Building an intuitive positive product loop created a powerful driver of engagement
Product designer / 2018-2019
Solution:
Create an poll feature, to encourage creators to post more engaging contents and attract users to participate actively.
Impact:
➊ It has become a powerful driver of engagement.
➋ It enriched our product’s diversity and boosted postings, made Weibo a dynamic platform for feedback and interaction.
I initiated this spontaneous project as a significant step in my transition from UX to product design. Believing that “interaction builds lasting relationships,” I aimed for this new feature to be universally interactive, enhancing two-way engagement between creators and audiences.
To achieve the clear product objective of enhancing user engagement, I focused on a feature that:
A. Enables users to create interesting content and interact with others;
B. Facilitates easy engagement and sharing of this content.
I discovered poll feature has significant untapped potential through research and analysis: Our highly influential verified users have potential needs, meanwhile poll feature presents a fresh opportunity on our mobile app.
I noted that Weibo has had several versions of it, with tons of problems.
After discussing with my PM and DA, reviewing the underperforming data analysis, I couldn't help but said:
I wanna save this dying feature!
I broke down the problems I'm facing: low creating, low engaging, and monotonous topics.
How might we redesign a poll feature to help expand its topics into all domains, ensuring engagement from all age groups of our users?
Persona: Two typical users
Scenario makes the value clear
My concept involved designing a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get publisher with a low learning curve to attract creators from various fields. More engaging and relevant polls will, in turn, draw more users to participate in. Increased engagement will motivate creators to produce more, creating a continuous positive loop.
Scope & Strategy Detail
Task
Design a new poll feature for Weibo, mobile app first.
Design Goal
Intuitive create experience
+ Simple vote experience
+ Help expand impacts
Breakdown
WYSIWYG
publisher
Embed in post
& tap to vote
Guide users
to share
In the Weibo publisher interface, almost every button corresponds to a different stakeholder. I had to determine which features the poll feature could coexist with. I decided it would function as an attachment similar to photos and videos, could only coexist with text-based features, like #topics and @mentions.
Almost every button in our publisher corresponds to a different stakeholder.
I broke down my goal, and built the strategy details for poll creation and participation, plus a guide to share.
User flow wireframe of creation and participation.
Phase 1: Basic feature with UX details
I infused some interaction details while designing the overall user flow for poll creation, which are missing in competing products:
Keyboard auto pop up after uploading a picture, if the required option text is empty.
Switch the poll type (text/picture) on current page, filled content will be saved during switching.
Countdown begins when 5 letters remain in the topic or option, no prior disturb or stress.
Delete any of the options is available after adding one , keep at least 2.
The polls are displayed in user feed, with a simple tap to vote. I added a button to guide users to share after participating in the poll. :
Poll with text
Poll with pictures
Phase 2: Optimize based on test
1. In some polls, the number of participating users is too large and far exceeded expectations, in this case, the percentages result in some options are similar. I changed the result from percentage to number.
2. New sharing button UI.
Phase 3: Expand according feedback
Key insight from feedback and interview was the number of options and their character limit are too low, therefore I expanded the option up to 8 and character limit for options in text poll.
Success Metrics
Number of poll created - validate poll publisher design
Number of engaged user - validate engagement design
User feedback - validate my concept and decision details
I also designed and tested some additional features, like allowing only followers to vote, to see if it could help increase followers. Additionally, we launched a web version of the new poll.
My initial concept was validated through qualitative and quantitative research.
Clear &
Simple
Mental model / User goal
Diverse &
Interested
Poll topics
Polls have become a powerful driver of engagement, making Weibo a dynamic platform for real-time feedback and interaction.
The new poll feature became a "million-user product" in its first week, and its number of engagements exceeded the comments in many days.
Team:
Me, 2 designer, 1 product manager, 3 developers/engineers, 1 QA
— Weibo Poll —
That’s it, thank you!
by Akah (Yaxiong Fu)
