Conducted user research to redesign the Reddit.com homepage
Reddit is a popular website to discover content based on the interests of its users. However, usability research identified major issues that hinder first time users from signing up for accounts and engaging with content.
Redesign Reddit’s home page to increase the findability of controls and scanability of content. Enable user to easily find and discover communities.
Primary menu lacks visual hierarchy: font is too small and unbolded, inconsistent headers and navigations between subreddits.
Changing the language from English only updates a small portion of the website - not all the content.
Reddit.com has a cluttered and very busy design. Weak visual hierarchy.
The “Submit a new link” and “Submit a new text post” buttons are hidden between advertisements.
Buttons to post content are hidden
Goal: Identify usability issues with reddit.com's home page and sign-up process
Conducted evaluation using Wharton’s cognitive walkthrough full method.
Error message doesn't clear
Step 1: Click on the “sign up” button - Control is difficult to find.
Step 8: Click on the “submit” button - “I’m not a robot” error message doesn’t go away.
Goal: Assess threats and identify opportunities.
StumbleUpon leverages a persistent nav bar to keep users engaged.
Conducted unmoderated user testing of canvas current site
Clip of participant trying to find a subreddit after signing up for an account.
Home page
The main goal was to make the content easier to scan by creating space between panels and including large images.
I consider three different layouts:
I choose the horizontal grid as the default view because it offers the traditional “Z” scanning flow. Plus it takes less development cost than the masonry style grid.
Developed initial wireframes and tested prototype.
Homepage with notifications
Dashboard with badges and user stats.
Revised design based on feedback and testing.
Early version of sign-up flow with a modal window
Version two of sign-up flow with screens.
I changed the sign-up user flow from modal windows to a screens because I wanted to minimize distrations and potential errors/slips that I identified during usability testing.
A few weeks after completing my project, I learned that Reddit was planning to release a new design of their home page. I'm looking forward to comparing my version with theirs.