Jodel is a hyperlocal social media app that boasts millions of daily active users in 11+ countries across Europe and the Middle East.
As the Design Lead I worked with a Team of talented Product and Marketing Designers to re-imagine the 6 year old brand and give the interface a fresh new look while staying true to it's core.
To stay relevant and meet our users' expectations, we embarked on a comprehensive approach to redefine Jodel's Brand Strategy, Value, and Identity. Our process began with extensive user research, where we gathered insights into the needs and preferences of our users.
We then facilitated multiple internal workshops with our marketing and product teams to establish a clear and cohesive understanding of our future Brand Values. By working with a brand agency, we identified trends among our target audience and culminated our efforts in the development of a Brand Pyramid that outlines our purpose, offerings, and communication strategies.
This value-based approach helped us establish a strong brand foundation that aligned with our users' values and expectations. From this foundation, we proceeded to craft a new visual identity that would represent Jodel's brand in the modern world. Together with our product and marketing designers we created a new logo, typeface, color scheme, and other visual elements that would embody our brand values and communicate our brand message effectively.
As the Design Lead I was in charge of aligning all stakeholders, guiding our marketing designers, conducting user research and ensuring that the final output was in line with our newly established identity
In an effort to deliver a seamless user experience that encompasses our new Brand, we embarked on a modernization project to update our user interface. Given that a significant portion of our user base had been with us for an extended period, we approached the redesign with care and kept long-term users in a close loop.
It's important to note that our user base expressed significant apprehension about changes, and colleagues from other teams had already formed strong opinions about the Brand.
As the Design Lead, I played a critical role in guiding my team through the difficult decisions that arose during the project, even when they went against user feedback. I ensured that we asked the right questions and shared the necessary information throughout the process.
Additionally, I made sure that other teams and stakeholders were kept informed, and that their concerns were addressed in a timely manner. By striking a balance between user feedback and strategic design decisions, we were able to deliver a modern and intuitive user experience that aligned with our newly established brand values.
One important strategic decision we made was to include a dark mode with the release of the new design, which had been requested by many users in the past. This helped to address some critical voices and provide users with a more flexible and personalized experience. Through user testing and feedback, we were also able to make important changes that enhanced the overall user experience and improved key features, such as navigation and content discovery.
The new design did not only improve App Ratings, and User Engagement, but also helped our marketing team to drive a modern marketing campaign in multiple countries lowering CPA and increasing ROI.
Apart from significantly improving the Brand Perception with a strong and consistent brand, the new Dark Mode was quickly the user favorite, reaching 72% of the users on iOS and 77% on Android.
One key takeaway from this project is the importance of balancing user feedback with expert design and branding knowledge. While it is critical to listen to user preferences and adjust the design accordingly, it is equally essential to trust the expertise of designers and the overall brand vision.
Ultimately, this project emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach, one that encompasses not only visual design but also user experience, user testing, and communication with the user base. By prioritizing these elements, we were able to deliver a successful brand update that met the needs and preferences of our users while also advancing our brand vision.
