ROLES UX Design Product Lead
Screenshot Taken on 11/06/2023
TOOLS Adobe CC, Web 3.0 Voice Accessibility
TIMEFRAME Jan 2022 - Aug 2022 Product @CircleNet
Background
The social media startup Circlenet faced a challenge. The platform has observed a troubling trend: a significant drop in user retention rates. A growing number of users are not returning after their initial visit, signaling a disconnect between the platform's offerings and user expectations. Furthermore, user activity in chatrooms and threads has declined by 40% in the past quarter alone. There is a lack of compelling reasons for users to interact and engage with the content. Solving this problem is essential for redefining the company’s role in the market, making it a destination where users feel connected, engaged, and inspired.
To address the challenge of fostering a meaningful and engaging digital space, I began by posing the question: how can we motivate users to share high-quality content? I suggested a reward model aimed at promoting the creation of content that is original and inspirational. To understand the underlying causes of low user engagement, the lack of inspiring content, I proposed a research addressing this problem through focus groups and interviews.
How might we motivate users to create inspirational and original content to improve user engagement rate?
design session insights
PREMIUM CONTENT CREATION
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PREMIUM CONTENT CREATION //
Perceived Insignificance
Users feel their contributions lack importance, suggesting a need for the platform to better acknowledge and highlight individual voices
Limited Communication Channel
There's a notable absence of connection, underscoring the necessity for more engaging and responsive interaction avenues.
Limited Interaction Features
The platform's constrained means of interaction leave users wanting more varied and meaningful ways to engage with content and each other.
One of the most important thing in building a meaningful and engaging interaction model is to address the problem of where and how interactions and rewarding behaviors happen. To create a smarter place for interaction, I have redefined three scenarios. In the first scenario, speakers are equal. By unmuting, speakers engage in a relaxed, casual conversation. Rewards can be made by clicking on the heart icon. This is like speaking up while sitting at the table.
In order to encourage content creation on the thread and facilitate individual contribution in the long term, I have designed a point-based rewarding system. In this system, the highly informing, well-thought content, and relevant resource sharing, are quantified as “points”. These “points” are allocated to their contributors, and they will be rewarded accordingly. Smart contract is employed in this process to improve fairness and accuracy. Voice navigation is available.
I have designed & delivered a community dashboard in the CircleNet community. The Community Dashboard is located in the designated university campuses. The community dashboard is an integral system that highlights the featured work of individual contributors, ranging from student conversations that are highly inspirational in voice-based chatrooms, to compelling original content on the thread posted by professionals. The dashboard encourages individuals, and initiates conversations around trendy topics.
B/ DASHBOARD
INTERACTION MODULE DESIGN
In the second scenario, speakers can raise hand and gain more agency of the room through customizing their background. In this module, the key speaker can decide the visual appearance of the topic. In a real-world setting, this scene is similar to standing up at the seat. In the third scenario, a customized pop-up window of the speaker and the thesis topic will be presented, giving the speaker a autonomy, purpose, and highlight moment. This is similar to giving a presentation in front of the meeting room to your audiences. Reward actions can be made by clicking on the heart button on the corner of the personal “album.
The key hardware that brings together the dashboard, application, and blog page is the mobile application. This IOS app becomes my key focus in creating the the reward-based “point” system.
C/ FUN BLOG
Now, you may think that this is a bit old-fashioned. But writing a top-specific, interest-generating blog can still be a professional yet entertaining way to share ideas, and to find people who have a similar interests. On this blog page, you can find featured content on Web 3.0, cryptocurrency, NFT, AI, and so much more. Being featured, of course, gives you a generous amount of “points” reward. Gain, and spend to gain more:)
Thread reward
In the Interest Group, users can post on threads that are related to the group topics. Points will be rewarded to the author of high-quality content. Each share will contribute a portion of points to the original author. If an original and inspiring content becomes viral on the internet, or be discovered by the CircleNet team, they have a chance to be featured and go public through dashboard device, receiving decentralized points reward from non-users of the app.
Delayed Responses
Users experience social connections as neither timely nor intimate, pointing towards a requirement for more immediate and deeper interaction capabilities.
This research revealed that the root of low engagement was not solely the lack of appropriate reward system but also an underperforming interaction module. Recognizing this, it became clear that a comprehensive and thoughtful interaction zone is necessary. This includes defining where and how interactions and rewards occur and understanding the implications for both creators and the audience. By addressing these aspects, I aim to enhance user engagement and foster a more vibrant and connected community.
utilizing points
In order to incentivize users to collect points, I have integrated a seamless platform with the universal point-based system. Hence, users can spend points on a range of activities, including professional consulting on career paths, academics, finding and purchasing goods on used market, and finding academic or internship resources.
INTEGRATED PROFILE
Every user has a personal profile page to organize their various activities on the platform and the points that they have gained through voice live meetings, creating contents on threads, or being rewarded by other members. They can also turn the points into cash or bitcoins through their wallets.
The reward-based system will trace the actions and performance of individual users, and reward points to them accordingly. On the aspect of improving cohesiveness, I have improved the liquidity of the points. As a result, users can use the points they’ve gained from one zone to another. For example, if you gained points by contributing resources to the chatrooms, you can spend those coins to schedule 1v1 mentorship. In this reward system, users gain exchangeable points, shared connection across the app, and a single, unified personal profiles and contribution detailing. I also proactively created a voice-based user flow for accessibility on this mobile application.
