How I improved creator experience & tools through research, influencing 20+ design updates for millions of users?
Overview
Kuaishou is China’s second-largest short-video platform, serving over 400 million daily active users. To stay competitive and deepen creator engagement, my team focused on improving the creator experience and enhancing video production tools.
Impact
I led and contributed to 10+ mixed-methods research projects, partnering with product, operations, and community teams. My insights drove 20+ design updates, improving features used by over 30 million users.
Role
UX Researcher
Team
Operation Managers (1)
Product Managers (2)
Data Analysts (2)
UX Researcher (3)
Timeline
6 months
Skills
UX Research (Quali + Quant)
User Interview; Survey; Usability Testing
Data Analytic; SQL
Role & Responsibilities
I provide UX recommendations using mix-methods research methods to improve creator tools & creator experiences
Creator tools
How are tools & resources helping with content creation? Common tools include filters, video upload, content performance analytic, and more.
Creator experience & growth
How are creators currently using the platform? How might we help them expand their influence, monetize content, and grow their following?
Main Collaborators
I support 10+ stakeholders including product managers, product designers, and community managers
Product Managers
Product managers collaborate with us to verify emerging business needs, testing new UX & product strategies, and understanding unexpected metric changes.
Product Designers
Product designers collaborate with us when needed help with user interviews, design updates validations, and usability testing.
Focus Area #1
Creator Experience & Growth
Project #1
How content varies on Kuaishou, TikTok, and WeChat?
What types of content do creators post across Kuaishou, TikTok (Douyin), and WeChat? How might we motivate them to bring more content to Kuaishou?
Survey — 500,000 outreach, 4,000+ responses
Reduce negative comment fatigue
Creators receive more negative comments on Kuaishou when sharing selfies or personal videos. Adding moderation tools can help them feel safer and post more consistently.
Improve video tools to match TikTok’s ease and creativity
TikTok’s intuitive filters and beautification tools make video creation effortless. Enhancing Kuaishou’s tools can shift more creators from image to video content.
Use feedback to drive cross-posting
Creators chase views with emotional content and feel safer posting casually on WeChat. Highlighting content performance can drive more sharing on Kuaishou.
Project #2
Why do teenage creators private & delete more than 50% of their videos?
What types of content do creators post across Kuaishou, TikTok (Douyin), and WeChat? How might we motivate them to bring more content to Kuaishou?
Survey — 500,000 outreach, 4,000+ responses
Reduce negative comment fatigue
Creators receive more negative comments on Kuaishou when sharing selfies or personal videos. Adding moderation tools can help them feel safer and post more consistently.
Improve video tools to match TikTok’s ease and creativity
TikTok’s intuitive filters and beautification tools make video creation effortless. Enhancing Kuaishou’s tools can shift more creators from image to video content.
Use feedback to drive cross-posting
Creators chase views with emotional content and feel safer posting casually on WeChat. Highlighting content performance can drive more sharing on Kuaishou.
Focus Area #2
Creator Tools
Project #1
Fixing UX bugs and friction on Kuaishou’s Olympic challenge pages
As the official broadcaster for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Kuaishou launched new pages with high visibility (~10M DAU). Critical bugs and usability issues needed rapid fixes to ensure a smooth experience.
Usability testing; Leadership meeting; Stakeholder interviews
Fix disappearing “Create” entry point (P0)
For some users, the entry point to create Olympic-related content vanished after exiting the flow. This bug was identified and resolved the same afternoon.
Clarify and motivate reward potential (P0)
Users were unsure about their chances of earning cash rewards. Updating the copy from “Earn up to X$” to a clearer, more motivating message to increase posting attempts.
Add in-app guidance for first-time users (P0)
New users focused on rewards but overlooked challenge rules due to dense text. Feature onboarding can help break down steps and improve understanding.
Use dynamic thumbnails on the challenge page (P1)
Static images failed to grab attention. Replacing them with GIFs or videos can increase click-through rates and engagement.
Introduce short video tutorials for quick onboarding (P1)
Users prefer video content. A few short clips showing how to participate can guide users more efficiently than text-heavy explanations.