With the current industry push of iOS products to include widgets, Discord is missing out on this share of user engagement and staying on trend with other social media apps. Widgets help improve the overall functionality of an app and save users time from opening apps for small tasks or missing key notifications.

Discord is a voice, video and text community building app that helps to connect and create spaces for friends and family to chat with online in a safe, reliable and playful environment .  With over 150 million active monthly users, Discord has primarily targeted their platform for adults and gamers and since launching in 2015 has become a core social media choice for these users.

Widgets by design need to be concise and summarise the core features of the app by providing their User's with instant access to meaningful content.  Within the available iOS widgets sizing, content and function are consistent however different visualisations are used depending on the size selected.

Along with information architecture mapping, product research and user interviews the key features selected for a Discord widget were Along with information architecture mapping, product research and user interviews the key features selected for a Discord widget were account activity status, friends list access, search functionality, direct message notification and server-wide notifications.

Defining the features of the widget allows the content to be shared dynamically throughout the days as the widget is updated and eventually leading it to remain in a prominent position on a User's device.
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Design research into iOS human interface guidelines, standard iOS widgets and  Discord competitors provided a landscape for a best practice approach to the design process.

Research and User data concluded that widgets need to have a variety in available designs even within the same size.  Having a variety of designs allows the User to customise and personalise the widget better.

Using the current iOS available component library for sizing and UI specifications, the ideation process went from sketches to low-fidelity wireframes.  With further exploration, user journeys were mapped to different widget designs and refined further.

Utilising the Discord branding guidelines, dark and light mode high-fidelity prototypes were built after running user and heuristic testing.  Users can pick between several options to best suit their device and through the options available, can customise the focus of the widget design.

Due to the highly customisable elements of the design and allowing Users to pick between several different options, an annotated design file and template was presented for handover.