Contact point 1: Automatic Wallet Set-up
Upon signing up, a Wallet is automatically set up for the user to collect rewards. This Wallet can be used across the entire app to collect and spend points.
Contact point 2: VOI Chatroom
The VOI Chatrooms allows users to interact with others through multiple interaction modules, sharing professional content and exchanging inspiring ideas.
Contact point 3: Post on Thread
Users can turn their transcripts from VOI Chatroom to a Thread Post that allows users to share/like/repost.
Contact point 4: Give and Receive Reward
Users can reward others and receive reward with points and likes in VOI Chatrooms, Thread platform, Dashboard, and Fun Blog.
Contact point 5: Spending points
Users are able to spend the points they have collected in all services across the app - including professional consulting, used good market, and exclusive resources.
POINT-BASED REWARD
The underlying mechanism behind solutions A/B/C/ is a point-based reward system. I took initiative in clarifying the user journey of the reward-based system, ensuring cohesiveness, feasibility, and infrastructure optimization.
How might we redesign the interaction module and clarify the underlying reward system to foster more meaningful and engaging exchanges between creators and the audience, thereby enhancing the overall content quality and user satisfaction?
USER JOURNEY
A/ TAKING PLACE
Engaging interaction
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Engaging interaction //
REWARD SYSTEM
IMPACt
Utilizing Smart Contract Technology for Consumer Rewards
The earlier solutions of A/Taking Place Redesign on mobile application, B/Community Dashboard, and C/Fun Blog happen on a manual level, where I proactively wireframed and prototyped to expand the variety of interaction modules, enhancing user engagement.
For the point-based reward system, our team utilizes smart contract technology to automatically track the contribution of individual users, where meaningful interactions are tracked and rewarded. Smart contract technology is a digital agreement that is signed and stored on a blockchain network and automatically executes when its terms and conditions are met. Following the community rules, business goals, and content metrics and strategy, I devised the terms and conditions for smart contract to execute. This means that when ever the creative output of users touch upon the terms and conditions, the users will be automatically rewarded of points that go into their wallet. In addition, I also designed a set of tools that support users to manage, convert and spend coins in fiat and cryptocurrency, and ensured consistent design, and seamless integration with the rest of the application.
Integrated System Building and Risk Analysis
Let’s do a quick conclusion of what we have introduced so far to address the user retention problem - solution design and platform redesign for the initial CircleNet application, optimization of smart contract terms and conditions that tracks user contribution, and a point-based reward system that integrate all interaction features to make consumer loyalty happen. Now, the next urgent thing is to ensure that the introduction of point-based reward system and features enhancement are consistent with the rest of the application, and that they can be seamlessly integrated into the existing networking and profile building journey. In order to do that, I have recorded all the necessary steps to build an intuitive navigation, and conducted testing and risk analysis for an optimal outcome.
Design System and Components Library
Now, after ensuring that the user flow, navigation and the information architecture are consistent, we need to refine the visual design system and the UI design of the application. This efforts ensure that the platform is visually consistent, reducing users’ cognitive load, increasing conversions and building customer loyalty.
Case Study at a glance
• Introduce a variety of interaction platforms and modules that create dynamics in voice chat-room.
• Give agency to speakers by adding a podcast feature that encourages users to be more prepared.
• Provide speech transcription tool to speakers, highlighting and rewarding individual contribution.
🏠Redesigning Interaction Modules
• In progress: A dashboard that highlights featured content creation and valuable resources, to be placed as a kiosk in university student center.
• Encourage off-line interaction at the kiosk location point, enhance community relationship building.
• Build networking “circles” at designated location.
🪧Featured Content Dashboard
• A news blog page that selectively introduces up-to-date, valuable information for students.
• Direct social sharing features on the page to reward those who share invaluable information.
• Utilizes smart contract technology to automatically reward individuals when terms and conditions are met.
📰News Blog Page
• The dominant user-flow that support the other three features is the point-based integrated reward system.
• Points can be rewarded both manually from other users, or automatically from the system.
• Points can be earned, spent, and collected in a unique personal wallet, which can be converted to fiat and cryptocurrency.
💰Integrated Reward System
REFLECTION
Having the right question is key. The initial question for resolving the user retention problem was regarding high-quality main content creation. However, this question does not lead to the most effective path to resolving the retention problem. Refining this question to address the variety of interaction modules and the reward system turns out to be more effective.
Refining the question also involves going back to the product metrics, or in product-driven company, even the business metrics. In this process, it is important to evaluate risk and elect the most realistic and productive path. It is important to communicate the timeline and schedule with internal department to ensure UX optimization will bring the business into risk, bringing about positive impact.
UX solutions do not stand alone. In this case study, the utilization of smart contract technology requires extensive communication with the engineering team. As a product designer, sometimes I tend to idealize an innovative technology, and misunderstand the important values. Thus, it is important to learn the technical rules, and see if the engineers in the team has the enough time and resources to bring it into reality.
Generated High-Quality MC
Improved User engagement rate by 18%
Expanded User Base Globally