Designing to enhance identity expression and low-activity engagement, this project explored modern, immersive ways to reimagine the profile experience within legacy constraints.

Role | UX Designer

Company | Sina Weibo

Timeline | 2021

Focus Areas | Profile UX, Video Identity Design, Content Hierarchy, Visual System

Impact | 980K+ creators uploaded video headers, 1.15B campaign views, 200K+ daily visits post-launch, improved engagement across creators and low-frequency users

Project Overview

The Weibo profile page is one of the most visited surfaces on the platform — not just a user’s social identity, but also a primary content entry point. In 2021, I led the end-to-end redesign of this crucial experience, aiming to support both content creators and everyday users through two complementary subprojects:

Video Account Homepage Upgrade – Redefining the Creator Identity
Content Display Optimization – Reengaging Everyday Users.

This dual-track effort was part of a larger strategic shift as Weibo leaned into the growth of video formats and creator ecosystems. My role spanned UX strategy, interaction design, visual exploration, cross-team alignment, and delivery.

We set out to elevate Weibo’s video creators by giving them a bold, immersive, and content-first personal homepage. Moving beyond symbolic badges, we reimagined the profile as a stage — where creators could lead with video, express their brand identity, and invite followers into a richer, more cinematic experience.
To support non-creators and lower-activity users, we refined the profile experience with smarter content hierarchy and lightweight engagement cues. From official content cards to optimized pinned post logic, our goal was to make every visit feel meaningful — even if the user or creator hadn’t posted recently.

PART 1: Video Account Homepage Upgrade (2021)

As short-form video became a dominant format on Weibo, the platform introduced video accounts (视频号) — upgraded identities designed for creators. However, their profile pages still looked and felt like regular user profiles: content was buried, badges were vague, and creators lacked tools to express their personal brand.

We needed to:

Make video content the centerpiece
Give creators a stronger sense of ownership
Differentiate the experience without fragmenting the Weibo ecosystem

Research & Competitive Analysis

We studied WeChat Channels and Bilibili not just as competitors, but as strategic contrasts in how platforms treat creator identity and upgrade flow.

WeChat Channels
It built a clearly separated video ecosystem — distinct from the private space of Moments. Each channel profile had its own layout, with immersive UIs, video-first feeds, and minimal interference from the main account.
Design Insight: This separation allowed creators to showcase video content freely, since users’ public persona needs can’t be met in private ecosystems — creators need distinct, immersive spaces to express and grow their identity.

Bilibili
It originated from a niche ACG (anime, comics, games) community, where the content itself — especially comments and bullet screens — is a core part of the experience. To uphold this culture, Bilibili implemented strict account barriers; for example, users must pass a content-focused quiz during registration before they can post or comment.
Design Insight: On Bilibili, user value is judged by what they can contribute, not just how they look.

Key Takeaway:
Creators need immersive, expressive design — but it must feel native to the overall platform. Weibo video accounts are not a separate product — they are an upgraded state of the existing user identity.
This meant our design needed to differentiate video creators clearly, while still anchoring them inside the existing Weibo ecosystem. The balance was delicate: the video experience had to feel elevated, immersive, and expressive — but it couldn't feel detached or siloed. This shaped our core principle: “Independent in form, continuous in identity.”

Design Strategy

We explored two distinct directions to upgrade the video account homepage — one conservative, one bold. The key tension was between maintaining familiarity and pushing for a new expression of identity.

Plan A — Conservative

This approach retained the familiar badge (勋章) structure, slightly rebalanced the tab layout, and nudged video content upward in the visual hierarchy. It preserved the connection to the traditional Weibo profile and offered a low-risk transition path for users and the engineering team.

Kept the badge system to indicate video account status
Slightly restructured content tabs to highlight video more clearly
Prioritized video visibility without altering the overall layout
Minimal change to visual theme or branding identity

Trade-off: Safe and low-friction, but limited in brand expression and visual impact.

Plan B — Bold (Chosen Direction)

In this direction, we reimagined the video account homepage as a motion-first identity space. Instead of simply layering badges or reordering tabs, we introduced a dynamic, immersive experience that visually separates creators from regular users — while keeping them inside the Weibo ecosystem.

