Revamping Baidu Tieba Interaction: Design Methods that Boost User Engagement

Preface

Good interaction atmosphere is core to community products. Baidu Tieba, a 20‑year‑old community, seeks to upgrade its interaction experience using systematic design methods to foster user engagement and active loops.

1. Exploring Interaction System Design Methods

Simple interactions involve creators posting content and viewers liking, replying, or private messaging, which motivates creators. We built a cyclical interaction system focusing on three elements: clearer information, smoother paths, and surprising gameplay.

2. Identifying Interaction Design Opportunities in Tieba

Roles: creators (posters) and viewers (members). Over years, interaction chains broke, preventing positive loops.

1. Scenario Insights

Tieba features diverse content forms, unique browsing scenes, varied interaction types, detailed reply logic, and multiple gameplay options, leading to issues such as broken chains, missing functions, chaotic structures, and lost content.

2. Design Opportunity Points

Common pain points:

Hard to understand: unreasonable reply list structure, unreadable updates after bookmarking.

Hard to see: unstable push channel, many users disable push.

Boring: outdated like/reply mechanisms, repetitive browsing and sign‑in actions.

We will apply the interaction system design method to upgrade Tieba’s experience and increase user interaction.

3. Applying Interaction System Design Methods – Examples

1. Information More Understandable

Complex reply scenes require readable presentation.

a. Optimize List Structure

New experience displays original post, floor, and sub‑floor hierarchy based on context, reducing comprehension cost and reusing in like/@ views.

b. Precise Positioning in Details

New experience expands original post and floor content by default, refining click logic to help users see exactly what they want.

c. Extend Consumption Steps

After entering the detail page, new experience adds preceding and following floor content, allowing users to continue browsing.

2. Path Smoother

Push notifications need stable delivery and user willingness to open.

a. Guide Push Switch – Scenario Guidance

New experience triggers push enable prompts in high‑frequency interaction scenes (sign‑in, reply, post) to improve open rates.

b. Attractive Push Presentation

Push content is structured as “User + Action + Target” with avatar and details to entice clicks.

3. Surprising Gameplay

Traditional likes and replies are stale; lightweight, fun innovations are needed.

a. New Dynamic Emojis

Introduce tap, long‑press, double‑tap progressive like interactions, plus seasonal event likes for surprise.

First private messages offer Tieba IP emojis; later add champagne, fireworks, and interactive games to boost interaction willingness.

b. New Trendy Expressions

Virtual forms as trendy expression, delivering via private messages and creating social currency for bilateral interaction.

Conclusion

The “clearer information, smoother path, surprising gameplay” interaction system design method has been applied to Tieba, yielding positive data and user feedback, offering a reference for similar projects.