Nextdoor Re-Design

Case Study for my Graduate program at Maryland Institute College of Art

Role: UX/UI Designer, User researcher

Project Timeline: May-August 2023

Tools Used: Figma, Miro, Mural

Product Description: 

Nextdoor is an application that is easily accessible via its mobile application and on its website. The product targets people within a community by allowing them to connect with neighbors, sell goods, find out about crime and safety, and recommend goods and services to others. The company's About Me mentions the application's goal of creating a space where "we can cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on."

Problem Statement:

Community residents need a user-friendly and intuitive platform that helps them effectively engage with their local community.

Solution:

Give users the choice of marking an event as “not interested” instead of automatically signing a user as attending an event, and also provide users with options to filter content and make communicating with other users easier.

The Research:

Objectives:

  • Understand how current Nextdoor users navigate and engage within the community through the application.

  • Determine the effectiveness of the application in creating a sense of community based on user engagement and feedback.

  • Identify pain points for community users and businesses seeking to promote their goods and services through Nextdoor.

    Nextdoor By The Numbers

I compared Nextdoor to some direct competitors, such as the mobile applications Naber, Facebook, and Neighborly. I found that these competitors needed more interactions that users would consider part of a community either because of low user engagement or because users had to be members of closed community groups such as those found on Facebook.

Key Findings from User Interviews:

  • Users want a way to filter content to cater to their wants and needs.

  • Users also want a way to get rid of sponsored posts.

  • Nextdoor can also have more community moderators that must undergo training to ensure community posts foster positivity and bring people together by focusing on limiting posts that complain and more on community events.

  • Emphasize the events under the Discover page more.

Prototyping:

I divided the recommendations into different flows I first drew out as low-fidelity sketches.

High-Fidelity Prototype:

I created a high-fidelity prototype that demonstrated several of the changes made, including making it easier for people to message each other, offering an option to remove sponsored posts, and emphasizing some of the buttons for easier visibility for those with vision impairment.

Usability Testing:

I conducted four usability test interviews, asking users that fit my persona’s demographic to complete tasks. Based on the learnings, my assumptions about finding certain things like filtering content were proven as a good asset for the Nextdoor application, which would make a resident’s experience more enjoyable and more likely to use the app more often to connect with other residents through the app.

Iterative Design and Validation:

I used my usability tests to reflect on the changes I made and to learn how Nextdoor can better suit the needs of its users. I adjusted my prototype by emphasizing the different user options on the Post screen and the filter button on the home screen.

Final Hi-Fidelity Prototype:

My final prototype incorporates most of the feedback from my interviewees that was feasible to change within the prototype I created in Figma.

Conclusion:

By the end of my project and course, I re-designed my Nextdoor prototype to address some of the critical pain points of the users I interviewed. Although my prototype would improve a Nextdoor user’s experience, there was room for improvement, such as addressing usability issues within the For Sale and Notification pages.