Linkhut Web and Mobile Design (Product Design)

Overview

Linkhut is an open-source social bookmarking platform where users can save bookmarks, seetrending bookmarks saved by other users, and search for bookmarks using tags.

The client approached our team expressing a desire for an improved experience that engaged usersin the use of the product, while maintaining a functional feel without busy interactions.

My role and contributions to the project consisted of redesigning the home page, coming up with accessible color schemes for light and dark mode, creating new components for improved user interaction, designing screens for a total of five user flows, and supporting design decisions for our mobile layout.

The Opportunity

The client approached our team with a desire to enhance the user experience of the site. The project began with a brief, identifying both a primary objective, and four specific goals.

Primary Objective: Enhance the overall CX (typography, color palette, page layout, design system).

Goals: 1. Enhance information density of bookmarks and related information 2. Improve UI for "see all tags for a given URL" view 3. Implement user controls that encourage exploration and user experience 4. Footer re-design

Success: "I would consider this a success if the team can provide me with some wireframes, or mocks that can give me inspiration on how to take the design of this website further."

Audit and Research

Research: With a precise brief in mind, we got to work straight away. We began by performing a heuristic evaluation to further assess key areas of improvement, as well as competitive research with similar products. This allowed us to better empathize with our client’s desires, as well as understand the context of the client’s product and market.

Implementation: We proceeded to focus on improving the overall CX with interactions and an enhanced UI, using design principles such as hierarchy of visual and typographic elements, spacing, and accessible color scheme exploration.

The Outcome

By the end of the project, the client received five user flows with completely revamped UI elements to support the user experience our client desired. Deliverables inlcuded:

Accessible color schemes for dark and light modes

Improved typographic hierarchy

Interactive components

Responsive UI with web and mobile layouts