What about the supporters and makers right now? 👀
Wadizhas launched a "Feed" pagethat compiles the latest news from makers and supporters. It’s a kind of “social service” where you can browse crowdfunding updates that match your interests in real time.
The feed, which was first introduced to users last June, has reportedly seen its average daily page views increase more than tenfold since its launch and continues to grow steadily.
Why did we create the "Feed," which is designed to maximize the fun of exploring and discovering funding opportunities?
We sat down with Kim Tae-seong, a service planner who was involved in every stage of the feed service—from planning and development to review—to hear the behind-the-scenes story.
Kim Tae-seong, Feed Service Planner at Wadiz
Hello, Mr. Kim Tae-seong. Could you please briefly introduce yourself?
Hello. My name is Kim Tae-seong, and I work as a service planner on Wadiz. I’m a relative newcomer (?) Wadiz, having joined less than a year ago. Since then, I’ve planned and launched the IP business page and feed service, and I’m currently working on a major redesign of the main service page.
What does the Service Design Team do?
The Service Design Team, composed of service planners and product designers, is responsible for the planning and design of our entire platform service, which is delivered via both web and app. We are working to develop and improve our platform so that more users can experience the "joy of everyday life discovered through funding."
The story behind the creation of the feed service,
What were your goals in designing the feed service?
Wadizis full of new stories to enrich your daily life, including stories featuring makers’ diverse ideas, as well as reviews and messages of support written by backers. However, these stories used to be scattered across individual maker projects.
That’s why we decided to launch the Feed. We wanted to make it easier for users to explore funding campaigns and discover new things, so they can fill their daily lives with more joy and excitement.
“I wanted to create a space where people can discover new things that change their daily lives”—that really struck me. What has been the reaction from Wadiz users?
Since its initial launch, the feed has quickly established itself within the service. The current average daily page views have increased more than tenfold compared to the early days of the service’s launch, and they continue to grow steadily.
This figure is approximately 2.5 times higher than that of other pages on the main page that are presented at the same hierarchical level (menu structure), and it is comparable to the event main page, which is seeing high page views driven by marketing efforts.
In other words, these posts appear based solely on user needs, without any separate advertising. We believe that users are having a positive experience with the feed, which is driving increased usage.
Was there a reason why funding platforms needed this kind of "social" service?
Wadizis a crowdfunding platform. The success of a project depends on public participation (funding). Because it is a crowdfunding platform, we felt that a "social" feature, such as a feed, was essential.
We believed that a "social" service was needed to strengthen connections between users, and the Feed is where it all begins. What if, through the Feed, people could share their stories with one another and find common ground? And if that connection led to funding, wouldn’t it help expand new experiences that transform everyday life?
What was your main focus when building the service?
The question was, “What should we fill the feed with?” Selecting content to populate the feed in line with its vision of being a space to “discover new things that change everyday life” was our top priority. After much discussion, we decided to prioritize “user-generated reviews” for the feed.
We aimed to enhance the fun of exploring and discovering our service by sharing vivid reviews from users who have already tried products available for funding or purchase Wadiz, and to address any questions users may have about these products.
Kim Tae-seong, Feed Service Planner
It’s already been three months since the launch. Do you think the feed service has found its footing yet?
In addition to the increase in average daily page views mentioned earlier, the improved connections amongWadiz usersis particularly noticeable. In particular, since the launch of the feed, user-to-user follows. Compared to general users who did not form these connections through following, are 7 times more likely to back projects, 5 times more likely to make store purchases, and 8 times more likely to sign up for project launch notifications , indicating higher engagement across the entire service.
We believe we are doing a great job of strengthening the bonds between users 😁
Please share any insights you gained during the service development process.
We built the feed service as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). The goal was to quickly validate the service’s value and iterate on it. To this end, we monitored and analyzed data before and after the project, and in the process, we gained two key insights.
The first insight is that the feed is strengthening social proof within the Wadiz service . As is often said, humans are social creatures. We are influenced by what those around us say and do. Simply put, when we learn that a product is recommended by others or is being used by people around us, we are more likely to search for and purchase that same product. This holds true online as well. The feed is a service centered on delivering user review content, rather than simply listing projects. Nevertheless, within Wadiz platform, the top 5 most-viewed projectson the Wadiz platform. Furthermore, conversions to detail pages and payments are also steadily increasing. This confirms that the feed strengthens social proof, thereby contributing to funding exploration and participation.
The second insight is the need to personalize feed content. The current feed simply displays in chronological order .
We found that the number of project views varies by at least three to fifteen times depending on whether users follow the account. In other words, the feed also provides personalized content,, we expect it will bring us closer to our goal of creating a space where users can discover innovations that transform their daily lives while enjoying a satisfying experience.
(Left) Project-focused funding homepage (Right) User review-focused feed
What will the feed look like in the future?
I’m curious to see how it will evolve and make the funding experience even more enjoyable for users.
As a feed service planner, I look forward to a “Playground” for those seeking innovations that will change their daily lives.. The Feed is a vast space within the Wadiz platform that captures every story between supporters and makers.
What if this space were filled with a wider variety of stories—from supporters desperately wondering, “Is there anyone out there who can make a product like this?” to makers curious about how people would react if they created such a product? Along with the upcoming redesign of Wadiz service homepage, the feed is set to undergo many changes, including content personalization and diversification, integration with maker pages, friend recommendations via Kakao Sync, and the addition of features for user interaction.
This will make it easier for supporters and makers to discover more joy and fun, and it will turn the feed into a playground for users—giving them even more reasons to visit the Wadiz more often!
About the culture of the Wadiz Service Design Team,
I was really impressed that you mentioned the colleagues who participated in the project in your company-wide email after the service launch. Could you share any insights you gained during the collaboration process?
What struck me most was how everyone treats a new service like their own child when launching it.
The development of this feed service was carried out as a Social Enhancement Task Force within the CTO organization.
The many developers who participated approached the project with the heart of a parent caring for a child, communicating more quickly, closely, and actively than ever before.
Thanks to them, we were able to complete the process—from forming the task force to deploying the first version of the service—in less than a month.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many “Feverge” (the father of the Feed service) and “Fimoney” (the mother of the Feed service) developers who helped build the Feed service.
I also hope that we can continue to successfully cultivate the Feed service together by sharing any stories, anytime, anywhere, just as we do now.
