Community Templates for Faster Launches

Overview

Users often struggled to create cohesive community websites from scratch, facing long setup times and inconsistent design results.
To address this, I worked on designing a collection of modular, industry-tailored templates that simplify the website-building process and guide users toward faster, more visually consistent launches.
As a result, community creation time decreased by over 40%, and users were able to launch their platforms within just one to two weeks while maintaining a professional, on-brand look.

The Problem

Building a community website from scratch was slow, complex, and often resulted in inconsistent user experiences.

Many users struggled to create community websites efficiently. They faced long setup times, unclear structure, and inconsistent visual styles, challenges that discouraged them from launching or maintaining their online spaces.

Design Approach

A user-centered, data-informed approach combining industry research, persona analysis, and iterative UI/UX design.

We began with data analysis to identify industries with high community potential. Each template was then crafted based on specific user personas, common use cases, and feature requirements. Our process emphasized modularity, scalability, and accessibility, ensuring that templates were both flexible and easy to customize.

Research

Our research phase focused on discovering which industries had a stronger need for online community platforms.
We conducted keyword analysis and market trend mapping to identify potential audiences, including SaaS Platforms, fitness organizations, gaming groups, freelancing communities, and niche interest groups.

We also analyzed other community platforms and websites and also our current users to extract best practices in structure, content hierarchy, and design patterns. This helped us form a clear understanding of what users expect from a community experience in each niche.

User Personas

For every selected industry, we developed detailed personas to guide design decisions.
Examples included:

• SaaS Founder Persona: Needs a community hub to engage users, share product updates, and gather feedback, with a professional, brand-aligned interface that builds trust and loyalty.

• Fitness Coach Persona: Seeks an easy way to manage members, post updates, and organize group challenges.

• Gaming Community Moderator: Needs intuitive navigation, forums, and event pages to engage members.

• Freelancer Network Owner: Looks for professional presentation, clear onboarding, and collaboration features.

Each persona informed the tone, visual direction, and key features of its corresponding template.

Design Goals

1. Enable users to build and launch communities faster.

2. Maintain visual and structural consistency across templates.

3. Create adaptable designs that fit multiple use cases and brand identities.

4. Ensure intuitive navigation and a positive user experience for both community owners and members.

Working Towards a Solution

Developed modular, persona-driven templates optimized for usability and scalability.

We defined a scalable design framework that could support various community types while maintaining consistency. Each template followed a flexible grid, reusable components, and clear content hierarchies to ensure coherence and ease of customization.

Ideation

We started ideation by mapping out potential site architectures for each community type.
Using low-fidelity designs, we explored variations in layout and feature placement, testing ideas for member interaction, navigation flow, and visual hierarchy before finalizing structures.

Designing Process

The design process was divided into two phases:

1. UX Foundation:

   • Defined layout structures, navigation flows, and component placement.

   • Prioritized user goals through information architecture and wireframes.

2. UI Design:

   • Developed visual systems using color palettes, typography, and design assets tailored to each audience.

   • Ensured accessibility, responsive behavior, and visual harmony across templates.

We designed directly in Figma, integrating design tokens and component libraries for reusability.

User Testing Process

We conducted usability sessions with both existing and potential Bettermode users.
Participants tested template flows, content placement, and customization options. Feedback helped refine layouts, simplify actions, and improve clarity in call-to-actions and navigation.

In addition, our CX (Customer Experience) team continuously gathered post-launch feedback from users, which we translated into iterative UI/UX improvements.

Success Metrics

We tracked both quantitative and qualitative indicators to evaluate the impact of the template system:

• 40% reduction in average build time, enabling users to launch their communities within 1-2 weeks instead of a month.
  (Measured via internal analytics comparing setup durations before and after template adoption.)

• Consistent brand perception across templates, verified through user satisfaction surveys and visual audits.

• 23% decrease in onboarding-related CX tickets, indicating improved usability and clearer navigation.

• Steady month-over-month growth in template adoption and active community launches, based on platform usage data.

Key Insights

Data gathered from usage analytics, user feedback, and CX reports revealed several patterns:

• Cross-industry UX overlap: While industries differed visually, user interaction patterns and core UX needs remained largely consistent.

• Modularity = Efficiency: Templates built from reusable UI components cut design and maintenance time significantly.

• Data-informed iteration: Continuous data collection from product analytics and CX feedback enabled faster, evidence-based design improvements.

Iteration and Improvement

Templates evolved continuously with new platform features and user feedback.

As the platform evolved, we regularly updated templates to align with new features, design standards, and user expectations. Each update cycle included minor UX adjustments, visual refinements, and performance optimizations based on real user behavior and CX insights.

Outcome and Future Enhancements

A living system of templates that continues to grow with user needs and platform evolution.

The result is a cohesive ecosystem of modular, user-friendly templates that empower anyone, from creators to businesses, to build communities effortlessly.
Moving forward, we plan to introduce AI-assisted template recommendations, advanced customization tools, and localized design variations to enhance accessibility and global relevance.

Below, you can see a selection of the designed templates: