Hey everyone!
Welcome back! This is the conclusion of our series spotlighting the talented product designers who shape your Fandom experience, and we're excited to share more amazing insights from a talented product designer. We introduced and reintroduced a group of creative minds behind the scenes here at Fandom.
These designers, working in tandem with your feedback and their team's ingenuity, are a driving force behind Fandom's ongoing evolution. Their passion lies in understanding your needs, incorporating your valuable input, and transforming ideas into features that make Fandom more intuitive, engaging, and enjoyable for editors and fans.
In this latest installment, we dove deep into the world of our talented designers. You got to know them, discovered the philosophies that guided their work, and learned about the projects that ignited their passion. We also explored their perspectives on accessibility, collaboration, and the exciting possibilities that lay ahead for Fandom. Their personal stories were shared to inspire and build a connection between you and the people shaping your Fandom journey.
We hope you were motivated by their journeys, gained valuable insights into the design process, and learned how to provide even more impactful feedback from this series. Get to know Fandom's Senior Product Designer, Kat Crisante! Although she was unable to join the Fandom Stars roundtable, Kat's creativity and love for world-building has been a significant contribution to the fan experience! Read on as she discusses her thoughts on design at Fandom, input and collaboration, accessibility, and looking ahead.
Meet Kat[]
Meet Fandom's Senior Product Designer, Kat Crisante!
Tell us a bit about yourself! What sparked your interest in product design, and how did you find your way to Fandom?
Kat: Hey there! I’ve been a Senior Product Designer at Fandom for two years now. I work primarily with the mobile apps team on the TV Guide and Fandom apps, but I’ve also enjoyed contributing to work on Fandom.com and a few of our N&R sites.
Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved the creativity and world building aspects to different kinds of fandoms and as a result, I have a number of them I follow (ex. Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy 7, Skyrim, Animal Crossing, Harry Potter, Cardcaptor Sakura, Zelda…the list goes on :) ). One of the great things about working here is I get to expand that list on a regular basis as I discover new ones!
I worked in the entertainment space for about seven years before joining Fandom. I was at Marvel for about five years and SYFY for two, working on a mix of product design and branding initiatives at both companies. In my free time I love playing video games and building Lego sets, so I was very excited to join the design team here and contribute to projects that overlap with my interests outside of digital product design.
How long have you been designing, and what experiences have shaped your approach to creating for consumers, specifically fans and those who are interested in entertainment?
Kat: I’ve been designing websites and mobile apps for about 15 years now. I started my career working in my college’s IT department and eventually gained an interest in web design and development after being involved in several side projects in that part-time job.
One of the things I like so much about product design is how it continues to evolve as technology advances. It makes it exciting to be in an industry where you’re always learning and making things for people to use and enjoy.
Whenever I work on a new consumer-facing project, I try to get a good understanding of who my users are and what their primary goal(s) are. I might learn this through user research, conversations with stakeholders, past learnings from a similar project or scenario, or a mix of all of those things. I try to put myself in a user’s position and come up with design options that help them achieve what they’re hoping to do as easily/frictionlessly as I can (ex. “Where would I expect to find a certain feature if I were the person using this tool?” “Is this copy clear and succinct?” “If not, how could I improve it?”). With entertainment projects, my end goal is to design an experience that is both easy and fun for someone to use.
Design at Fandom[]
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of designing features for the diverse community of fans and consumers on Fandom?
Kat: It’s such a cool opportunity to design features for large, diverse groups of fans. I find it both rewarding and interesting to hear what sort of things people are looking for when they use our sites or apps. I really enjoy learning new things and talking with people about their interests, so working on projects that mix both of those areas is something I really appreciate about this field.
One of the challenges I find is that as much as I’d like to make everyone happy, doing that in reality can be difficult. Everyone has different needs and preferences, which can make designing things like user flows and page layouts challenging because one portion of an audience might expect to find a feature in one location while another group might expect it somewhere else. There are also things like technical limitations or launch deadlines that may come up on projects, which could impact what we’re able to do in a given amount of time. I always try to take these things into account and make the best decision I can given all the information I have available at the time.
Iterative improvements in product design are really important because in the event we can’t launch with a specific feature, we can look to incorporate it in our product roadmap at a later date.
Can you share a specific example of a project you're particularly proud of? How did it impact the fan experience on the platform?
