Nextdoor Redesign
Overview
Background
I first heard about Nextdoor from my mom, who had made an off-handed remark about seeing a neighbor's post about rattlesnakes in the area. After asking her more about Nextdoor, I was intrigued — I loved the idea of being able to connect with neighbors and help each other out. Learn more about Nextdoor ->

Individual project, Figma, 2 weeks (Oct 2020)
The Problem
I noticed some problems with the visual design and usability of the app that could hinder the user, making Nextdoor less accessible to all. I wanted to challenge myself to dive deeper into the root causes of these issues and redesign the app to address them.
My Role
I was the sole designer on this project. Specific deliverables that I set for myself were:

• Research and findings
• Information architecture
• Impact vs. effort diagram
• High-fidelity screens
• User flows
• Prototypes
• Usability testing
Jump to a Section
Research ->
Ideation ->
Design ->
Final Solutions ->
Reflection ->
Research
What is Nextdoor?
Launched in 2011, Nextdoor is a platform that allows you to carry your neighborhood community in your pocket. With Nextdoor, neighbors are able to communicate with one another to share resources like home services, news, business recommendations, etc., buy and sell items, and/or just chat with one another. On their website, Nextdoor confidently states:
"By bringing neighbors and organizations together, we can cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on."
USERS
Nextdoor's community is huge. Covering 11 countries, 265,000 neighborhoods, and more than 27M actively monthly users, Nextdoor has a lot of potential to "cultivate a kinder world". Though there is no current released data on the age distribution of Nextdoor's users, it would be of no surprise that all kinds of people at different life stages make up this enormous user base.
Problem
However, the simplicity of Nextdoor's goal of "bringing neighbors together" is lost with the complexity and density of their mobile app. The app's interface does not help to organize the abundance of information, but rather further complicates it. To better understand Nextdoor's users, I looked at customer reviews and created user personas.
Method #1
Customer Reviews
I reviewed customer reviews on the App Store and Google Play Store. Here's what some users had to say:
Method #2
User Personas
Because of the difficulty of using the app, Nextdoor users miss out on potential connections, recommendations, community news, etc., and Nextdoor itself misses out on potential users such as:

Clara,
The mother of 2

Steven,
The 60-year old senior

Rob,
The new neighbor

SYNTHESIZING RESEARCH
3 Pain Points
From my research, I narrowed down on three pain points that I felt were essential to address. By solving these points, I hoped to 1. help the business gain more engagement and expand their user group and 2. help users to have a stronger community and find more resources.
1. Cluttered Layout
The homepage is difficult to read and navigate through.
2. Unorganized Content
The IA is organized,  and many wished that it was easier to find posts that they were actually interested in.
3. Unwelcoming Design
The app design does not evoke feelings of community, which is Nextdoor’s ultimate goal.
I set a guiding question for myself: "How might I redesign Nextdoor to make it friendly for a more diverse user base?"
Ideation
Solution Prioritization
I came up with different solutions that could solve the three pain points, and used an impact vs. effort diagram to help me narrow them down.
Design
Overview
I focused on redesigning four main features: 
‍
1. Top navigation bar
2. User posts
3. Post topic tags
4. Community highlights
Feature #1
Top Navigation Bar
By redesigning the navigation bar, I addressed the pain points of:
1. Cluttered layout
2. Unorganized content
Feature #2
User Posts
By redesigning the user posts, I sought to address two pain points:
1. Cluttered layout
2. Unorganized content

Here are some of my iterations.
From my iterations, I chose the one that I felt was best for scannability and readability. Here is the original and redesigned post side-by-side.
Feature #3
Post Topic Tags Filter
To address the following pain points, I introduced a "post topic tags" filter feature that categorizes posts and gives users the ability to filter posts by topic.
‍
1. Cluttered layout
2. Unorganized content

To create the filter design, I took elements from existing screens to ensure that I was designing within the existing design system.
Feature #4
Community Highlights
From the customer reviews I read and existing Nextdoor users I talked to, I found that people did not find the app design very inviting and/or community centered. Thus, I created a "community highlights" feature that gives users the ability to get app updates, local news, welcome new neighbors, etc. all in one place and also addresses the random placement of app content.

This feature addresses the following pain points:
1. Unorganized content
2. Unwelcome design
Finishing touches
After I finished my designs, I conducted usability tests to ensure that all pain points were addressed. From the feedback I received (shown below), I made some finishing touches.
1. Cluttered Layout
Good  👍
• "The posts are easy to read."
• Feed looks less busy
2. Unorganized Content
Good  👍
• More customizable

Needs work  👎
• "I think there could be more distinction between user posts and ads."
3. Unwelcoming Design
Good  👍
• "I definitely feel like there's more of a sense of community."
Final Solutions
The following screens highlight the changes I made during this redesign.
Homepage redesign
Reorganization of top navigation section and redesign of user posts for elevated scannability.
Post Topic Tags
Addition of post topic tags and a complementary filter function for an organized and personalized newsfeed.
Community Highlights
Introducing feelings of community with a slide featuring local announcements, new neighbors, and more.
Reflection
Impact
After finishing the redesign, I asked 4 users to rank three categories on a scale of 1-5 on how well they felt each was improved on. Here are the average scores:

• Easier and more efficient usage: 4.5
• Personalized content: 5
• Stronger feelings of community: 5
‍
These three all helped to further fulfill Nextdoor's original promise: "By bringing together, we can cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on."
Next Steps
Expanded Filters System
Currently, Nextdoor offers users the ability to sort their newsfeed by top posts, recent activity, and recent posts. However, this function is difficult to find. I think that it would be beneficial to explore one easily accessible filter function that combines this feature with my post topic filter. Many other Nextdoor users also recommended chronological sorting as well as sorting for posts from neighbors that live in your neighborhood only.

Measuring Success
If my redesigns were actually implemented, I'd measure metrics such as time spent on the app, user satisfaction, and activity on the Community Highlights.
Takeaways
Feedback is always important
Because the scope of this project was so small, and I had limited time to spend on it, I originally didn't think that it would be beneficial or I would have time to get feedback. However, sharing my designs with some design friends and family gave me different perspectives on my work that ultimately helped me a lot.

Empathize even when difficult
As mentioned in my research, Nextdoor's audience is extremely diverse. Users can range from the middle-aged woman with five kids to the older couple that takes walks in the neighborhood every day, user groups that I can not identify with. Nonetheless, it was necessary and valuable to think from these different perspectives to truly understand the user needs and solve their pain points.
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© 2023 Kelly Zhong