Fia Reyes - Portfolio

Case Study

2 to 3 min read

Discord: Moderation Tickets

Collaboration can make our teams stronger, and our individual designs better. Here’s how to do it well.

DESIGN PROCESS

Overview and Deliverables

Background and Context

Discord is a popular communication platform that provides voice, video, and text chat features for communities to join a server and interact with each other.

However, servers are vulnerable to attacks from bad actors creating a hostile environment to hurt Discord communities.

Moderation Tickets is a system designed for community members to report bad actors or problems in the Discord server. Once the tickets are sent out, the moderation team can review complaints and reports in order to resolve them.

Results

User Satisfaction: 83% increase.

Users Feedback: 100% reported a much easier learning curve compared to other solutions.

Roles

CLIENT

Discord

TEAM SIZE

Solo

TIMELINE

Sep - Oct 23'
(6 weeks)

DELIVERABLES

Prototype

DELIVERABLES

Demonstration

Watch in 4k Resolution + 60 FPS on YouTube's website for the best quality!

PROBLEM DISCOVERY

Staying in Servers is Scary

One day, my friend woke up and saw a message from Discord that would make anyone’s heart stop. Bad actors had posted illegal content then buried the post with spam. After that, they reported the server for hosting illegal content and the server was deleted.

The community, moderators, and bots failed to detect the post. This got me thinking: Is the current server moderation tools REALLY good enough?

USER RESEARCH

Discovering User Opinions

I conducted a user research with five Discord moderators who previously had issues with server moderation. I wanted to identify the current problems with moderation.

User Stories

Participants shared stories where the current moderation tools provided a negative experience. User stories uncovered the shortcomings of user tools.

“Someone in the server messaged me about drama, but it got deleted so, so I don't have the full story or context behind it.”

— Interviewee 1

“I use a bot called MEE6 to handle most issues. Setting it up was really annoying, took me about an hour, I think.”

— Interviewee 4

“In our server, we have a channel for tickets. It's really bad when we get multiple tickets on one person since it records ALL of them in a channel, not the number.”

— Interviewee 5

Identifying the Frustrations

Analyzing the user stories categorized server moderation tools into two categories: bots and ticketing systems.

I sorted the users' pain points into the two categories in order to build the solution later. The most common pain points involved paywalled features and complicated setup.

Bots

• Technical Issues.

• Many unrelated features.

• Complicated to setup. ⭐

• Paywalled features. ⭐

• Technical Issues.

• Many unrelated features.

• Complicated to setup. ⭐

• Paywalled features. ⭐

Ticketing System

• Easy to miss in chat channel UI.

• Vulnerable to spam.

• Complicated to setup. ⭐

• Paywalled features. ⭐

• Easy to miss in chat channel UI.

• Vulnerable to spam.

• Complicated to setup. ⭐

• Paywalled features. ⭐

Current User Flow

Interviewees cited a big frustration was lack of a singular tool; Moderators sometimes use bots and ticketing system at the same time.

I used a user journey map to determine "locations" to solve the problem. The chart also acted as guide to developing the UX of the user interface.

Interviewees cited a big frustration was lack of a singular tool; Moderators sometimes use bots and ticketing system at the same time.

I used a user journey map to determine "locations" to solve the problem. The chart also acted as guide to developing the UX of the user interface.

Click here to expand image

Insight Formation

I noticed while analyzing the data, that users did not complain about other moderation features such as: word filters, verification levels, and activity alerts.

I discovered that most of the complaints pertained to post moderation problems; NOT server moderation.

Post Moderation Problems

• Too many user tools to learn.

• No built-in tool to moderate posts on Discord.

• Paywall aspects.

• Too many user tools to learn.

• No built-in tool to moderate posts on Discord.

• Paywall aspects.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

How might we integrate a post moderation tool to align with the users' needs?

Server moderation isn't the real issue. It turns out — post moderation is to blame. But, what are the key problems?

Poor UX/UI. Current solutions are simply working around the UX and UI rather than being a native solution.

Poor UX/UI. Current solutions are simply working around the UX and UI rather than being a native solution.

Saturated Tools. Solutions have too many different user flows, leading to frustration as moderators must learn every new tool.

Saturated Tools. Solutions have too many different user flows, leading to frustration as moderators must learn every new tool.

Premium Features. Moderators don't want to spend money for premium features of a tool - especially to keep their users safe.

Premium Features. Moderators don't want to spend money for premium features of a tool - especially to keep their users safe.

IDEATION

Deciding on the Solution

The design phase focused on ideating on ways to deliver the solution and building off the mistakes of current solutions.

