of Matthew, the Gospel Topic on “Employment”, and a talk from the April 2016 General Conference
The Takeaway
While the initial plan allowed us to bring the content online, doing that also meant that we could bring the other tools and resources from the mobile sphere onto the web as well. This includes saved highlights, bookmarks, and notes that sync between the app and the web.
This new automated publishing system worked across all available languages and platforms, and it gave us
- drastically reduced time-to-publish by a factor of 10 for all content, no matter the language (from 10–20 hours/week to 1–2 hours/week);
- consistent and robust navigation and design patterns; and
- the study tools available online for everyone
Lessons Learned
By uplifting the experience for those on the margins, the everyone benefitted.
“If we understand what the extremes are, the middle will take care of itself.”
— Dan Formosa in Objectified
The new Gospel Library Online (GLO) uplifted the website experience significantly for not only the many lesser-used languages, but really for all languages.
Now, more than 2 million users can freely access the GLO content and tools in their own language and in real time as they plan lessons, conduct personal study, and reference scriptures.
Thanks!
© Kurt Madsen 2026
|
Case Study
Gospel Library Online
The Problem
How might we make the process publishing content in 100+ languages more efficient.
Business Needs
The Church produces content in 100+ languages, but for the lesser used languages, business resources allowed for only one medium of publication — print.
In an attempt to make these materials available worldwide, though, this meant that certain employees were spending at least 10–20 hours each week manually sourcing and uploading print-oriented PDF files to static language-specific version of the main website. Even putting the files in the correct locations (of a complicated architecture) was laborious.
Adding to this, the church produces and releases new content constantly — sometimes weekly. So those static webpages were often left with
- outdated lists of download links
- static, print-oriented PDFs
- inconsistent organization across languages
- 10–20 hours spent per week by producers trying to work around these problems
In other words, this was a horribly inefficient and error-prone system.
The language page for Swedish contained 120+ downloadable PDFs
User Needs
As we dug in, we saw that even the English language experience on the site was disjointed and unincorporated when it came to library content.
“Nothing looks the same!”
User feedback told us that they found content such as teaching manuals or conference talks difficult to find and access. The consistency and study tools they had come to expect in our mobile apps was not available on the web.
Screenshots from 2016: The first chapter of Matthew, the Gospel Topic on “Employment”, and the list page for April 2016 General Conference talks
While the content was available online (if occasionaly only as downloadable PDFs), it was scattered across the site and often inconsistently formatted or organized. Most of the study tools in the mobile apps weren't available at all on the web.
- unfindable content
- inconsistent organization
- confusingly different formats. layouts, and design patterns
- users’ highlights and bookmarks were unavailable on the web
The Solution
Automate all publishing to the web, including users’ study tools.
“We can use the systems and content that we already have!”
The Thought Process
I took a step back and thought about the actual need for those language pages—to provide the library content to people in their own language.
The speed at which single person can update a page manually with new PDFs becomes irrelevant if we can automate delivery of the content itself.
We have
- A mobile app with full, multi-language publishing and support
- A centralized common content repository for the app's content that is always up-to-date.
- The content here is already formatted and organized in a way that is cross-platform (it has to be served out to both iOS and Android). Thus that same content can be served online in those languages.
- Existing mobile patterns and IA are already familiar to users and are used daily around the globe.
Prototyping and iterating
So, to prove the viability of the idea, I …
- acquired a copy of the content we have already in xhtml,
- researched and set up Gitbook on my laptop and ran it locally, and
- used Framer to prototype interactions with footnotes and tables of contents and test them with users.
Through a lot of work and effort by a cross-discipline team, we created Gospel Library Online.
Screenshots taken in 2026: The first chapter of Matthew, the Gospel Topic on “Employment”, and a talk from the April 2016 General Conference
The Takeaway
While the initial plan allowed us to bring the content online, doing that also meant that we could bring the other tools and resources from the mobile sphere onto the web as well. This includes saved highlights, bookmarks, and notes that sync between the app and the web.
This new automated publishing system worked across all available languages and platforms, and it gave us
- drastically reduced time-to-publish by a factor of 10 for all content, no matter the language (from 10–20 hours/week to 1–2 hours/week);
- consistent and robust navigation and design patterns; and
- the study tools available online for everyone
Lessons Learned
By uplifting the experience for those on the margins, the everyone benefitted.
