From Viewer to Participant
UX/UI Design | Entertainment | Independent Product Concept
This project started with a frustration.
As an active Love Island viewer, I found myself using the app every day, yet the experience consistently felt harder than it needed to be. Voting lacked urgency, Islanders were difficult to explore, and key interactions were buried beneath competing content.
Rather than complain about it, I opened Figma and redesigned the experience.
The result generated hundreds of thousands of impressions and thousands of interactions...
Responsibilities
User research
Product strategy
Information architecture
Interaction design
UI design
Design system
Prototyping
Public validation & iteration
THE PROBLEM
The app serves a highly engaged audience, but the experience often prioritizes content delivery over fan participation.
Voting is the show's most important interaction, yet it competes with promotional content. Islander profiles provide limited storytelling value, and navigation makes it difficult for fans to follow the people and relationships that drive the show's popularity.
Every additional tap creates friction between fans and the actions they care about most.
RESEARCH + OBSERVATION
As a daily user of the platform, I conducted a heuristic review of the current experience and analyzed the primary fan activities supported by the app.
Three recurring goals emerged:
① Vote for Islanders
② Follow relationships and storylines
③ Explore contestants beyond episodes
These behaviors became the foundation for the redesign.
Every interaction should create another opportunity for engagement.
Solution Highlights
Voting as the Primary Action
Voting is the show's most important fan interaction.
The redesign introduces stronger hierarchy, visible countdowns, and simplified flows that create urgency and encourage participation.
Building an Islanders Hub
Contestants are the center of the Love Island experience.
Filters, imagery, and clear status indicators make it easier to discover Islanders and follow their journeys.
Turning Profiles Into Stories
Rather than functioning as static bios, profiles become narrative experiences.
Journey timelines, relationship updates, and key moments help fans quickly understand each Islander's story.
One System Behind Every Screen
Every screen draws from a single, documented system, seven color tokens with defined roles, a four-level Inter type scale, and components built with real interactive states. The constraint was deliberate: a small, consistent toolkit keeps the experience cohesive and makes the concept production-ready rather than a collection of one-off mockups.
See It In Motion
The concept is a fully clickable Figma prototype, seven screens spanning the voting flow, Islanders hub, and profile experience. Tap through the interactions that turn viewers into participants.
Real User Feedback
After sharing the redesign publicly, the project generated significant engagement from fans, designers, and product professionals.
Many commenters echoed frustrations identified during the review process and expressed enthusiasm for a more fan-centered experience.
LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY
The redesign didn't stop when I hit publish.
As I read through hundreds of comments across Threads and TikTok, I treated the response like another round of user research. Some changes came from recurring themes in the feedback, while others came from reflecting on my own design decisions.
Iteration 01
Clearer Navigation
While reviewing the experience, I realized the navigation relied too heavily on unlabeled circles. Replacing them with recognizable icons improves discoverability, reduces cognitive load, and creates a more accessible navigation experience.
Iteration 02
Fire Pit
One theme kept appearing throughout the comments.
The episode ends, but the conversation doesn't.
Fans spend hours on Threads, Reddit, TikTok, and group chats reacting to episodes, sharing memes, debating recouplings, and discussing every twist. Those conversations are just as much a part of the Love Island experience as the episodes themselves.
So I replaced the Profile tab with Fire Pit, giving viewers a place to pull each other for a chat without ever leaving the Love Island ecosystem.
STRATEGY
KEY TAKEAWAY
The strongest improvements came from understanding how fans already engage with Love Island beyond the app. Rather than forcing new behaviors, I brought existing ones into the product.
This project reinforced an idea I return to often:
Good design helps people complete tasks. Great design builds momentum.