Zytegyst is an anonymous app where users engage with daily questions on different topics, with AI summarizing diverse perspectives along with statistic data to foster understanding and meaningful conversation.
My Role
Lead Product Designer
Tool
Figma, Notion
Category
Product Design, Business Build
Problem Statement
"In today's world, hyper-polarization fueled by media, social platforms, and social pressures has deepened divisions between groups, turning us against those with differing views.
Yet, in everyday life, people with opposing political beliefs work together, build friendships, and even marry. This shows that most people aren’t as divided as they seem and are willing to listen to different perspectives, especially when they know someone personally.
The challenge is creating a safe, engaging space where people can listen and learn from others they don’t know, free from fear of bullying or cancel culture, leading to more meaningful, productive conversations."
HOW MIGHT WE create a safe and engaging space for people to listen and learn from others they don’t know in real life?
Design Process
User Story & Flow
My PM and I firstly defined user stories (what users do on our app) and map out user flows (how they achieve their goals).
With our launch timeline in mind, I focused on designing and polishing three key flows: Questions & Responses, Analytics, and Bubbles. I organized regular design meetings with the PM, developers, and co-founders to share progress, gather insights for development, and get feedback to improve the product.
Sketching
One of the magics of designers is our ability to turn ideas from discussions into visual concepts quickly. This helps align the team on design decisions and move efficiently to the next high-fidelity phase.
Design Iteration
Challenge #1: Home Page
The homepage is crucial in determining whether users choose to engage with the question, so I focused extensively on balancing information density with visual appeal. Our goal is to make a strong first impression by keeping it clean, readable, and engaging.
Key updates:
1. Incorporated the logo to reinforce brand identity
2. Enlarged each question card, presenting users with one piece of information at a time
3.1 Shifted the question card orientation from vertical (up & down) to horizontal (left & right), dedicating the entire homepage to a single question
3.2 Removed the "Why This Matters" section, as it provides secondary information that is not essential for initial user engagement
Challenge #2: Response Experience
Our goal was to provide users with a simple, streamlined experience that allows them to input their responses quickly, with minimal distractions and fewer clicks.
Key updates:
1. Reduced image sizes and emphasized text based on its importance in the visual hierarchy
2. Removed question descriptions to prioritize space for the questions and answers themselves
3. Converted options to radio buttons to clearly indicate a single-choice selection, as the options are mutually exclusive
4. Placed the input box on the same page as the options and set it to appear immediately after a choice is made, minimizing unnecessary page navigation and keeping users aware of their selections.
Challenge #3: Analytics
After making their choices and providing sentiment input, users can view statistical data and a breakdown of others' sentiments.
Key updates:
1. Explored diverse data display options for questions beyond simple "yes" or "no" answers
2. Removed the "Users Like You" section and left data open and unbiased, as it contradicted our primary goal of fostering understanding among users
3. Moved "Filter" above the data section to enhance it's visibility and encourage users to play around with those data
4. Kept sentiments and data on the same page by adding "Expand" and "Collapse" options for each section, simplifying the experience and reducing the need for excessive clicking.
5. Introduced "Global" and "Bubble" toggles at the top, enabling users to quickly switch between global data and group-specific data
Challenge #4: Bubble Page
Bubbles are exclusive, "members only" groups where users can create a safe space to explore how their community thinks about important daily questions. Additionally, members can create and respond to their own questions, fostering deeper understanding within the group.
Key updates:
1. Combined "Members" and "Invitations" into a single list, distinguishing them with clear tags to maintain a clean and organized bubble page
2. Moved the search bar to the top, prioritizing it as a primary action for users to find specific members or add new ones
3. Removed the "Add" floating button and instead encouraged users to search for a target member first, then send an invite with a single click.
Reflection
This was my first experience leading the entire design process of a product from start to launch within a tight timeframe. I worked closely with the development team to ensure that each feature and user flow provided an optimal experience while aligning with our initial launch schedule.
One of the highlights of this project was designing the 'Respond Question' flow, which aimed to help users capture key information and express their sentiments effortlessly. We also integrated a playful element—a game where users guess what most Americans would choose. This feature added a fun dynamic while reinforcing the product's core mission of fostering mutual understanding across the U.S.
Given the time constraints, we had to deprioritize some features, such as voice input on the sentiment input page. If I had more time, implementing voice input would be my top priority, as I believe it would significantly reduce user effort and improve overall accessibility.
