Client
Panels
Product
Panels Mobile
Role
UI UX Designer
Year
2024
Overview
Panels is a mobile wallpaper app created by the MKBHD team to bring editorial-grade wallpapers to a broad audience. This personal redesign focused on turning a visually strong but usability-challenged app into a consistent, fast, and confidence-building experience—making discovery simple, previews trustworthy, and “set wallpaper” a one-tap path.
Challenge
Early releases attracted attention but also heavy negative feedback about basic UX: inconsistent typography and spacing, unclear actions, clashing gestures, unreliable device previews, and a slow, multi-step apply flow. Search and discovery felt shallow, and accessibility gaps (contrast, tap targets) compounded frustration. The goal: resolve UX debt, unify visuals, streamline the core journey (discover → preview → set), and rebuild trust—without changing the brand essence.
Research
Findings
After synthesizing public feedback, heuristics, and competitive benchmarks, I grouped insights into following categories.
Discovery & Personalization
Users want richer browse options—categories, tags, color filters, trending, creator spotlights.
Search should be forgiving (typos/synonyms) and remember recent queries.
Favorites/Collections and “similar wallpapers” help re-finding and deeper exploration.
A “New this week” rail rewards return visits with fresh content.
Visual & Interaction Consistency
Type scale, spacing, and component states were inconsistent, blurring hierarchy.
Controls (chips, buttons) lacked clear tap/disabled/loading states.
Gesture conflicts (swipe vs back) caused accidental exits and loss of context.
Preview/apply states weren’t differentiated, hurting user confidence.
Performance & Accessibility
Perceived speed was poor; skeletons/progressive image loading were missing.
Device previews didn’t reliably reflect real aspect ratios/crops.
Low contrast and small touch targets reduced accessibility and caused mis-taps.
Empty/error states were under-designed, leaving users stuck on network hiccups.
User profiles
General User
As a General User, goals included quickly finding a great wallpaper by mood or color, saving favorites, and setting it confidently in as few taps as possible.
Solution
I redesigned Panels around a clear, consistent, and fast core flow. A refined type scale and 8-pt spacing system unify layout. Discovery adds categories, tags, color filters, and “New/Trending” rails; search supports typos and recent queries. The wallpaper page introduces device-accurate previews, a clear preview vs apply distinction, and a one-tap “Set” with a visible progress state. “Similar to this” and Favorites/Collections improve re-finding. Performance is improved with cached thumbnails, progressive image loading, and skeleton placeholders. Accessibility is strengthened via higher contrast, larger tap targets, and thoughtful empty/error states. Monetization is transparent with a previewable paywall and clear benefits—no surprises.
