Discord is a communication software that allows users to stream, message, and talk. What makes Discord so unique is that it uses “servers” to allow different users and groups to easily navigate to their different friend groups or even in a professional setting with co-workers. When someone thinks of Discord, they think of gaming. But is Discord really only meant for gamers?
Let’s look at the design patterns and flows that both distinguish Discord from the many other messaging platforms, but also similar in ways that make it easy to navigate through.
Log In
Logging in on Discord on both mobile and desktop is quite simple, type in your email and password and be able to enter your account. For me, my flow on getting into Discord generally doesn’t include logging in as I usually stay logged into my account. For a lot of people who use any type of application often, this is quite common and a big reason on why we forget our passwords so often for the accounts we use the most! One of the great things about Discord is that you can pick any username you want and it is usually paired up with a random 4 digit number afterward, making it easy to choose what username you want without the worry of it being taken.
Servers
Looking at Discord, it can look complicated at first with all of the different servers and channels compared to a normal messaging platform. But once you’re settled in a server and channel, it’s quite easy compared to other platforms to call or message a group of people. Instead of doing a group call where you want for someone to pick up, you can simply wait in a channel until other people enter in like a room.
When planning to talk to friends, my flow is quite simple. Once I’m logged in, I can enter in the server and channel I want to without waiting or loading anything to join a call.
Uses
Using Discord for gaming is a no-brainer — you can stream your games, message, and speak to your group of friends in a server. Having multiple channels makes it especially easy if you have a server of friends that decided to play different games, but don’t want to create a whole other channel to play these different games.
However, Discord can be especially useful for people outside of the gaming community. Servers and channels can be beneficial for work if teams want to talk about different items without spamming other coworkers who aren’t working on that project and screen sharing anything they want to show to a specific group of people, especially as work-from-home is starting to become the new norm.
On top of work, friends and family can easily band together and use channels to help people easily look for the messages that they’re interested in like hangouts, important announcements, and other topics of interest.
Focusing on Discord’s search, messaging, log in, and calling design patterns, it’s quite standard compared to other messaging platforms that make it so easy to navigate through. Discord has put the effort in both their mobile application and desktop application to make it as flexible as possible on any device with standard patterns that provide user freedom and control throughout the platform.