Omni

An entrepreneur approached us with a desire to create a platform to enhance the user experience in managing Discord servers.

He had extensive experience managing various platforms, but they weren’t good enough.

The client came with an initial vision. We and our job was to turn that into a full-fledged system and conduct scoping to break down the processes into creation-release stages and plan the product launch.

We needed to build the appropriate architecture and structure of interactions with Discord, cause our product has the intent to manage Discord. Additionally, we had to uncover all potential ways we could manage Discord as an app and boost the user experience.

A huge challenge was managing a ton of features, and making it smooth for users.

The global goal was to introduce a new product that would serve as a solution to only for businesses, but also for any other communities, like gamers who dig Discord. Omni provides more custom control over managing the Discord server. Our team task here was to globalize all products and integrate all functions.

We’ve two interaction models: a technical partner and a dedicated design team.

The client’s request resonated more with the first option, so we settled on it. This means we decide how to build and improve the functionality, test hypotheses, and influence the product look and performance together with the client.

There has to be the right architecture in the fundamentals of the project.

To nail this, we dive into UX research. It began with creating a customer journey map. We clearly defined the dependencies of functions, role management, and obtained a visual structure of the functionality to be implemented.

Next up, we whip up some wireframes. This step lets us scope out the visual components, figure out functional requirements of the product and logically chunk out the project into potential release stages.

As a result, we had a comprehensive understanding of the relationships, a functional project map, and an understanding of the project’s work plan.

We started this stage of the Omni project by searching for design concepts.

We settled on a traditional Discord app style: a dark color scheme with bright green and purple accents, rounded corners, and a left-side navigation panel. This way, it’s a no-brainer for users to feel like our product is part of the Discord ecosystem.

At the end of this phase, we created layouts and a scalable design system of UI components.

At the end of this phase, we created layouts and a scalable design system of UI components.

The first step was to hook up every data integration we could from Discord to build a comprehensive data model.

The first step was to hook up every data integration we could from Discord to build a comprehensive data model. Then, we got down to tweaking specific features in the product, at once testing them in a test environment.

Another challenge with the Omni project was making the system scalable. We saw a massive user wave coming, so we considered it during the Backend stage.

That’s why our approach was based on a distributed system of servers. We compiled the first functional blocks of the product into the debut release version, preparing to roll out the MVP.

During the scoping phase, we got the major modules dialed in: a server management system, an analytics system, a roles system, and the initial automation settings for managing chats and channels.

Sure, we’ve done everything quickly. However, after the first Friends and Family test, we and the client realized that launching the MVP was not practical, as we had an insufficient amount of functionality.

So, we decided to continue the active development phase until the product was fully completed. 

So, we began building the Discord server system, the polling, and the internal statistics management system, plus we spiced up the product’s visuals and streamlined some of the functional bits.

One of our favorite features in Omni is the ability to create custom message flow builders.

It’s quite easy for users to configure them on their own. Another important component for us is ensuring reliable delivery and uptime of the project. So, we built a seamless update system. We duplicated the system on several servers, so there is no need to worry that the product will become unavailable to users in case of force majeure.

What’s the bottom line?  In just four months, we nailed a fully-fledged MVP, and over the next eight, we built a complex, multifunctional product.

Ultimately, the client received a multifunctional product, filled with various solutions for setting up Discord servers not only for business but for any kind of community out there.

There’s a truly large number of customization options for the user experience on individual Discord servers. Now is the time for the phase of collecting all the extra feedback and requirements for future improvements is ongoing.