Shades
Product Design
Team
Individual Design Challenge
Role
Product Designer
Timeframe
September, 2024
Overview
Shades
Shades is a news app that curates trending stories by summarizing different perspectives, helping users see multiple sides of an issue. This project was done over a span of 2 days as a part of a design challenge by Shades.
Problem #01
Comment Section Lacks Context
The comment section on Shades limits users' ability to gauge sentiment and context, as there are no interactive features like upvotes, downvotes, or reaction buttons. Without tools to highlight popular or controversial opinions, users struggle to assess diverse perspectives. This reduces engagement and undermines Shades' goal of providing multiple viewpoints, making the comment section a passive experience rather than an active, dynamic discussion.
Problem #02
Profiles Lack Credibility
Each profile lacks information about the user, such as their stance or credibility, which means the "takes" they write carry no context or sentiment. As a result, the comment section becomes a disorganized collection of opinions without clear context, making it harder for users to understand the validity or perspective behind each comment.
Solution
Redesigning the Comment Section
The existing comment section only provided users with comments without the ability to sort or contextualize them in terms of relevancy or backgrounds. I added a tag system in order to contextualize relevant comments, creating variations and color coding each sentiment. Additionally, I made a badge feature which allows users to gain credibility though contributing regularly to articles.
Iteration
Building around Existing Design System
Feature #01
Contextualizing Comments on
News Articles
Badge and comment tags adds relevant context and credibility to the comments.
The comments are also contextualized allowing the user to get multiple perspectives on events with ease.
Feature #02
Badge System
Earn badges through contributing to articles.
Gain credibility by displaying the badge of expertise.
Feature #03
Comment Tags
Filter comments to find relevant information.
Tagged comments provide more context to the reader.
Badges gives credibility to frequent users.