Kat: I’m happy to hear that TV Guide app users have been using some new content modules in the app’s Discover section. We’ve added the option to browse by genre and made it easier to add shows and movies to users’ Watchlists. There is more coming to the app in the second half of the year which I hope people will enjoy. I’m definitely someone who is prone to going down ‘rabbit holes’ when I’m interested in learning more about a specific topic, so I want to help others learn more about their fandoms too by surfacing new/cool/interesting content about the shows and movies they love.
Fandom covers a wide range of topics, from entertainment to gaming, anime, and more. How do you ensure your design choices are adaptable and relevant to such a wide range of interests?
Kat: As someone who follows multiple fandoms, this is something I give a lot of thought to. When I’m designing solutions that might be used across different categories, I try to research what similarities they may have in common (ex. genres, characters, release dates, etc.) and how that information might be surfaced in a way that’s consistent and makes sense across multiple topics (ex. anime, TV, video games, etc.).
I also like to look for opportunities to present related information that might be interesting to users that’s unique for each topic. So for example, if a user is playing a video game from a specific studio they like, they may be interested in learning more about the other games that studio is working on or when additional DLC is coming out. An anime watcher may want to see what the manga version of a character looked like or who the voice actor was for a particular series. I try to keep these scenarios in mind for the specific needs of a user/topic while also considering the broader information structure on a website or app.
Feedback and Collaboration[]
How do you gather feedback? What are some effective ways to provide input that directly influences your design decisions?
Kat: I like to get input on designs at different times during my design process. On some of my larger projects, such as an app onboarding flow, I’ll create working prototypes in Figma and coordinate with the Research team here to conduct user testing and gather additional feedback on designs. I can learn what’s working and what might need to be adjusted in a user flow or design before the Engineering team begins working on them. I also continue to gather user feedback after a feature has launched to hear what is working well or could be improved. This might be done via surveys, app store reviews, analytics or through additional user testing.
What qualities do you value most in feedback? What makes certain suggestions more actionable and impactful for your design process?
Kat: Feedback is so important in the product design process. It helps the team know what’s working (or what’s not) so we’re able to explore additional designs that might solve a particular problem and better meet our user’s needs.
The type of feedback I find helpful is specific and actionable. For example, if a user says something like “I love it!” or “I don’t like it” about a particular feature, it’s difficult to determine what specifically they enjoyed or found frustrating about the experience.
If instead they say something like, “I enjoy reading in-depth articles, but I have a few suggestions that could enhance the reading experience, like offering font-size adjustments to make smaller text easier to read. It would also be great if content translation was supported in more languages.” This type of feedback is helpful because it lets us know that while the user does enjoy a particular feature, there are some areas we might explore to improve it further.
Fandom Favorites & Accessibility[]
As a product designer, what's your favorite feature or design on Fandom, and why? Does it align with your own design philosophy?
Kat: As a designer (and fan of many things!) I really enjoy the theming options that are available on Fandom. Although it adds some complexity from a design standpoint, it’s very cool to see the creativity from different communities and how they express the look & feel of a particular fandom. It’s fun to go from a wiki like Pokémon to another like Stranger Things and get a completely different aesthetic depending on the wiki and its content.
How does accessibility factor into your design process? How do you ensure the editing tools are inclusive and usable by editors with diverse abilities and needs?
Kat: I keep accessibility in mind for many of the projects I work on at Fandom. Figma (our primary design software) offers a lot of plug-ins that help make that easier to do. Type color and size is one I check frequently to see if text meets contrast standards, which helps me make better choices to ensure users can more easily read content.
Overall I’m a big fan of allowing users to customize their interfaces to suit their preferences, so whenever that’s possible on my projects, I try to think of design options that may allow for that (ex. theming, type size adjustments, language, content display preferences, etc.).
Looking Ahead[]
What exciting design projects or initiatives are on the horizon for Fandom's editing tools? What can editors look forward to in the future?
Kat: Although I can’t speak to the editing tools, I’m excited by several feature updates we’ve been working on this year for the TV Guide app. One area I’ve had a lot of fun working on is related to improving the browse experience on our Discover screen by giving fans new ways of finding TV show and movie content, watching videos and catching up on the latest entertainment news. I’m looking forward to continuing to take user feedback and putting it towards improving the overall app experience.
The entire product design team has been working on a mix of really interesting initiatives, so I’m excited to see them each get released as the year goes on!