Cookcook

Manual · Add a book

Add a book to your library

You can add cookbooks to your library two ways: scan the barcode on the back of the book, or search the catalogue by title or author.

1Open the Add Book sheet

On the Recipes tab, tap the green + button in the top-right corner. If your library is empty, you'll see an Add a book button on the welcome card instead.

The Recipes tab open, with a green plus button in the top-right corner.

2Choose how you want to add

The sheet shows two affordances at once: a search field at the top and a barcode scanner viewport. Use whichever is faster for the book in your hand.

The Add Book sheet with a search field at the top and a barcode scanner viewport below.

3Search by title or author

Tap the search field and start typing. Results update as you type and match against title, author, and publisher. Each result shows the cover, title, and year of publication.

The search field with a query typed in and matching books appearing in the results list.

4Add the book to your library

Tap the green + on the right of the row. The button turns into a checkmark, and the book is now in your library. You can keep adding more from the same screen.

A book row in the results with the green Add button replaced by a checkmark, indicating it was added.

5Or — scan the barcode

With the sheet still open, point your phone at the barcode on the back of the book. CookCook recognises EAN-13, EAN-8, and UPC-E codes — the same bars you'd see at a checkout. When the code is matched, the book's cover appears at the bottom of the screen; tap it to add.

Tip: barcodes only resolve for books that exist in our catalogue. If nothing happens after scanning, fall back to search.

The barcode scanner viewport pointed at the back of a cookbook, with the EAN-13 barcode highlighted.

6Close the sheet

Tap the X in the top-left to close the sheet. Your new books appear on the Recipes tab in the order you added them.

The library now showing the newly added book on the home screen.
Notes for the team — first-time UX
  • The green + on the Recipes tab is the only entry point once your library has at least one book — worth verifying with new users that they spot it.
  • Barcode scanning needs a real device — the simulator can't open the camera, so step 5 is captured on hardware (or with a placeholder wireframe until then).
  • The sheet shows search and scanner stacked. Consider whether first-time users understand they can switch between them mid-flow, or whether a brief inline hint would help.
  • If a book isn't in the catalogue, the search returns nothing with no "request this book" affordance. That's a dead-end we should design out.