Redesigning The Discussion Page Of My Anime List

TIMELINE

1.5 Weeks

ROLE

Product Designer

TOOLS

Figma, FigJam

 My Anime List previously had a limited community feature, which redirected users to an external website for interactions. This disjointed experience reduced user engagement and discouraged in-app community building. The goal of this project was to create an in-app community space where users could discuss, share content, and interact seamlessly, all within a single, unified page.

Target Users
•Anime Enthusiasts: Regular users looking to discuss episodes, fan theories, and character arcs.
•Content Creators: Artists and users who wish to share fan art, reviews, or analysis.
•New Fans: Users who are new to anime and looking for recommendations and fan opinions

The Power Of Listening:

After conducting interviews and surveys  with current users to understand their needs for an in-app community, key insights included:

Design Goals

Unified Experience: Combine the community home, anime-specific threads, and post creation into a single, streamlined page.
Enhanced Interaction: Allow users to react, comment, and reply directly within the app.
Rich Media Sharing: Support image, GIF, and video uploads for sharing fan art, scenes, and other media.

Key Features Of The Page

Trending and New Content: the main feed showcases trending discussions, recent posts, and popular fan art, providing a quick overview of community activity.
Anime-Specific Threads: users can access dedicated discussions for each anime and its episodes, facilitating focused conversations.
Post Creation: a single button for creating various types of posts (text, media, poll), with options to tag relevant anime or episodes.
Real-Time Reactions and Comments: emoji reactions and threaded comments make interactions more engaging and visually appealing.

Wireframing and Prototyping

I created wireframes to visualize the layout of the unified page. Prototyping allowed me to test user flow and interaction ease

Based on feedback, adjustments included

  • making the post creation button more prominent,
  • optimizing the comment threads for readability,
  • and refining the tagging system to improve content discovery.

Assessing the Functionality & Visual Design: Hi-Fi Prototype

Key outcomes of the new designed page:
Increased Engagement: user testing showed a significant increase in engagement, with users spending more time exploring and contributing to discussions.
Higher Content Sharing: the ability to share fan art and media led to a higher volume of user-generated content.
Enhanced User Satisfaction: feedback highlighted user satisfaction with the simplified navigation and integrated features, resulting in a more cohesive experience

Key Learnings

Redesigning the community page revealed the importance of a centralized, engaging space tailored to anime fans. Users appreciated seamless access to trending discussions, fan art, and episode threads, highlighting the value of combining functionality with simplicity. Attention to vibrant visuals and intuitive navigation further enhanced the experience for this expressive community.

Conclusion

The redesign successfully transformed the community page into a cohesive, engaging hub. It fostered stronger user interaction and loyalty while laying the groundwork for sustained engagement, proving that user-first design drives impactful experiences.