Unlocking Productivity
Discord for Work - Asynchronous Collaboration, Unleashed Potential!
Discord for Work
Overview 🌟
Discord for Work is a private workspace that would allow co-workers to communicate and collaborate asynchronously.
My role
Product Designer
Duration
8 weeks
Jump to: User Research 📄 || Design Goal 🎯 || Competitors 🤔 || Concept Ideation ✨ || User Personas & User Journey 🗺 || Low-Fidelity📱|| Takeaways ☑️ ||
How might working professionals utilize Discord to collaborate effectively with their coworkers?
The solution
Increasing Productivity is Key
Understand users’ needed
User Research 🧐
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10
Initial interviews
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40
Survey responses
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20
Online reviews
Primary Research ✍🏻
What do your existing collaboration tools lack?
“The other main issue Discord has is security. Anyone can join a Discord server with a link, and while you can force users to need roles added to them to join channels, this still represents a pretty major vulnerability to social engineering attacks.”
55% of people believe that Discord has the potential to separate work from play
1. Focus is more on informal youth communities
2. Difficult to navigate direct messages and chats
3. Lacks in aesthetics
4. Mixes work with play
5. Unprofessional-looking UI
48% of people are willing to try out a professional version of Discord
“Its focus is more for informal youth communities, not so much for a business environment. It can be confusing for new users due to the large number of features and options it offers.”
Interview Insights
Discord’s UI feels unprofessional. The focus on gaming works great for casual settings, but it does not translate well to a professional setting.
Organizing multiple conversations is difficult. Managing conversations between multiple channels and private messages is a common pain point.
Discord lacks important security features. Anyone can join a discord server with a link, leaving it susceptible to external threats.
Missing collaborative tools for meetings. Discord lacks important tools that are important for live collaboration such as whiteboarding, screen sharing, and note-taking tools.
Surveys Insights
People spend ~25% - 50% of their time in Discord for professional purposes (work, school, etc.)
Secondary Research 👩🏻🏫
Users’ Review Insights
Takeaways
Students find Discord as a tool of choice for collaborating on group projects. The most commonly cited use case for Discord was for school at 48%, above gaming which was at 43%.
Discord has the potential to be an effective work tool. 55% of Discord users believe that Discord can separate work from play. 48% of Discord users showed interest in trying a professional version of Discord.
Design Goal
Increase productivity by providing an integrated solution that allows colleagues to asynchronously work in a private-by-default workspace
Enhance the gamer aesthetic to a more professional look & feel– Can work and play go together?
Mitigate current user pain points to help distinguish Discord as a player in the productivity/collaboration tools market
Let’s Play Work Together
Competitors & Inspiration 🤔
Concept Ideation ✨
Server template tailored to professional/work settings
Visually more professional
Adjusting background color
Users need to be able to join meetings instantly
Easily set up/schedule meeting time
Maybe having a calendar feature and upcoming meetings/events
Note-taking during meetings
Probably a small window to take notes -> no need to switch between tabs
Tabs to allow easy sharing and organizing of files (also reassuring privacy)
Support with project planning templates
Account toggling
Like Instagram main and alt accounts
Helpful for students using Discord for work + personal
Professional Homepage that is easier to navigate
Show Calendar
Show upcoming events/meetings
User Persona Scenarios 🎲
Small businesses
An artist selling commissioned art and other hand-made merchandise and small goods. Already has an established community from other social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, etc.) but wants to use Discord for further community building. As an expanding small business, they want a space where they can hold employee meetings and handle customer inquiries in real time so that it is more interactive and efficient.
Experienced Discord users
A university student regularly uses Discord for personal use, such as hanging out with friends, class servers, study groups, and communities catered to their hobby. Due to familiarity, the student wants to use Discord for their Capstone project to work remotely with their teammates because Discord is a free option for collaboration and social communication.
User Journey 🗺
Low-Fidelity Wireframes 📱
Visual Design
Mood Board
Components
Brand Colors
❇️ It’s important to think big.
Initially, I struggled to find a creative outlet with my designs. My starting point was to look at Discord’s current design and make changes that are consistent with it’s existing design. I found greater success by starting with ambitious ideas and subsequently eliminating elements that didn't align with Discord's brand, rather than restricting myself to existing design constraints.
❇️ Don’t cast too wide of a net
My iterative prototypes predominantly attracted users who were already in favor of the initial design rather than those who were uncertain. This experience has emphasized the importance of leveraging user research to identify and engage with users who are "on the fence" at an early stage in the iterative design process. Identifying these users in early prototyping user validations are important to drive a successful design.
Reflection