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[in progress] Case study: redesigning the YouTube Culture & Trends website

Redesigning the YouTube Culture & Trends team's official website: youtube.com/trends

Role

UX/UI Designer

Industry

Tech

Duration

2 months

Overview

The YouTube Culture & Trends team, a prominent voice in modern video culture, had a website that did not reflect the rigorous yet whimsical nature of the team. Notably, the website lacked interactive elements and felt quite static. Its latest real upgrade had been in 2019, and as the site became increasingly dated, its visitors diminished.

The goal of its revival was simple: help the site reach its full potential. It would be a shareable destination for brands, creator, and users to get plugged in to YouTube trends, learn more about the team, and appreciate YouTube as a platform that reflects culture.

Now the website is being recreated here, though it is still a work in progress, you will see that much of the feedback to make it more functional, whimsical, and dynamic is manifesting on the site.

Below we'll take a look at the process that was used to recreate this website.

The Starting Point

As a reference, here is a carousel with images showing the previous version of this website:

UX Research: User Interviews

We conducted interviews with six relevant users to better understand the ways this site could be improved. This included internal stakeholders who contribute or manage the existing website, as well as other people within YouTube Marketing. We interviewed one person who works at another company (not a competitor) who manages web design.

Synthesizing Results: Affinity Map

From the interviews, we gleaned the most important insights and put them in an affinity map.

Synthesizing Results: User Personas

From there, we created three user personas that represent the three highest priorities audiences of this website: journalists, creators, and advertisers.

Prioritization: Feature Set

We used the prioritzed feedback to create a desired feature set, which details the most important improvements to the site.

Flows: User Flow

After deciding on a feature set, we imagined a four flows a user might experience — image below.

The Challenge

Through our research, three core challenges emerged that affected runners across experience levels. First, the fundamental tension between structured training and life's demands created a constant struggle. Second, information overload during runs compromised safety and enjoyment. Third, runners felt isolated in their training journey, lacking the support needed to stay motivated. These challenges manifested in high training plan abandonment rates from a business perspective and increased training anxiety from a user perspective.

Our Solution

Relay's solution centered on adaptive training plan that responds to each runner's changing needs. The core of our approach was a flexible calendar system that tracks progress despite irregular patterns, complemented by a minimalist run interface that prioritizes safety and clarity. Most importantly, the experience adapts to each runner's skill level, providing appropriate guidance without overwhelming them.

Below is an image of the one of the previous iterations of this design. We will detail the improvements that were made after this.

Design Process and Evolution

The interface design evolved through careful iteration and testing. We began with the run screen, focusing on essential metrics displayed in large, readable text with high contrast for outdoor visibility. The progress visualization system was designed to encourage consistency without inducing guilt over missed sessions. Each design decision was validated through user testing, with all five participants successfully completing core tasks and providing positive feedback on the interface's clarity.

Iterative Feedback

User feedback consistently praised the interface's simplicity and the flexibility of the training system. It also revealed areas for improvement: enhancing the run screen functionality, implementing additional options for training flexibility, and making progress data visualization more comprehensive. Based on this feedback, we updated progress tracking screens with further data and options to modify training plan, as well as features on run screen including options to pause, exit, stop, and share.

An interactive prototype, as well as screens with significant design improvements after product testing are show below.

Key Learnings

Our design principles - simplicity in motion, flexible but structured, and experience-appropriate guidance emerged from real user needs rather than assumptions. As we move forward, we're exploring opportunities for advanced data visualization and indoor training support, always keeping our core focus on making marathon training more accessible for everyone.

Next Steps

The future of Relay focuses on three key areas of development. First, we're enhancing the run screen functionality to provide even clearer feedback during activities. Second, we're developing social features that support rather than pressure users. Finally, we're working on deeper external app integration to make training plan adaptation and enjoying runs even more seamless. These improvements will maintain our commitment to simplicity while expanding the app's capabilities to better serve our users.

Key Learnings

Our design principles - simplicity in motion, flexible but structured, experience-appropriate guidance, and cross-platform consistency - emerged from real user needs rather than assumptions. As we move forward, we're exploring opportunities for advanced data visualization and indoor training support, always keeping our core focus on making marathon training more accessible for everyone.

Next Steps

The future of Relay focuses on three key areas of development. First, we're enhancing the run screen functionality to provide even clearer feedback during activities. Second, we're developing social features that support rather than pressure users. Finally, we're working on deeper calendar integration to make training plan adaptation even more seamless. These improvements will maintain our commitment to simplicity while expanding the app's capabilities to better serve our users.

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