Discord Stories
Adding a “Stories” feature to Discord
Share what’s happening right now. A lightweight way to share quick updates with your Discord communities. Stories let you post moments, stay connected, and engage beyond chat.
What is Discord?
Discord is a popular app with over 227 million monthly users worldwide. Originally designed for gamers, it has expanded into a platform for work, school, and interest-based communities, with over 19 million active servers covering a variety of topics beyond gaming.
Unlike Instagram or Snapchat, Discord focuses on conversations and community rather than followers and likes. Many users mainly use Discord to stay in touch with friends, join communities, connect with people / make online friends, etc. According to a 2021 survey by Discord, over 70% of users use the platform to socialize beyond gaming, reinforcing its role as a digital hangout space with its many convenient features.
So what’s the problem?
Many Discord users rely on the platform as their primary social space, but there is no way to share quick, casual moments or updates beyond text and voice chat. Unlike Instagram or Snapchat, Discord lacks a Stories-like feature for casual, temporary content. Adding this could make it easier for users to express themselves and stay connected in a more visual, lightweight way. I believe that adding a "Stories" feature could improve user engagement without disrupting Discord's core community-based experience.
Adding a "Stories" feature would let users post short-lived updates like photos or videos onto their profile. Imagine being able to:
Post stories right from your profile just like adding a status
Edit your story the way you’d like. Add text, music, drawings, etc.
Select who’s able to view your story. Because your privacy matters.
View your friends or server members stories to see updates and what they’re up to.
Project scope & time
Project Planning
9 Hours
Research
20 Hours
Prioritization
14 Hours
UI Design & Prototype
45 Hours
Testing & Iterations
12 Hours
My role as a UX/UI designer on this project
This included creating the project brief, planning and conducting user research, mapping insights into personas and goals, defining the feature roadmap, and building user flows. I designed lo-fi and hi-fi wireframes, developed the branding and style guide, created a UI kit, and tested the prototype through usability sessions, making revisions and iterations along the way.
Research Goal
We want to understand how Discord users currently share updates, what challenges or limitations they face when sharing updates, and what concerns they might have about sharing content. This research will help us determine if there are gaps in the current experience that a feature like Discord Stories could address.
Talking with real Discord users
I interviewed 5 participants (long-time daily users, casual members, and creators). Each had different habits, but one thing was clear: Discord is central to their social and creative lives. I asked them about how often they post updates, what they share, how they feel about current tools, and whether a feature like Stories could fit into their routine.
Research - User Interviews
People love Discord for depth, but it’s missing a lightweight, casual layer of interaction. Stories could fill that gap: fast, expressive, and temporary updates that keep communities alive between the bigger moments.
“I don’t have all of the same people on discord that use different platforms. I still want to keep my online friends updated even though they can’t keep up with me on Instagram or other social platforms for privacy reasons or they choose to stick to Discord only. I think it would be fun to keep those online friends posted on what I’m doing and can be conversation starters.”
“Honestly, if discord became like Instagram or something, and it had a whole story feature, it would be game changing, because then you already have all of these communities, like server groups and stuff that are all into the same things. And then if you’re posting stories, people of the same interests are gonna see your stuff. ”
Research - Competitive Analysis
I looked at Stories features on Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp to learn the norms — and the gaps Discord could fill.
Competitive Analysis Insights:
Snapchat Stories focuses on privacy, direct sharing, and fun AR experiences but lacks discoverability and engagement tools.
Instagram Stories is the most feature-rich, supporting interactive elements, music, and public reach, but can feel cluttered and ad-heavy.
WhatsApp Status is the simplest and most private but lacks creative tools and wider engagement features.
Research Synthesis - Affinity Mapping
After interviews, I had a wall full of affinity map notes, overlapping needs, repeated frustrations, I grouped and regrouped insights until patterns started to emerge.
The big realization: most participants weren’t that different from each other. They all leaned on Discord daily, they all cared about community and staying in ouch with online friends, and they all saw Stories as something that could add value to Discord.
After analyzing interviews and competitive platforms, I organized findings into an affinity map, identified patterns, and then built personas, problem statements, and goals to guide the design.
Turning Ideas into Structure: Starting with Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Before diving into the visuals, I mapped out the essential screens and user flows using low-fidelity wireframes. This allowed me to focus on functionality and navigation by making simple layouts before refining the details.
Bringing It All Together: High-Fidelity Wireframes & UI
With the branding in place, I applied it to the wireframes to create high-fidelity designs that combined usability with a strong visual identity. I refined every detail—from the structure of the posting flows to the visual hierarchy of the feed—to make sure the design felt cohesive, polished, and easy to use
HIGH WIREFRAMES SAMPLES
Over the course of research, design, and iteration, that idea transformed into a high-fidelity prototype that feels like a real product.
This project taught me the value of starting simple, validating early, and letting user needs guide decisions. It reinforced that UX design is never really “done”, it’s a cycle of creating, testing, and refining. I also learned how important storytelling is in both the product and the process.
I’m proud of how cohesive and polished the final design feels, especially the way it captures creativity and professionalism in one platform. More than that, I’m proud of the process, how every decision, from color choice to navigation, was intentional and backed by research and inspiration.