Designing Community - Bridging Digital and Physical Connection
• Updated Jun 16, 20253 min read
Talk Outline
I. Introduction (3 minutes)
Intro and experience with community building
Graphic designer turned product designer; worked freelance, agency, ex-Shopify, back to building my own practice and in pursuit of a balance between life, work and creative fulfillment. I always thought it’d all be the same ikigai thing, but as it turns out I need to be more rigid than that. Harmony isn’t where all things are the one thing — it’s that I have all three things, where I can do one or the other at times when I want to/can.
Since then I’ve been able to free up more time to do more creative work and make room for community work.
Recess programming — keebs, markets, smash meetup
Co-founded Asian Employee Resource Group at Shopify
Co-founder of Infinit, a 2-sided marketplace between wellness seekers and professional practitioners, dedicated to making wellness accessible
Big believer in applying tech principles to small ideas — I built up these frameworks and I think we need to share the wealth, but knowing what I know now about building and growing communities is that there’s a paradox between tech’s “move fast and break things” ethos and community’s need for slow, intentional growth
Why this matters: declining social connections in digital age despite more “connectivity”
II. Understanding Community Design Fundamentals (5 minutes)
Defining what makes a true community vs. just a group of users
The paradox: tech wants immediate results, communities need time to develop trust and relationships
The concept of “third spaces” (not home, not work) and why they’re crucial
Case studies: successful digital communities and what makes them work
III. Design Principles for Digital Community Spaces (7 minutes)
Key design heuristics applied to community building:
Visibility of system status → Show community activity and engagement
Match between system and real world → Reflect real social norms and interactions
User control and freedom → Allow people to define their own participation levels
Consistency and standards → Create reliable patterns for interaction
Error prevention → Design to minimize social friction and misunderstandings
Recognition rather than recall → Make community norms and expectations clear
Flexibility and efficiency of use → Support both newcomers and power users
How each principle creates psychological safety in digital spaces
IV. The Four Pillars of Community Consistency (5 minutes)
Consistent people: The importance of familiar faces and moderation
Consistent setting and time: Creating rhythm and ritual in digital spaces
Consistent purpose: Maintaining a clear shared goal or interest
Consistent expectations: Establishing and reinforcing community norms
V. Finding the Sweet Spot: When to Launch vs. When to Iterate (3 minutes)
Signs you’ve “marinated” too long (community fatigue, lost momentum)
Signs you’re moving too quickly (lack of psychological safety, low engagement)
How to properly validate community design decisions (metrics that actually matter)
The higher stakes of failure: trust is harder to rebuild than software
VI. Practical Implementation Strategies (5 minutes)
Start small: Creating minimum viable communities
Design for connection, not just content consumption
Tools and features that facilitate genuine relationships
Governance models that scale with community growth
How to measure success meaningfully (beyond vanity metrics)
VII. Conclusion and Actionable Takeaways (2 minutes)
The designer’s responsibility in creating healthy social spaces
Three things designers can implement immediately to improve community experiences