“If we understand what the extremes are, the middle will take care of itself.”
— Dan Formosa in Objectified
The new Gospel Library Online (GLO) uplifted the website experience significantly for not only the many lesser-used languages, but really for all languages.
Now, more than 2 million users can freely access the GLO content and tools in their own language and in real time as they plan lessons, conduct personal study, and reference scriptures.
Thanks!
|
© Kurt Madsen 2026
|
Case Study
Gospel Library Online
The Problem
How might we make the process publishing content in 100+ languages more efficient.
Business Needs
The Church produces content in 100+ languages, but for the lesser used languages, business resources allowed for only one medium of publication — print.
In an attempt to make these materials available worldwide, though, this meant that certain employees were spending at least 10–20 hours each week manually sourcing and uploading print-oriented PDF files to static language-specific version of the main website. Even putting the files in the correct locations (of a complicated architecture) was laborious.
Adding to this, the church produces and releases new content constantly — sometimes weekly. So those static webpages were often left with
- outdated lists of download links
- static, print-oriented PDFs
- inconsistent organization across languages
- 10–20 hours spent per week by producers trying to work around these problems
In other words, this was a horribly inefficient and error-prone system.
The language page for Swedish contained 120+ downloadable PDFs
User Needs
As we dug in, we saw that even the English language experience on the site was disjointed and unincorporated when it came to library content.
“Nothing looks the same!”
User feedback told us that they found content such as teaching manuals or conference talks difficult to find and access. The consistency and study tools they had come to expect in our mobile apps was not available on the web.
Screenshots from 2016: The first chapter of Matthew, the Gospel Topic on “Employment”, and the list page for April 2016 General Conference talks
While the content was available online (if occasionally only as downloadable PDFs), it was scattered across the site and often inconsistently formatted or organized.
Most of the study tools in the mobile apps weren't available at all on the web.
- unfindable content
- inconsistent organization
- confusingly different formats. layouts, and design patterns
- users’ highlights and bookmarks were unavailable on the web
The Solution
Automate all publishing to the web, including users’ study tools.
“We can use the systems and content that we already have!”
The Thought Process
I took a step back and thought about the actual need for those language pages—to provide the library content to people in their own language.
The speed at which single person can update a page manually with new PDFs becomes irrelevant if we can automate delivery of the content itself.
We have
- A mobile app with full, multi-language publishing and support
- A centralized common content repository for the app's content that is always up-to-date.
- The content here is already formatted and organized in a way that is cross-platform (it has to be served out to both iOS and Android). Thus that same content can be served online in those languages.
- Existing mobile patterns and IA are already familiar to users and are used daily around the globe.
Prototyping and iterating
So, to prove the viability of the idea, I …
- acquired a copy of the content we have already in xhtml,
- researched and set up Gitbook on my laptop and ran it locally, and
- used Framer to prototype interactions with footnotes and tables of contents and test them with users.
Through a lot of work and effort by a cross-discipline team, we created Gospel Library Online.
Whiteboard notes showing the distinct parts of the interface
Screenshots taken in 2026: The first chapter of Matthew, the Gospel Topic on “Employment”, and a talk from the April 2016 General Conference
The Takeaway
While the initial plan allowed us to bring the content online, doing that also meant that we could bring the other tools and resources from the mobile sphere onto the web as well. This includes saved highlights, bookmarks, and notes that sync between the app and the web.
This new automated publishing system worked across all available languages and platforms, and it gave us
- drastically reduced time-to-publish by a factor of 10 for all content, no matter the language (from 10–20 hours/week to 1–2 hours/week);
- consistent and robust navigation and design patterns; and
- the study tools available online for everyone
Lessons Learned
By uplifting the experience for those on the margins, the everyone benefitted.
“If we understand what the extremes are, the middle will take care of itself.”
— Dan Formosa in Objectified
The new Gospel Library Online (GLO) uplifted the website experience significantly for not only the many lesser-used languages, but really for all languages.
Now, more than 2 million users can freely access the GLO content and tools in their own language and in real time as they plan lessons, conduct personal study, and reference scriptures.
Thanks!
|
© Kurt Madsen 2026