The core innovation was upgrading the traditional static cover image into a dynamic cover video. As soon as users land on the page, a short silent video auto-plays in the background, instantly bringing the profile to life. This idea was inspired by Spotify’s use of looping video backdrops in the music playback screen — a small but powerful detail that creates emotional depth.

Removed symbolic badges
Added skin customization and visual themes
Replaced static banners with auto-playing cover videos
Introduced dark mode immersion
Connected header and feed through seamless visual transitions

Why we chose it: This approach positioned creators as their own brands and made the profile instantly expressive. But it wasn’t just a UX breakthrough — it also posed real technical challenges. Implementing motion-first design across devices required close coordination with engineering to optimize performance and fallback behavior.

Key Interaction Enhancements

Cover video as identity layer: The dynamic video header becomes the first impression — replacing static banners with motion as the visual anchor.
Dark immersive mode: Enables cinematic viewing by dimming distractions and letting content take the stage.
Swipe-down to stream: Interaction was optimized so users could immediately dive deeper into content without visual context breaks.
Subtle visual transitions: The header video connects naturally with the rest of the feed, making the page feel continuous and fluid.

Outcome & Impact

980K+ users uploaded personalized video headers (as of July 2019)
11.8K+ users adopted the new feature on launch day
10K+ video header changes per day (post-launch average)
#VideoCoverShowcase (#视频号封面大赏) campaign reached 1.15 billion views and 2.29 million discussions (as of July 2019)

This project deepened my understanding of what it takes to push beyond safe, incremental updates and into meaningful product innovation. I didn’t arrive at the final solution in one leap — instead, I moved step by step: from competitive research to synthesis, from conservative ideas to bold visual experiments.
Initially, our exploration began with layout tweaks and small adjustments to content hierarchy. But through targeted analysis of competitors and deliberate reflection on Weibo’s unique product context, I arrived at a bolder direction.
Along the way, I learned that:

Visual hierarchy isn’t enough — identity must be felt, not just shown.
Motion is not just decoration — it can become a meaningful narrative layer.
Most importantly, design strategy must be grounded in platform-specific insight — not every solution translates across ecosystems. The right direction emerges when we rethink the problem through the lens of our own product DNA.

In the end, the value of this project wasn’t just the visual transformation — it was how the process sharpened my ability to move from insight to invention, and from surface polish to identity definition.

PART 2: Content Display Optimization (2021)

While the first part of the upgrade focused on creators, this subproject targeted the majority of visitors to profile pages — ordinary users and those with mid to low engagement frequency.

We identified key issues:

Low motivation to revisit: Profiles of inactive users felt static and uninviting
Weak emotional cues: Visitors lacked a sense of interaction or relationship
Limited content: Sparse updates and a lack of visual structure made scanning difficult

The goal was to reshape the content hierarchy and introduce lightweight social triggers to increase engagement — without burdening users or creators.

UX Diagnosis

Based on user frequency data and behavior patterns, we identified two key pain points that shaped our design direction:

“There’s nothing new here” — For low-activity profiles, the static layout and lack of dynamic updates made pages feel abandoned, weakening the sense of vitality.
“I don’t feel connected” — Visitors, especially casual viewers, couldn’t find emotional or social anchors on the page, making it hard to build interest or affinity.

Solutions & Design Strategy

1. Official Content Integration Module

Designing for engagement under layered constraints

To increase content density and social stickiness on profile pages — especially for low-activity users — we introduced a dynamic content module curated by Weibo. This module featured platform-provided content from themes like “On This Day,” trending posts, and fan headlines, meant to fill in gaps when user-generated content was limited.

Initial Concept: Multi-Card Content Feed

We first proposed a multi-source content section combining three types of cards in one unified feed:

“On This Day” memory posts
Trending Weibo content
Fan headline cards

To support multiple content formats (text, image, video, articles) and maintain vertical efficiency, we explored a horizontal scroll model with redesigned cards that would appear at the top of the profile tab. These cards were fully redefined to strip out visual clutter and keep module height tightly controlled.

However, as promising as this direction was in concept, it soon ran into platform-level friction.

