WEBROAD
We Study Abroad Together.
Webroad
Webroad is a social media App aiming to build a safe and friendly community for Chinese students who study in the U.S. to share experiences, seek advice, and find solidarity.
Role
Product Designer
Product Manager
Co-founder
Team
Product Manager
Product Designers
UI/Visual Designers
Software Engineers
Skills
Wireframing, Prototyping, Survey, ethnography, Semi-structured Interview, Persona, Competitive Analysis, Usability Testing, Card Sorting, Product Management
Impact
100+
Active users
In the first month post Launch, Webroad obtained 100 users , setting a foundation to engage over 50,000 users.
7 mins
Avg. session duration
At launch, the average session duration was 7 minutes, indicating that users were exploring the app and beginning to engage with it.
95%
User satisfaction rate
In user testing with over 30 participants, 95% indicated their willingness to use the Webroad in the future.
End-to-End Software Development
Context
Problem
So…how can we break the isolation faced by Chinese international students?
Chinese students in the U.S. face immense stress as they navigate the challenges of a foreign academic and social environment. Many struggle with isolation and lack a dedicated platform to share experiences, seek advice, and connect with peers who understand their unique challenges. Traditional support systems and existing social media platforms often fall short in addressing these specific requirements, leaving students feeling neglected and overwhelmed.
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The year 2020 was a turning point for everyone around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine measures drastically altered our daily lives and reshaped our perceptions of human connection. For international students, especially those far from home, the pandemic underscored the critical importance of maintaining social ties and support networks.
As an international student myself, I was confined to my apartment for six months, isolated from friends and family. The virus was not the only challenge; the profound sense of helplessness and loneliness was exacerbated by the inability to share my unique struggles with those back home or even with local friends. This isolation was a powerful trigger for depression, and I realized that many of my fellow Chinese students were experiencing similar hardships.
During countless conversations, I heard the same lament: a yearning for a way to connect with others who truly understood their experiences. Even as the pandemic's grip began to loosen, this need for connection remained strong. This persistent desire for a supportive community inspired me to create Webroad.
Webroad is not just an app; it's a lifeline for Chinese students studying in the U.S. It’s a platform designed to bridge the gap between physical isolation and emotional connection, allowing students to share their stories, seek advice, and find solidarity in a community of peers who understand their unique challenges. The goal is to prevent others from experiencing the same sense of isolation I felt and to provide a space where students can thrive together.
To validate this problem space, I conducted ethnography and surveys to collect data and confirm that the problem exists and is significant, ensuring there is a substantial target audience impacted by the issue.
67% of participants in the study reported feeling isolated and lonely since study abroad(University of Utrecht, 2021).
In the survey, 95% of participants indicated that there’s no platform or community for them to get support from the same-culture network.
In the survey, 68%of respondents revealed that they had difficulty acquiring the information they needed efficiently during study abroad.
WEBROAD
Share Experiences, Seek Advice, and Find Solidarity
Note: This project was done entirely in Chinese. Here, I translated some of the content for the presentation.
Feature 1
Home Feed
The Home Feed feature curates a continuous stream of updates and posts tailored to international students' needs. It aims to close the information gap by providing easy access to essential resources, tips, and experiences, making the journey of studying abroad smoother and more informed. To maintain credibility, Webroad requires users to verify their accounts using their school email addresses. Verified users are automatically added to their university community, facilitating connections with their peers.
Feature 2
Event
The Event feature helps users easily find and participate in activities that align with their interests, or even create their own events. It’s designed to encourage natural, joyful interactions among Chinese students, making it easier to build meaningful relationships within the community. It displays the distance to events from the user's current location and categorizes them for easy browsing. Additionally, the feature includes an intimacy score that indicates the percentage of friends attending each event, helping users feel more at ease when joining in events with unfamiliar people.
