REEL TALK
Reel Talk is a movie social platform where users connect through authentic reviews, ratings, and personalized recommendations to explore films and engage with cinephile communities.
My Role
Product Designer
UI Designer
UX Researcher
Platform
Responsive Web
Mobile App
Tools Used
Figma
Miro
Notion
Timeline
Dec 2023- present
XFN
PM
Frontend Developers
Backend Developers
PROBLEM
User Problem
Today, engaging with movies online is a fragmented and impersonal experience. People must switch between platforms to discover films, read reviews, and connect with other movie lovers —resulting in lost context and inconsistent interactions.
Challenges
How might we create a movie platform where users can seamlessly post their opinions and engage in meaningful conversations that match their tone, interests, and level of expression?
Business Problem
Reel Talk's first launch need to overcome the cold start problem by acquiring users while simultaneously building an active community to drive early engagement.
Objective
Provide a single platform that seamlessly integrates movie ratings and social interaction, guiding users to discover, create, post, and engage effortlessly with the movie community.
Impact
Higher User Satisfaction:
Achieved a 93% satisfaction rate based on feedback from 25 user testings, validating the MVP’s effectiveness in delivering engaging movie review discussions.
Higher Feature Adoption:
Design iterations boosted feature discovery from 30% to 70% with 25 users engaging with at least 5 out of 7 MVP features.
Design Outcome
I designed the end-to-end user journey across mobile and desktop, focusing on onboarding, discovery, movie review experiences. The goal was to enhance personalization and community engagement while ensuring a seamless cross-platform UX. The product is continuously evolving ahead of its Q3 launch on the App Store and Google Play.
Set Preferences
Personalize your experience from the start.
Discover Content
Explore trending content and real-time discussions.
Browse Lists
Track what’s popular and dive into curated picks.
Explore Details
Learn more and connect through shared interests.
Leave Reviews
Add your voice, engage, and respond to reviews.
RESEARCH
Research Goal
The Challenge
What challenges do users face when engaging in movie discussions and sharing reviews with others?
Context
Reel Talk brings together the functionality of IMDb and Facebook groups, offering cinephiles a platform to share authentic reviews and connected movie communities. We aim to provide a seamless and efficient experience for users to quickly discover content and easily connect with movie communities.
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Method 1: Competitive Analysis
Reel Talk’s Unique Value Proposition
Reel Talk combines movie ratings, reviews, and a community-driven approach, creating targeted spaces for users to engage in personalized movie discussions and build authentic communities.
Marketing Fit and Strategy
Reel Talk fills a gap in the U.S. by combining authentic reviews with community building.
Post-launch, we’ll refine the platform and expand by engaging niche film communities and cinephile cultures across the U.S.
Movie Platforms
Social Platforms
Movie Social Platforms
Movie rating and view platforms (RottenTomatoes, IMDb, and Letterboxd) offer movie ratings and reviews but lack strong community-building features.
Social platforms (Facebook, Reddit, and Quora) have movie discussion groups, they lack structured rating and review systems, making it difficult to find authentic reviews and track personalized recommendations.
Most platforms support movie reviews or communities—but few connect them meaningfully. The lack of interaction around thoughtful reviews reveals a gap. Reel Talk fills this by creating an immersive social space where users don’t just rate—they discuss, connect, and build community through film.
Method 2: User Profile
Emma seeks depth and credibility; Ryan values speed and bold takes. Reel Talk bridges both by supporting thoughtful reviews and fast, reactive engagement.
Method 3: User Journey Mappings
Emma’s journey shows that movie reviews lack meaningful interaction. Reel Talk turns passive reviews into engaging conversations, making film critique more social and connected.
Ryan’s journey reveals the need for faster ways to share opinions. Reel Talk supports quick reviews and real-time comments, making bold, in-the-moment reactions part of the movie conversation.
IDEATION
Research Findings
I identified three key user needs that impact engagement and satisfaction. Below are the main challenges through user behavior patterns
💬
A space where movie reviews can be thoughtful or quick—adapted to different user styles—and truly heard.
🙌
The need for meaningful, ongoing interaction around movie reviews with like-minded film lovers.
🔎
A way to discover films and voices aligned with their tastes without sifting through irrelevant content.
Goals
Design Goal
Design an experience that streamlines onboarding and discovery while enabling meaningful interaction through personalized recommendations and flexible review styles.
Business Goal
Successfully acquire initial users and foster an active community to drive early engagement, ensuring a strong foundation for growth and long-term user retention.
Critical User Flow
Based on research insights and design goals, I mapped a user flow focusing on key interactions—onboarding, discovery, and review engagement. The flow includes both happy and unhappy paths to address pain points and streamline the experience for new and returning users, while supporting personalized recommendations and flexible review styles.
DESIGN
ℹ️
As the Product Designer responsible for both mobile and desktop website experiences, with a mobile-first approach, I will focus primarily on designing the mobile website to address user pain points and enhance engagement to achieve business goals.
Onboarding Experience:
Streamlined the onboarding process to make it faster, simpler, and more user-friendly.
Initially, our MVP had no onboarding—users signed in and were taken straight to movie reviews and posts. However, we found that engagement was low and session time dropped. User testing revealed the need for a more guided, personalized entry experience.
To address this gap, I designed an onboarding flow to meet the needs of diverse users—guiding first-time visitors, collecting preferences, and boosting engagement through tailored content discovery and meaningful review interaction.
🔁 Skip Option Added
To respect different user behaviors, we included a “Skip” button—ensuring a smooth, optional experience without blocking access.
Smart Tooltips: Guide Without Overload
Simplified from 7 steps to 2 clear guides—helping users navigate, post, and connect faster with less friction.
Homepage Drives Deeper Engagement
To increase feature adoption, I iterated through multiple homepage layouts—each exploring different
user priorities.
Version 1
Final Design
More Design process is coming soon, stay tuned!
REFLECTION
My Challenges in This Product
Wearing Multiple Hats:
Managed user research, conducted interviews, synthesized insights, and balanced research with design tasks in a fast-paced start-up environment.
Building Across Platforms:
Designed responsive mobile web and desktop websites simultaneously to ensure consistency under tight deadlines.
Balancing Scope and Personalization:
Delivered MVP features that attracted users, drove personalization, and improved engagement while staying within resource constraints.
Next steps
Post-launch, our focus will be on gathering user behavior data and feedback to iterate the design through A/B testing and qualitative insights. By refining the experience across mobile and desktop, we aim to turn first-time users into loyal contributors.
To enhance discovery and reduce friction, we plan to integrate AI-driven search and recommendations—not just for surfacing movies, but also to help users:
Find top-rated reviews and summarized community takes instantly
Surface insightful comments or discussion highlights from like-minded cinephiles
Get smart suggestions for movies or discussions based on tone, theme, or review style
(e.g., critical vs. emotional)
What I learned
Prioritization:
Trying to solve every problem at once leads to complexity and confusion. Defining a clear focus—onboarding, discovery, and review interaction—helped us move quickly and design with intention.
Finding Market Potential Through Gaps:
By mapping competitor limitations and unmet user needs, I identified a niche between casual social platforms and rigid review sites—validating an opportunity for a more interactive, personalized movie space.
Turning Ambiguity into Direction:
In early stages, product goals were broad and evolving. I learned to embrace ambiguity by grounding design decisions in research, setting clear user goals, and iterating based on feedback.
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