The Challenge

Transform WhatsApp from a 1:1 messaging app into a place for meaningful community building. It must keep privacy, simplicity, and reliability across 120+ countries.

Users were already creating workarounds to connect with real-world networks, but it was messy and hard to navigate.

People wanted to use WhatsApp for groups and communities, but the app wasn’t built for it. Messages got overwhelming, finding groups was impossible, and navigation was a mess.

My role

Led a team through a journey to achieve product-market fit. Inherited an initial MVP and guided two designers through phases 2 and 3 of the transformation.

Part I: Users didn’t get it

Users understood structure but not the value proposition.

Solution 1: Better announcements

Transformed announcements from one way messaging to a hybrid post format, adding reactions and threaded responses while preserving privacy

Impact: We delivered broadcast-bubbles and replies. These features distinguished the broadcast space. UXR validation showed improved comprehension between announcements and regular chats.

Solution 2: Navigation to provide clarity

Radical navigation redesign creating explicit “community spaces” with clear group relationships

Impact: Increased sub-group discovery by 7% and reinforced nested interaction model. AndroidPolice recognized navigation improvements: “navigating communities easier with a new icon.” Research shows significantly improved comprehension for Communities and subgroups.

Part II: Pivot to member-driven growth

The problem: Only admins could grow communities. Too many permission restrictions meant growth stalled.

Solution 1: Let members suggest groups

Conceptualized distributed ownership model with member-suggested groups, ensuring coherent integration with existing permission framework

Impact: Established strategic foundation for member-driven growth while maintaining design consistency across community features.

Solution 2: Open groups by default
I changed WhatsApp from closed-by-default to open-by-default for communities.

Impact: Group joins doubled, Added about 500K new people joining communities

Results

Scale: 120 million active Communities globally serving organizations from schools to crisis response teams

Product-market fit: Achieved 19M daily-senders, hitting all our top-line PMF goals. This bent the Communities trajectory from a PMF crisis to exceeding goals. This occurred during a period when “success was not guaranteed.”

Growth innovation: Shifted from admin-dependent to member-driven growth, enabling sustainable organic

Speed: Shipped 20+ features during Q3 focus room to exit and turnaround struggling product to PMF.

A digital experience for Loblaw’s loyalty program in Canada.

In 2016 Loblaw hired Huge to work alongside them to merge their two loyalty programs: 8M PC Plus and 11M Shoppers Optimum. This effort created Canada’s first unified digital-first loyalty experience. I led UX strategy for the most complex aspects: personalized offers, account merging, and multi-brand integration across Loblaw’s retail ecosystem.

The design solution

Unified digital experience: Created a mobile-first architecture. It features simplified redemption mechanics (10,000 points = $10). There is an intelligent personalized offers feed. It includes seamless cross-brand navigation.

Strategic merger approach: The UX foundation was designed to retain both user bases. It creates intuitive value propositions. These propositions scale across grocery, pharmacy, and retail.

Complex system integration: We solved the unprecedented challenge. We unified two distinct loyalty ecosystems. This created a cohesive experience for 19 million users.

Impact and results

Scale: Designed the largest loyalty program merger in Canadian history unifying 19 million users into a single platform.

Long-term design system: The design foundation my team created enabled PC Optimum to the following:

• #1 loyalty program in Canada (38.2% market preference)
• 17+ million active users (50% of Canadian adults)
• $1 billion annual redemptions by 2024

Government website redesign – New York State – 2014

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The challenge

New York State’s previous site was a mess, it had not been redesigned in 15 years. Users had to navigate “50 clicks deep” to find basic services, the mobile experience was “virtually impossible,” and critical information was scattered across 150+ disconnected agency websites serving close to 20 million residents.

My role

As lead designer on this project, I worked with Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot and Governor Cuomo’s digital team to reimagine how government serves citizens online.I led the Code and Theory team on the relaunch of NY.Gov.

My design approach

I led a search query analysis of the existing site to identify what people actually searched for when visiting NY.gov. By grouping keywords based on affinity, I defined 24 core reasons why users visited the site, covering more than 70% of all traffic. This data-driven approach made prioritization decisions clear and defensible across the diverse needs of an entire state.

My definition phase included:

• User research with diverse New York residents from NYC to upstate communities
• Stakeholder interviews across multiple state agencies
• Early usability testing with visual design comps to validate assumptions
• Data analysis to understand real user behavior patterns

Information architecture

I restructured the site’s information architecture, consolidating 16 complex bureaucratic categories into three intuitive sections matching citizen intent:

• Services – “What can I do?” (Task-oriented government services)
• News – “What’s happening?” (Emergency alerts, announcements, events)
• Government – “How does it work?” (Transparency and civic information)

Other contributions to the IA

• Universal navigation with contextual agency-specific elements
• Mobile-first responsive design with full ADA compliance
• Content guidelines enabling agencies to maintain consistency
• “One-stop” service cards that could deep-link to any agency site

Results & impact

Users nearly tripled (2.3M to 6.0M annually) and page views quadrupled (3.98M to 17.2M annually). Mobile visits surged 277% in the first month.
The design’s effectiveness was validated during the January 2015 snowstorm when NY.gov became the primary information source for millions seeking emergency information.

The project received 2015 Webby Awards Honoree recognition and was featured in Government Technology Magazine, Web Designer Depot interview, and Fast Company as a digital transformation success story.

Long-Term Impact

The foundational design elements I created in 2014 continue to guide NY.gov more than 10 years later. The three-section navigation structure, mobile-first responsive approach, universal design system remain core to the site’s architecture. These principles enabled subsequent innovations including the New York State Digital Service program, mobile applications ecosystem, and agencies websites and initiatives.

The Wall Street Journal, New York Unveils Redesigned Website

Fast Company, Inside NY.gov’s first redesign in 15 years

Design Week, NY State launches service-led NY.Gov website

Medium, @RachelHaot: Lessons learned in public digital design