Worked on a team redesign of the Discord application to address usability and accessibility challenges affecting user experience. Led contextual inquiry, prototyping, and evaluation phases to create a more intuitive interface. Focused on navigation structure, voice communication clarity, and message search functionality.
Identifying The Difference
Getting the frames
When creating our contextual inquiry, we delved deep into breaking down Discord and finding its weak points. By focusing on usability issues, we concentrated on the interface areas, server creation, messaging, and voice communications, to account for accessibility and efficiency fully. Starting off, we made low fidelity diagrams by sketching.
We also focused on message searching frustrations by incorporating an advanced search feature that allows users to filter messages by keyword, timestamp, and other options.
To address the channel structure issues, we incorporated an improved identification system with hover tooltips to help users familiarize themselves with Discord's features. We also found prevailing issues with voice and chat functionality. Participants struggled to join the correct voice channel or find the camera activation button, and there was confusion about microphone status. We incorporated microphone features that display movement when the user is speaking and were significantly influenced by iPhone call features to diminish confusion due to their familiarity.
Prototyping Craziness
Our first step was creating storyboards to map out how users interact with Discord in different contexts. We noticed users primarily communicate with friends and play games together in private spaces, so streamlining communication was essential.
Next, we created low-fidelity prototypes to establish our design layout without visual design distractions. We prioritized intuitiveness and functionality, addressing issues like difficulty finding friends, searching chats, and message layout problems using logical content hierarchy.
Our final step was creating a high-fidelity prototype through Figma. We designed a clean interface with a sidebar for easy navigation between channels. The events tab was a key addition, displaying upcoming events with titles, descriptions, and images. We refined spacing, typography, and color contrast for better readability.
After prototyping, we conducted usability tests with Discord experts and new users. Our Usability testing also highlighted user frustrations with message searching. Many users found it challenging to navigate through old messaging history or even filter to find specific messages.So, we decided to incorporate an advanced search feature that would allow users to filter messages by keyword effortlessly, the time it was sent, and other additional options that make it easier to find information.
Throughout this journey, I learned what the basic UX principles were, and how to approach them in a team project setting. I got to work alongside two great teammates, and we learned the importance of catering to each other’s strengths and knowing what capabilities we have as a team.
We made everything from scratch in Figma to develop new skills. We created custom text input functionality with conditionals and variables, and added hover labels to reduce ambiguity. Overall, this project taught me to redesign for the user, with the user, ensuring needs were met for both experienced Discord users and newcomers. It also taught me how to use Figma extensively, and the ins and outs of prototyping.
©2025, Manuel Gonzalez Jimenez
