learning from their users

Before jumping into ideating solutions and creating interfaces, it was important to ground the project in real user behavior. I conducted an open-ended survey to better understand how users currently engage with the platform, and learn directly from them where misalignment stemmed. I chose an open-ended approach to avoid bias and capture patterns beyond my personal social circle. The survey focused on frequency of use, friction points, and perceived usability under both environments.

additionally identified:

- Messy navigation

- Poor access to messaging

- Poor visual hierarchy

- Difficulty scanning content

ideating solutions and creating interfaces.

No more need to jump ahead. The redesign can now be tackled with one core principle; keep things clean, but make them easy. Rather than hiding key features behind mountainous clicks and burying them in a cluster of menus, let’s consolidate the experience so users can instantly see what’s available without feeling overwhelmed.

The focus wasn’t on adding more, but better utilization of the space provided.

Search bar and stories merge into one co-existing component. Lives together while maintaining separate identities, and creates a central place for the user to access two monumental features in an intelligent fashion.

Implement solid color when unread messages exist. Creates stronger profile and pulls user attention to new information.

New discovery tab implementation. Aids deliberate browsing and helps the user find new topics of interest to them.

A prototype of the entire layout was built using Figma, where all of these changes come together in unison. Additional supporting improvements included:

- New “pull-out” comment browser to keep scrolling as seamless as possible

- Separated reels tab

- Changes to readability of navigation bar

- Cleaner organization of information

translating into code.

This marks the most critical phase of this project; realization. Good UX does not end simply at just mockups. Not only did I want to create this visual redesign, but also to polish it into a functional front-end application. Not only to strengthen my ability, but to validate whether the proposed improvements were practical and viable.

I focused on building a component-based architecture that mirrored the figma system as closely as possible, and implementing responsive behavior that would scale cleanly between desktop breakpoints. Preserving behavior was equally important as simply recreating visuals. Adjustments were made to conceptual designs during process.

why did this matter?

This project doesn’t just serve as a fun redesign, but a demonstration of end-to-end product thinking. The final outcome is less important than the capability it demonstrates; the ability to move from user feedback to a functional interface without losing clarity, intent, or usability along the way.