Platforms

Mobile, Desktop

Role

Concept art, UX design

Launch Date

December 2021

Overview

Near the end of the year, the Growth team was thinking…

We publish a end of year video highlighting the best of Reddit each year, but how might we make that better and more personalized? How might we reach users who haven’t been to Reddit for a while, and increase a sense of community and belonging?

Brainstorming unique Reddit trends

Our process involved brainstorming potential data points that could be interesting to Reddit users, including:

• Generalized Reddit-wide trends

• Communities users have engaged with

• Moments users have engaged with (post, comment, vote)

• Moments of kindness (awards given and received)

• Time spent in communities

To visually represent these data points, we explored using small cards.

From initial concepts to final branding

The design team created preliminary proposals for the year-end recap experience, envisioning a full-screen interface where users could swipe through various cards showcasing personalized data. After developing these concepts, we shared them with our branding team, OrangeRed, who refined the visuals and crafted several templates that aligned with our vision.

You get a Recap… Everyone gets a Recap!

As a way of recognizing and incentivizing our engaged users such as moderators, posters, and awarders, we made sure to feature their contributions prominently in the recap experience.

For users who were returning to Reddit or hadn't interacted with the platform in a while, we sought to incorporate at least seven distinct data points into their recap, even (or perhaps especially) if it highlighted their lack of participation.

Reddit Trading Cards™

To conclude the year-end recap experience, we designed a card that summarized the user's activity on Reddit, highlighting their top three communities in a shareable format. Taking inspiration from collectible trading cards like Pokemon, we aimed to create cards that users would be excited to share with their friends.

Given the pseudonymous nature of Reddit, we also incorporated a feature that allowed users to anonymize their username if they preferred. This ensured that users had control over how their information was presented and shared, enhancing their sense of privacy and security on the platform.

Unique Clicks

6.4M

Resurrected Users

2.7M

App installs

40k

Users felt proud

Pride was a consistent theme around Reddit Recap. Users were proud of their communities, their role, and Reddit. By the second day of launch, we saw a 97% positive sentiment across media with a total of 102 pieces of media coverage.

Many users posted their recap back to their favorite subreddits, where members of the community shared their own stats and thanked each other for the year.

Bananas for bananas 🍌

While thinking about internationalization, we joked about scrapping miles and kilometers and replacing them with bananas. But, actually…? After launch, bananas became viral on Reddit and users competed to share how many bananas they had scrolled.

What we learned

Our first personalized recap experience revealed that Reddit users take pride in being part of the community and readily share their favorite subreddits as well as their personal achievements. People particularly enjoyed features like trading cards and stats related to their activities on the platform, à la number of bananas scrolled.

By leveraging these personal and shareable elements, we can further create on-platform moments that enhance user experience and foster a sense of achievement and delight.