Agreed. I’ve been using Goodreads for a decade, and I’ve worked in corporate UX, and I also have UX ideas for Goodreads.

Here’s an idea I tweeted six months ago (for lack of a better way to communicate with the company, and in hope that Twitter users might express support for my idea). Basically: I’ve listed nearly three thousand books, half of which I’ve already read in their entirety, the other half of which I haven’t begun to read yet. Obviously I have no recollection of why I put all those books on my to-read list. I could “shelve” them with tags that make sense to me— this book is about democracy! this book is about creativity! — and I do that, yes, but that doesn’t really satisfy my need. By definition, if I haven’t read the book yet, I’m merely categorizing it based on the cover/description, so my shelving of a given title as “democracy” or “creativity” doesn’t give me any extra information beyond what I’d see when I pull up the book on my list anyway. What I really want is a place to write notes about “How I heard about this book” (a paid ad in my college alumni magazine?) “Why it’s important to me” (because I want to connect with a fellow alum who wrote it?) “What I already know about it” (I attended a lecture by the author and took detailed notes, or read another book or article that cited it) “When I want to read it” (when I can afford it? after I move? when I find the copy I think I already have in my basement? as part of research for a book I plan to write next year? when the author comes to town for an event next month? when I learn this foreign language? when it’s available in translation? when my health improves? when I’m on vacation on the beach?) I may want those notes to be public or private. There should be a way to leave “comments” that aren’t full-fledged “reviews.” I want a system of reminders that are essentially advertisements that I control for myself (and maybe can share with others in my social network) reminding myself when it’s time to read it and why I originally wanted to read it. That’s how my own list could help me grow as a reader. At this point, dropping yet another title on my 1,400-title “want to read” list ensures that it will not get read. My list is not functional for me anymore because it doesn’t have all the features I need to manage its reasons for existence.

Let me know, John, if you want to compare notes.