Feature 3
Quick Answer
The Quick Answer feature encourages users to effortlessly share knowledge by answering short questions. With the option to skip or respond, users earn points for each answer, redeemable for rewards. This gamified approach fosters active participation and strengthens community connections through simple, rewarding interactions.
Feature 4
Smart Search
The Smart Search feature leverages AI to provide quick and accurate search results, making it easier for users to find the specific information they need. It’s designed to enhance the user experience by simplifying the process of locating relevant content within the Webroad community.
* It’s currently deprioritized in MMR due to technical constraints.
Feature 5
Collection
The Collection feature allows users to create and share organized folders of posts, streamlining the process of content creation and browsing. By providing a structured format, it helps users save time and ensures that valuable information is easily accessible and well-organized.
Content Creation
Information Access
Wait…how did I create this product from 0-1?
Market Analysis
Understand User
Ideate Solution
Define Product
Product Launch
Iterative Design
Project Goal
Create a supportive and connected community for Chinese international students.
Competitive Analysis
Market Analysis
I conducted a competitive analysis to understand the current landscape of how Chinese students seek support and connect with peers, examine strengths and weaknesses of existing solutions, and identify opportunities for Webroad to differentiate itself, I conduct a competitive analysis on key competitors. To effectively understand the market landscape, I began with a survey to gather insights on the platforms and channels they currently use, allowing me to identify key areas of focus.
Key Insights
01. While these platforms provided some level of support, none specifically addressed the comprehensive needs of this specific group of users.
02. Most social media platforms are not seen as trustworthy due to the presence of invisible ads and undisclosed sponsored content.
03. A social media App is the ideal platform for creating a supportive and connected community because
Social Media vs Forum vs Organization:
Accessibility and Convenience
High User Engagement
Social Integration for Community Building
App vs Website:
Superior accessibility
Interactive Experience
Device Integration, security.
Understand User
Key Findings
Survey(N=115)
I conducted a survey to explore the specific support needs of Chinese students and how they currently seek and connect with their peers. This approach allowed me to quickly gather insights from a wide audience, helping to identify gaps in existing resources and better understand their challenges.
02. Most Chinese students seek supports and advices by asking their friends and other Chinese students in the U.S. in their networks.
01. While studying abroad, Chinese students often face numerous questions about academics and daily life, coupled with a strong need for social connection with their peers.
Round 1
Round 2
Interview(N=8)
Main Research Question: "What are the key challenges in seeking advice and connecting with peers?"
Conduct semi-structured interviews for in-depth exploration of personal experiences and challenges. This method provides the flexibility to probe deeper into specific issues, revealing nuanced insights that a survey might not capture. By directly engaging with participants, I could uncover the underlying reasons behind the difficulties Chinese students face when seeking advice and connecting with peers.
Key findings
01. Information specific to Chinese international students in the USA is rare because most resources target a broader audience rather than this specific group.
02. The information online is limited because effective knowledge-sharing requires active participation in both asking and answering
03. Students prefer to connect with others who share the same background or experiences.
04. They struggled to make new friends due to a lack of social events and opportunities for interaction.
Round 3
Literature Review
Key findings
I conducted secondary research to identify potential solutions to the knowledge-sharing problems uncovered during user research. This approach allowed me to leverage existing studies and best practices to inform and refine my solution strategy.
01. Reciprocal benefits can encourage the information sharing behavior
02. Community identification and trust facilitate consumer knowledge-sharing behavior.
Reference: Xiaolin Lin, Xun Xu & Xuequn Wang (2020) Users’ Knowledge Sharing on Social Networking Sites, Journal of Computer Information Systems, DOI: 10.1080/08874417.2020.1736690
Define Product
Target User
Primary Persona: New to the study abroad
Secondary Persona: Experienced with studying abroad
Market Positioning Map
This product should occupy a unique niche by offering a platform specifically designed for Chinese students, seamlessly integrating information sharing with social interaction.
Product Value Proposition
A trusted social media app for Chinese international students, fostering vibrant information-sharing and seamless social connection.
