Research
Design strategy
Product design
Quick overview
Product:
Online community engagement platform
Role:
Senior Product Designer
Scope:
Research
UX strategy
UX strategy
UI design
Prototyping and user testing
Developer handover
Timeframe:
3 months from initial testing to release (2022–2023)
Challenge
Councils told us fewer residents were giving feedback on local projects. Our Customer Experience team kept hearing the same complaint: the Ideas Tool wasn't working.
Most clients had quietly stopped using it. They went back to the Survey tool instead. It was familiar and got better results.
User research I conducted showed why:
The overall experience confused people
Mobile was hard to use
It didn't meet accessibility standards
Impact
After launch, we looked at the data. Usage went up across the board. People were staying longer and coming back more often.
Client retention
Customer satisfaction and contract renewals
Tool usage
Adoption rates and overall usage on councils initiatives
Overall engagement
Time spent on platform and frequency of post
Content shares
Social media platforms and direct messages
STRATEGY
Setting the goal
I wanted to do more than just increase usage numbers. The goal was to fix the experience and change how people thought about the product.
Working with the product and engineering teams, we agreed on what success looked like:
More submissions and comments across all tools
Better accessibility and mobile experience
Less churn and more adoption
Make tools embeddable on other sites
Help residents feel heard
METHOD
Fixing the basics first
Usability testing with the original tool found a big problem: users couldn't figure out how to get back to the main feed.
This was hard news for our Product Manager, Engineering, and Customer Experience teams.
I started the design work by fixing this disconnect between posts and the feed.
Mobile that works and engages
Made it work from anywhere, so people could stay in the conversation
Thumb-friendly layout for one-handed use
Touch zones that work on any screen size
Mobile flow with no desktop problems
Clear paths so people don't get lost
Easy ways to get back to the main feed meant people explored more of the platform
Return paths you can always see
Navigation that doesn't lead to dead ends
Visual cues that guide you through
From chaos to clarity using visual hierarchy
Better information structure made the experience clearer, which led to more councils adopting the tool and residents engaging more
Card layout that replaced clutter with easy-to-scan blocks
Organised content so ideas were easy to compare
Clear structure that highlighted what mattered most
Effortless participation with intuitive actions
Using familiar actions that people know from social media made engagement natural and kept people on the platform longer
Buttons that made voting and sharing obvious
Social patterns that reduced the learning curve
Feedback that built confidence and kept things flowing
These changes made the tool feel familiar and easy to use. Fixing these problems first let me work on the bigger picture.
FOUNDATION
Building for the long term
This project would set the standard for how we improved other tools.
After auditing what we had and finding patterns, I established new design principles.
Based on what I learned, I applied patterns that actually work:
Same actions across all tools for consistency
New design system for consistency everywhere
Standard interaction patterns to make development easier
Content-first approach highlighting the best contributions
WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the minimum for accessibility
Consistent actions across tools
Standard actions give people a predictable experience, so they don't have to relearn how things work
Buttons that behave the same way everywhere
Layouts that work the same across different tools
Interactions that feel familiar once you learn them
Driving engagement by sharing posts
Sharing posts and highlighting good ideas helped residents connect and keep conversations going
Posts that are easy to share and spread around
Top ideas featured early to encourage more sharing
Activity that draws other people into the conversation
Consistency through scalable systems
A library of reusable design patterns that made building faster and kept everything consistent
Clean layouts that turned messy content into organised blocks
Standard formats that made comparing ideas easier
Key information highlighted so teams could focus on what mattered
Strategy that highlights trending contributions
A system that brings popular content to the surface in real time, rewarding participation and getting more people involved
High-vote posts stay visible to keep good ideas alive
Active threads get ranked higher to build momentum
Promoting contributions with strong engagement to guide attention
ALIGNMENT
The curveball
Two weeks before release, a key stakeholder raised a use case that hadn't been discussed in earlier reviews.
Our Product Manager explained what was overlooked:
Internal meetings need lots of posts displayed on screen
Public meetings need to show resident feedback
Engagement practitioners didn't like our social media approach
Even though we'd focused on mobile, the desktop experience mattered for councils. I had to redesign the desktop layout from a social feed to a board format. I got the new layout done just in time for release.
During reviews, stakeholders kept saying the same thing:
Instead of dismissing this feedback, I ran another round of testing with these stakeholders.
The testing confirmed we were on the right track.
“
Testing gave me confidence. It showed me how quickly residents could post ideas
Head of Product
“
The new design really streamlined things, building the product will be way smoother now
Engineering Manager
“
Going to the sessions helped. Now commenting feels natural
CX Team member
CONCLUSION
Reflecting on the project
Working through the surprise changes was tough. It reminded me that you need to set egos aside and have uncomfortable conversations. Balancing my priorities with what other team members needed wasn't easy.
This project showed me how important it is to mix technical skills with empathy and work within real constraints.
Not just numbers
Hitting targets felt good, but what really mattered was how residents responded. Their feedback showed the redesigned tool actually helped them participate and build community.
Here's what they said about the new platform:
“
Really easy to get my ideas out now, can even take photos with my phone
EcoJules
“
I'm hoping that by sharing my thoughts, it can really help bring awareness to what matters to all of us
stormAware
“
Not sure if anyone reads my comments, but I hope it encourages others to do the same
trailVoice
Councils were proud of how their communities used the platform.
What I learned
Get the team aligned early by watching users together
Be honest and direct when you communicate, not just polished presentations
This wasn't just a redesign. It changed how we worked together to solve problems.
This wasn’t just a redesign. It was a shift in how we solved problems together
For teams facing similar challenges
Figure out what success looks like early, for both business and users
Watch users struggle. It's uncomfortable but you need to see it
Share work early and listen to feedback. It's easier than fixing mistakes later
Keep things clear rather than clever. Communication matters most
Designed by Oscar Abizanda, 2025.