Work Hard, Play Hard.
Discord Notification Redesign
Overview
A redesigned Discord’s notification system that support healthier digital boundaries and smoother community re-entry, helping people unplug without losing their sense of belonging.
My Role
Project Lead
UI/UX Design
Usability Testing
Storyboarding
Team
Yaya Zheng
Ruby Wu
Meiyao Li
Timeline
March - June 2025
11 weeks
Instructed By
Bridget Weis
Li-Yuan Chiou
VP WHO DRAFTS WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENT
Oops sry I was on Do Not Disturb and missed your DM 😬 updating the announcement rn
NEWBIE JUST JOINED THIS QUARTER
SORRY if I’m posting in the wrong channel but where can I find the absent form? 😭😭
FINANCE CHAIR OF DESIGN FRATERNITY
Last call for the merch pre-order form! Also don't forget fill out this spreadsheet & that…
. . . . . .
Exec board of this student design fraternity juggle weekly announcements, event coordination, fundraisers, new members onboarding…
all while trying to keep up with spontaneous hangouts and the social energy that makes the community special.
FINANCE CHAIR OF DESIGN FRATERNITY
Can we switch to Slack?
Despite her love for Discord’s casual energy, Ariana found herself craving the structure and clarity of Slack when it comes to managing a growing community…
DESIGN STUDENT SEEKING AN APP TO REDESIGN
Wait, don't give up just yet! Tell me more…
Jump to FINAL ↓
| REDESIGN VISION
Discord for ALL
Discord, once built for casual gaming, is now widely adopted by non-gamer communities–but its UX hasn't caught up. Its current taxonomy, UI, and navigation assumes a high level of technical fluency.
The steep onboarding curve and unpredictable (sometimes invisible) system behavior creates friction for students who are introduced to Discord because of RSOs and non-gaming communities.
| CONTEXT
The Modern "Do Not Disturb" Dilemma.
"Do Not Disturb" offers peace, but at a cost: the gradual erosion of belonging.
Re-entering a community can be overwhelming–missed inside jokes, lost context, and the quiet anxiety of FOMO–"am I missing out the fun?"
In active Discord communities, members struggle with staying informed and connected–either feeling glued to servers or returning to overwhelming amounts of noise after being away.
| SECONDARY RESEARCH
Discord's Notification System Doesn't Scale with Community Complexity.
A scan of developer forums and Reddit (home to many of Discord’s most experienced users) reveals consistent and unresolved frustrations with the current notification system:
(These notification feature requests were posted 6 years ago and still not fixed/implemented)
Low Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Important updates are buried in irrelevant spam, scrolling chat history can be frustrating.
Phantom beeps: no visual cues nor accurate* history. Users have to look through every server/channel to trace the notification origin of the beep.
No Middle Ground**: Many users feel forced to mute all servers/in-app notifications just to regain control.
*Our heuristic usability audit to Discord's current notification inbox →
** Our thoughts on Discord's recent experimentation →
| PROBLEM
When user return to Discord after being away, whether it's studying for final, grinding for a design project, or simply enjoying personal downtime, they face three key pain points:
01. Information Overload
Catching up is overwhelming due to the volume of unfiltered messages, cluttered homepage, and complex folder navigation.
02. Emotional Distance
Extended absences make users feel disconnected from the community. Some avoid rejoining altogether out of guilt or awkwardness.
03. "Where can I find xxx?"
Important messages are buried; pinning is limited to channels; searching isn't intuitive to less tech-savvy users; reminders & archives are non-existent.
| REDESIGN VISION
How might we normalize absence and make returning feel effortless—so members can unplug, focus on life, and rejoin the community without guilt or being overwhelmed?
| COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
What makes Ariana wanna switch to Slack?
Slack's visual hierarchy & structure is optimized for mobile experience.
Slack's features prioritize clarity, efficient notification management, and flexibility.
HOMEPAGE
4 out 5 people we interviewed reported they rarely used Discord's notification tab due to the confusing layout & irrelevant friend request.
Slack, on the other hand, has effective filtering tags & concise message sources.
NOTIFICATION INBOX
Discord’s filter doesn't help users decide which message to act on, delay, or ignore.
Slack's "Unreads" toggle help users prioritize right away, hiding irrelevant controls.
FILTER & SORT
Long pressing a message in Discord provide irrelevant actions.
Slack, on the other hand, shows message preview and useful organizational tools.
LONG-PRESS SHORTCUT
| IDEATE
UX Storyboarding
Scenario Storyboards for Short-term Catch-up
Technical Storyboards for Short-term Catch-up
| EMPHATHIZE
UX Mapping
| ITERATE
How to Communicate Multi-Server Hierarchy?
| USABILITY TESTING
Feedbacks from Real Users
We interviewed three executive board members of ATD, a UW design fraternity, who interact with Discord for event coordination, professional development, and social bonding. Additionally, we have two Slack users who brings comparative insights and a power Discord user who’d been using discord since 2018.
DESIGN STUDENT SEEKING AN APP TO REDESIGN
What're your experience with muting a channel in Discord?
FINANCE CHAIR OF DESIGN FRATERNITY
I became tired of muting them one by one… feel like I'm trained to ignore notifications.
Pain point 1: Information Overload
NEWBIE JUST JOINED THIS QUARTER
I left all notifications on for ATD because I don’t want to miss any hangouts.
Pain point 2: Fear of Missing Out
DESIGN STUDENT SEEKING AN APP TO REDESIGN
[Catch up Card DEMO] At what level would you guys wanna use this feature?
HAVE 16 SERVERS
I want to keep my hobby servers and school servers separated. Maybe a catch-up view for each server?
POWER USER SINCE 2018
I'm in over 60 servers, having a separate catch-up for every single one would be too much…
Conflicting User Testing Feedback
| SOLUTION
Elevate Existing Mental Models
Users are already grouping servers with similar content together in folders.
| FINAL DESIGN
A smart, interest-based notification inbox that gives users control of notifications while making catch-up efficient and fun.
Flow 1: Catch up after Do Not Disturb
Repurpose Notification Inbox
4 out 5 people we user tested reported they never used Discord's current "Notifications" tab due to the confusing layout, irrelevant friend request, and ineffective filtering tags.
We borrow existing mental model–Each user-defined folder of servers is equivalent to “workspace” in Slack and has a separated notification inbox.
Flow 1: Catch up after Do Not Disturb
Swipe-based Catch-up
Discord’s hierarchical navigation forces users to click into every server and channel to stay updated—an overwhelming and time-consuming catch-up process.
Inspired by Slack, our swipeable card system surfaces updates based on user-defined notification settings.
Reimagined for Discord's multi-server scale, each card summarizes high-level server activity before users dive deeper to channel-level notifications.
Flow 2: Manage & organize notifications