WEBTOON
Improving the app experience | UI/UX redesigns for mobile app
Role Duration
Product Design Intern Apr to Sept 2020
Team
Solo project. Key stakeholders were team lead Eunice Yooni Kim and designer Jasmin Baek.
Process
1. Discover & Define → heuristic evaluation, research (past UXR & comparative analysis)
2. Ideate & Iterate → low-fidelity wireframing, high-fidelity wireframing, prototyping
3. Deliver → PDF with annotated high-fidelity wireframes
As of 2021, the designs I've created are now live in the app, and are currently undergoing A/B testing. Some designs underwent further iteration with the product design team in Korea, but the major elements were preserved.
As of 2021, the designs I've created are now live in the app, and are currently undergoing A/B testing. Some designs underwent further iteration with the product design team in Korea, but the major elements were preserved.
Challenge
When I hopped onto this project, the Korea product design team had already begun tackling the following challenge:
How can we improve the WEBTOON app to provide a better user experience and ensure that users keep returning?
Since there were existing designs by the time I joined, I didn't design end-to-end and instead, I iterated further based on those designs. While the majority of what I created is confidential due to NDA, I can give a general overview of my work.
Discover & Define
• Read documentation and qualitative data gathered from app users to understand purpose & necessity of existing proposed UI/UX designs
• Conducted heuristic evaluation of proposed UI/UX designs to find any potential areas of improvement
• Performed comparative analysis on content-focused platforms with similar models
Ideate & Iterate
• Presented feedback and pitched designs to key stakeholders, iterating further based on their feedback
• Designed additional hi-fi wireframes for Episode View and Downloads feature, iterating based on initial proposed designs, research findings, and stakeholder feedback
• Updated UI/UX of proposed designs for improved usability and visual hierarchy
Deliver
I handed off a PDF file of my hi-fi wireframes and feedback to the key stakeholders for further distribution within the company and eventually, implementation in app.
Onto the next episode
It was exhilarating getting to touch a product that's been part of my life for so long and touches so many other people's lives. Here's some of the key takeaways from this project:
🌎 UI can differ a lot from place to place. While I mostly worked on the app, I was surprised to see how the Korean WEBTOON site differed from the other global branches. Despite these differences, the core principles of usability remain the same — just slightly adapted for different cultures and their design preferences.
💬 Communication is critical. I leveled up this skill thanks to stakeholder meetings, where I would explain and defend my design decisions and ask questions about UXR and more.
🌱 Advocate for yourself. I wouldn't have been able to be more involved with this project had I not requested it from my manager Eunice Kim, who then advocated for me.