Ideate Solution
Brainstorm
Based on the product definition(Product Value Proposition) and insights from previous research, I led a brainstorming session with the team to outline the key features and address potential challenges.
Prioritization
User Flow
Feature List
When brainstorming features, I began by creating a user flow to map out the various interactions and pathways users would take. This foundational step helped ensure a seamless and intuitive experience by visualizing how users would navigate through the platform and engage with its features.
Based on the high-level user flow, we brainstormed the necessary features for each step in user flow and prioritized them based on importance and estimated efforts. Then, I grouped them by different levels to facilitate the alignment of the information architecture.
For the MMR, we focused on the most essential features required for product functionality and usability. Other features that heavily rely on technological advancement or require more resources are deprioritized to enable quick delivery.
Design & Testing
Mid-fi Prototypes
We brainstormed and evaluated 8 variants based on user experience, business goals, and technical efforts, narrowing it down to three solutions. However, we encountered one challenge: balancing simplification with comprehensiveness.
While we aimed for a minimalist design to ensure ease of use, we also wanted to include many features to help users share information efficiently and connect joyfully. Despite our best intentions, this resulted in a toolbox-like app—rich in features but messy and overwhelming for users.
Usability Testing
Card Sorting
Design Iteration
To refine the design, I tested the mid-fi prototype with users and conducted a post-test survey asking them to rank the app's main features based on their needs. Additionally, I interviewed three participants to understand their preferences in depth, helping us make it user-friendly and focused on what truly matters to our users.
Based on the testing results, this design iteration will focus on two key areas: Enhancing the Information Architecture and Highlighting the Event Feature.
Testing revealed that users prefer
simple categorization for browsing
easy search for specific questions
genuine connections through events
To address the need for a simplified information feed, I conducted a card sorting exercise. This method helped me logically organize information, ensuring that users can easily find what they need without relying on additional tools/features.
Based on previous insights, I redesigned the app with three major improvements:
Simplified Navigation: Streamlined from two-layer to one-layer for easier information access.
Highlighted Events: Made the event feature more prominent to enhance social connections.
Relegated School Page: Demoted the school page to a sub-page to reduce its prominence and focus on more critical features.
Product Launch
Now, WEBROAD is available in the Apple and Google App Stores. Welcome to use this link to download and try it out: ) Webroad Apple Store
(Here is a screen recording demonstrating Webroad in use).
Minimum Marketable Release
After months of dedicated development and thorough QA testing, the Minimum Marketable Release (MMR) of Webroad is now available on the App Store. While there are still areas for improvement, we are excited to launch this product to all Chinese students in the U.S., aiming to support their journey and bring joy to their academic and social lives.
Learnings
01. Good design is based on good pre-design works.
Throughout this project, there is one particular aspect that I feel deserves highlighting. I devoted a significant amount of time to understanding the problem at hand and the needs of my users. By conducting thorough rounds of research, I was able to arrive at a final design that was grounded in data and supported by every single design decision. This approach was especially valuable to me as I wanted to create something that was both useful and meaningful. For me, it was not just a matter of going through the design process, but of designing with data and logic.
02. Always scope down the project.
Given another opportunity to complete this project, I would focus on refining my design objectives from the outset. My initial enthusiasm for creating an actual product led me to set lofty goals, which resulted in a prolonged and indecisive process. I regret not exploring the issue of knowledge-sharing more extensively, and would strive to develop a more robust design approach in next design iteration.
03. Test and iterate first.
In my eagerness to launch this product quickly, I rushed through the design process, mistakenly believing that it would leave more time for development. This approach led me to prematurely commit to a final design without conducting sufficient iterations, resulting in a significant investment of time and effort to produce multiple hi-fi prototypes. This approach proved to be counterproductive, generating unnecessary work and wasting valuable time. Going forward, I plan to adopt a more effective approach, testing low- or med-fidelity prototypes through iterations before committing to a final design.