UI Ideation

I settled on using the Events panel as a frame of reference, based on the following attributes.

Swift Development. Using an existing element helps developers release the solution more quickly.
Working Space. Plenty of empty space to fit elements and future features.

Wireframes

I used Figma to design the Wireframes.

Click here to expand image

User Flow

While designing the user flow, I referenced the user journey in order to avoid missing critical UX steps.

Click here to expand image

Revised User Journey

Having context on a ticket makes moderation much faster; as I later saw during Usability Testing.

Final Product

Click here to expand image

DELIVERY

Introducing: Moderation Tickets

After creating the prototype; I wanted to see what users thought about the product and to take their feedback into account.

Prototype Demonstration

UI Kit Credits: Muhsin Ataul, bawwub, figr.design.

Usability Studies

I tested the feature with a new set of six Discord moderators.

Limitations of Studies

• No onboarding process resulted in a slight learning curve.

• Study only simulates a hypothetical situation.

• Relied primarily on a user's past experience.

• No onboarding process resulted in a slight learning curve.

• Study only simulates a hypothetical situation.

• Relied primarily on a user's past experience.

Results

83% Increase

User Satisfaction

Qualitative Data

83% Increase

User Satisfaction

Qualitative Data

83% Increase

User Satisfaction

Qualitative Data

100% Reported

Easier to use than competitors.

Qualitative Data

100% Reported

Easier to use than competitors.

Qualitative Data

100% Reported

Easier to use than competitors.

Qualitative Data

100% Completion

Task Completion Rate

Quantitative Data

100% Completion

Task Completion Rate

Quantitative Data

100% Completion

Task Completion Rate

Quantitative Data

100% Stated

Faster than current tools

Quantitative Data

100% Stated

Faster than current tools

Quantitative Data

100% Stated

Faster than current tools

Quantitative Data

Participant Feedback

I recorded a few notable quotes from my participants for positive and negative feedback to improve the product in the future.

I love the idea of not having to set this up with a bot. But, I think it needs more features. It's lacking at the moment.

- Participant 1

I love the idea of not having to set this up with a bot. But, I think it needs more features. It's lacking at the moment.

- Participant 1

I love the idea of not having to set this up with a bot. But, I think it needs more features. It's lacking at the moment.

- Participant 1

I would use this honestly! It's easy once you get used to it!

- Participant 3

I would use this honestly! It's easy once you get used to it!

- Participant 3

I would use this honestly! It's easy once you get used to it!

- Participant 3

The screen is too small. I would have to give it more time before I replace what I have.

- Participant 4

The screen is too small. I would have to give it more time before I replace what I have.

- Participant 4

The screen is too small. I would have to give it more time before I replace what I have.

- Participant 4

Validating my Assumptions

From the limited studies I conducted, I was able to validate my assumption that users want and enjoy a no-frills and built-in ticket moderation system for Discord.

Familiarity is Good! (CONFIRMED!)

Seeing my Task Completion and anecdotes on being faster validated my assumption that being familiar is good. Users were overall satisfied and even found the tool to be much easier than current solutions.

Key Performance Indicators

Finally, I drafted a few KPIs on how the product might benefit the user and business.

User Focused KPIs

Time on Task

Analyzing the time on task through the user journey.

User Error Rate

The amount of errors a user makes performing the the intended task.

Net Promoter Score

Validates the satisfaction of users on a scale of 1 to 10.

Business Focused KPIs

Retention Rate

Validating the feature increases user retention rate. Retaining users is a potential increase in revenue.

Nitro Sub Rates

Analyzing if a feature boosts user satisfaction and drives Discord Nitro subscriptions for brand support.

User Acquisition Rate

Analyzing if competitors leave their service to use Discord based on the tools we provide for them.

CONCLUSION

Project Reflection

Thank you for reading! This is my FIRST time to be part of a team working with other UX Designers, Project Managers, and Stakeholders.

Learnings

Organization. My first real-world project made me learn how to organize my workspace for myself and the team.

New Skills. Learning to create a design system, documentation, and annotations.

Communication. Talking with stakeholders and developers during development; skills not learned through conceptual case studies.

Takeaways

Ask for help when needed. Asking for help reduces problems down the line. We are a team and we want to see the product succeed.

Communication is key. Constant communication results in small easily fixable problems. Waiting too long can potentially create a giant mess.

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Website Theme: Space 🌌 + Stationery 📝 = Space Station

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6:59:43 PM

Website Theme: Space 🌌 + Stationery 📝 = Space Station

CLIENT

Discord

TEAM SIZE

Solo

TIMELINE

Sep - Oct 23'(6 weeks)

DELIVERABLES

Prototype

Bots