How Discord Completely Redesigned its Mobile Apps
with Francesco Polizzi — Former Head of Core Experience
Francesco Polizzi led the complete overhaul of Discord's mobile apps. What it takes to redesign a product used by hundreds of millions without breaking what they love.
In this episode
- When Francesco first joined Discord in late 2021, the company had a thriving community of avid gamers, but it was struggling to expand to a broader, more mainstream audience because new users tended to find the product confusing.
- After product-driven growth efforts began to demonstrate diminishing returns, Francesco and his team realized they needed to more fundamentally redesign the company’s mobile apps to expand their appeal and make them more accessible to new users who felt overwhelmed by Discord’s complexity.
- For inspiration, Francesco and his team downloaded every single messaging app they could find, compiled best practices, and cross-referenced these ideas vs. feedback from Discord users to identify high-potential opportunities.
- This led to a wholesale redesign of Discord’s iPhone and Android apps, including: A voice messaging feature that increased overall message volume
- A username change that increased the success rate of outbound friend requests by making it easier to find a friend by their username
- An update to the profile tab that increased customization, paving the way for additional monetization opportunities through Discord’s Nitro and Nitro Basic premium subscription plans, as well as ad hoc purchases