IMVU: Hashtags
"Social connections made with ease and intention"
"Social connections made with ease and intention"
Role
Director, Product Design
Timeline
6 months
Scope
Profiles Search Chat Rooms
Teams
1 Designer Engineering Product Marketing
What & Why
IMVU is a pioneer in the social Metaverse space, where users create avatars, customize virtual spaces, and connect through immersive social experiences. Over time, new users struggled to navigate the volume of content, while existing users saw repetitive suggestions. The product team revisited an idea previously deprioritized due to tech debt: Hashtags.
My goal was to explore how hashtags could drive discovery, personalization, and retention—especially through interest-based content delivery. We started with user interests as the foundation, inspired by how social platforms help personalize content passively.
IMVU is a pioneer in the social Metaverse space, where users create avatars, customize virtual spaces, and connect through immersive social experiences. Over time, new users struggled to navigate the volume of content, while existing users saw repetitive suggestions. The product team revisited an idea previously deprioritized due to tech debt: Hashtags.
My goal was to explore how hashtags could drive discovery, personalization, and retention—especially through interest-based content delivery. We started with user interests as the foundation, inspired by how social platforms help personalize content passively.
Goals
Introduce hashtags to all user types through profiles
Seamlessly connect users to content and people via shared interests
Design and document new hashtag components
Simplify complex user flows identified in the brief and discovery
Apply new design system, avoiding legacy patterns
Introduce hashtags to all user types through profiles
Seamlessly connect users to content and people via shared interests
Design and document new hashtag components
Simplify complex user flows identified in the brief and discovery
Apply new design system, avoiding legacy patterns
Introduce hashtags to all user types through profiles
Seamlessly connect users to content and people via shared interests
Design and document new hashtag components
Simplify complex user flows identified in the brief and discovery
Apply new design system, avoiding legacy patterns
Approach
Working with one of my lead designers, we began ideation early—before a formal product brief. I encouraged research through product tear downs, pattern comparisons, and hypothesis building. Wireframes were developed in tandem with early product briefs.
I directed the designer to sync regularly with product and engineering, and pushed for earlier sanity checks on ideas to avoid costly course corrections later.
Working with one of my lead designers, we began ideation early—before a formal product brief. I encouraged research through product tear downs, pattern comparisons, and hypothesis building. Wireframes were developed in tandem with early product briefs.
I directed the designer to sync regularly with product and engineering, and pushed for earlier sanity checks on ideas to avoid costly course corrections later.
Solutions
Onboarding Hashtags for New Users
Addressed discoverability gaps and ensured all user types could engage with the feature from day one.Hashtag-Based People Search
Design-led initiative to surface users with shared interests—laying groundwork for future search automation.Chat Room Hashtag Integration
Connected profile hashtags to chat rooms, with plans to evolve into dynamic tagging of rooms and events.Component Development During Feature Work
Built reusable components alongside the feature rollout, enabling broader redesign without disrupting delivery.Marketing Collaboration
Proactively looped in marketing to align campaign visibility, avoiding last-minute scramble during launch.
Onboarding Hashtags for New Users
Addressed discoverability gaps and ensured all user types could engage with the feature from day one.Hashtag-Based People Search
Design-led initiative to surface users with shared interests—laying groundwork for future search automation.Chat Room Hashtag Integration
Connected profile hashtags to chat rooms, with plans to evolve into dynamic tagging of rooms and events.Component Development During Feature Work
Built reusable components alongside the feature rollout, enabling broader redesign without disrupting delivery.Marketing Collaboration
Proactively looped in marketing to align campaign visibility, avoiding last-minute scramble during launch.
Onboarding Hashtags for New Users
Addressed discoverability gaps and ensured all user types could engage with the feature from day one.Hashtag-Based People Search
Design-led initiative to surface users with shared interests—laying groundwork for future search automation.Chat Room Hashtag Integration
Connected profile hashtags to chat rooms, with plans to evolve into dynamic tagging of rooms and events.Component Development During Feature Work
Built reusable components alongside the feature rollout, enabling broader redesign without disrupting delivery.Marketing Collaboration
Proactively looped in marketing to align campaign visibility, avoiding last-minute scramble during launch.
Outcome
83% conversion rate among first-time users using the quest
74% engagement from daily active users within the first week
3% lift in retention during testing (note: parallel events affected attribution)
Increased time on profile pages, prompting further feedback exploration
Growth in people search activity, driven by hashtag-based interest discovery
83% conversion rate among first-time users using the quest
74% engagement from daily active users within the first week
3% lift in retention during testing (note: parallel events affected attribution)
Increased time on profile pages, prompting further feedback exploration
Growth in people search activity, driven by hashtag-based interest discovery
83% conversion rate among first-time users using the quest
74% engagement from daily active users within the first week
3% lift in retention during testing (note: parallel events affected attribution)
Increased time on profile pages, prompting further feedback exploration
Growth in people search activity, driven by hashtag-based interest discovery
Learnings & Reflection
Coaching Through Complexity
I mentored a lead designer stepping into a managerial role, guiding them through product disagreements around hashtag search UX. With my support, they helped align product and engineering on a simpler, scalable solution.Cross-Platform Communication Challenges
The year-long rollout across three platforms surfaced disconnects in team knowledge. I partnered with engineering leadership to instill a culture of open feedback and shared accountability.Scope Creep from Edge Cases
The feature touched search, profile editing, FTUX, quests, chat rooms, and campaigns—leading to hidden scope. I later presented recommendations to leadership on how to better scale project scope to team capacity while maintaining impact.