Turning Point: Technical & Product Constraints

Midway through the process, two key blockers emerged:

Technical complexity: The Weibo card system was deeply layered and fragile; redesigning card styles from the ground up had high dev cost and risk
Product strategy shift: The team decided to limit simultaneous content types — showing only one type of card per session to keep interaction simpler and reduce noise

This required a strategic pivot: rather than forcing a full visual overhaul, we needed a compatible upgrade path that respected existing backend architecture while still improving visual clarity and engagement.

Final Approach: Hybrid Overlay Strategy

We settled on a hybrid scheme:

Reused the original card structure (Card9)
Overlaid a visual “title card” to create thematic distinction
Masked unnecessary elements like profile photo and username
Appended a “View More” button to the bottom for content expansion
Only one card type was shown at a time, simplifying logic and easing load

This approach allowed us to maintain a clear separation from user-generated content while avoiding system-wide disruption. It wasn’t the most dramatic visual leap, but it was the most realistic and scalable solution under real-world constraints.

Outcome & Impact

200K+ page views on full rollout day (Sep 30, 2021)
150K+ unique visitors engaged (Sep 30, 2021)
Users reported better scanability and connection to creator history
Helped surface creator legacy even in quiet periods

User Feedback
Users embraced the “On This Day” and spotlight features, with many expressing delight at rediscovering old posts and memories. The nostalgic and personalized nature of the content drove organic sharing and positive sentiment.

2. Pinned Post Optimization

Balancing personalization with readability for high-frequency users

Weibo VIP and SVIP users had the ability to pin multiple posts to their profile — up to three for SVIP users. While this offered flexibility, it also created clutter, especially when stacked on mobile screens. The challenge was to support the product request without degrading the user experience, particularly for high-frequency profile visitors.

Exploring Layout Variants

We initially explored four structural options for displaying multiple pinned posts:

Full-stack card stitching – all cards shown together
→ Problem: excessive height, especially for image-heavy content
Single card with all others collapsed
→ Problem: undermines the priority of the second/third pinned posts
Text-based tabs
→ Problem: poor preview and weak engagement
Image tab switcher
→ Problem: too interaction-heavy, not suited for Weibo’s scroll-first experience

Each of these had usability trade-offs — either too tall, too hidden, or not aligned with native user behavior.

Design Compromise

We moved toward a hybrid layout:

Show numbered pinned post indicators (e.g. 1/3, 2/3)
Display partial preview of the second post
Add “expand more” interaction to access full view

This version addressed hierarchy and scannability more effectively. However, new problems arose:

The module height was still too large for seamless scanning
The “expand more” button conflicted with the “follow” button in certain view states

Rethinking the Requirement

At this stage, we stepped back to re-evaluate whether the problem was visual — or strategic. Using profile visit data, we found:

The majority of profile traffic came from full-attendance, high-frequency, and mid-high frequency users
Most pinned posts were repetitive announcements (e.g., livestream start times, reminders)
For frequent visitors, this repetition created friction and fatigue

From an interaction perspective, this contradicted our UX goals of scannability and content freshness. Rather than over-optimize a flawed requirement, we questioned the value of encouraging multiple top-posts at all.

We found that while the demand existed, the use case didn’t justify broad rollout. The design became a “strategic draft” — fully built but not launched due to UX and scalability concerns. In retrospect, earlier alignment on requirements could’ve saved effort, but the process brought valuable clarity.

Future considerations include:

Showing more than one top-post only to low-frequency visitors
Capping the number of pinned posts to no more than two
Creating different display logic per user tier (e.g., collapsed view for frequent visitors)

Working within the constraints of legacy systems pushed me to think creatively and design lightweight solutions that still had visible impact. It also strengthened my ability to collaborate across functions, adapting quickly to shifting product strategies and delivering scalable improvements through constant, flexible negotiation.
This Pinned Post Optimization project also reminded me that not every designed solution needs to ship. We fully explored a multi-post pinning strategy, but ultimately chose not to implement it due to its limited value for frequent users. This taught me the importance of strategic restraint — knowing when not to build is just as critical as knowing how.

Sina Weibo: Profile Page

PART 1: Video Account Homepage Upgrade

PART2: Content Display Optimization