Introduction
Fanhouse is a creator-first platform built to empower Creators and grow their fanbase.
Background
Fanhouse was the only platform on the market with a 90% revenue share compared to platforms like Twitch and OnlyFans (usually 50%, sometimes 30%). Creators grew their communities through subscriptions, private and public chat rooms, tipping and requests.
My Role
I led the overall design process and oversaw product scoping, user flows, usability testing, wireframes, rapid prototyping and design system updates.
Additionally, I hired and led 2 designers and assisted in the transition from horizontal creator platform to the music vertical.
Team
3 Designers, 4 developers and CEO/CPO
Applied Skills
Usability Testing
User Interface Design
Design Systems
Design Handoff
Problem Discovery
Creators lacked incentive to stay active in housechats.
Housechats was the core feature that helped Fanhouse grow into the platform it became. It was built for real engagement and community, but over time, creators stopped participating as often. In early interviews, many shared that staying active in chat felt like unpaid labor, and the time they spent didn’t translate into visible value. On the other hand, fans saw Housechats as a space to feel close to their favorite creators, even if the connection was one-sided. When creators pulled back, fans noticed.
We needed a way to re-engage creators by making chat activity feel rewarding without disrupting the casual, community-driven vibe fans expected.
We needed a way to re-engage creators by making chat activity feel rewarding without disrupting the casual, community-driven vibe fans expected.
HMW help creators feel their time spent in chat is valuable and worth showing up for?
The Process
Research and Insights
Emotional connections through live chat build strong emotional connections and a sense of belonging, increasing user loyalty and satisfaction.
Through research findings and qualitative data we collected for our platform, it supports the importance of maintaining creator presence in chat to influence fan loyalty and strengthen community and platform growth.
Research on live-streaming platforms like Twitch show that real-time chat interactions foster a deep sense of community, belonging and emotional attachment. All of which drive increased loyaltly and satisfaction among users.
What Housechats did well
- Asynchronous engagement allowed for flexible interactions that were ambient and not bound to a schedule.
- Interactions felt more intentional and personal than livestreams because fans often read every message, not just scan for what was happening in that exact moment.
- Both fans and Creators drew a clea line between private and public chats but being a paid supporter added a sense of recognition and deeper connection. Both groups agreed that paid access carries more value.
Other Key Insights
Too much monetization features led to disengagement
We noticed many platforms leaned on monetization tools such as tips, subscriptions, live-chat payments and virtual gifting to keep both fans and creators engaged. We believe there was an opportunity to take a more integrated and conversational approach that felt native to chat, making monetization feel less transactional and more nautrally aligned with how Creator and Fans interacted on the existing feature.
Analyzing the Market and Competitors
Competitive benchmarking revealed various solutions to drive engagement through embedded monetization.
We noticed many platforms leaned on monetization tools such as tips, subscriptions, live-chat payments and virtual gifting to keep both fans and creators engaged. We believe there was an opportunity to take a more integrated and conversational approach that felt native to chat, making monetization feel less transactional and more nautrally aligned with how Creator and Fans interacted on the existing feature.
Validating Assumptions
Interviews with Creators shared their struggles of flexible monetization and unpaid emotional labor.
Creators felt more pressure to perform in chats without compensation as the platform provided more and obvious ways to monetize. Time spent in Housechats didn't yield proportional returns when compared to message requests or tipping. Many felt that consistent chat engagement felt unsustainable over time, leading them to disengage unless there was an incentive.
Interviews with fans revealed what truly created a sense of belonging, and what didn't.
Fans shared that Housechats was a space they could connect with Creators as their peers. When Creators would show up casually, joke around, responded in real-time or started conversations with others, it felt natural like they were one of them. That energy made the community feel alive. Presence, not just content was what built loyalty. Purchases in this context were often made to support, and it was described as a form of appreciation in addition to a fun, and rewarding way to engage.
Identifying the Pain Points
No incentivization made it difficult for Creators to stay engaged, which resulted in less overall engagement and activity from fans.
We noticed many platforms leaned on monetization tools such as tips, subscriptions, live-chat payments and virtual gifting to keep both fans and creators engaged. We believe there was an opportunity to take a more integrated and conversational approach that felt native to chat, making monetization feel less transactional and more nautrally aligned with how Creator and Fans interacted on the existing feature.
Identifying the Pain Points
No incentives made it difficult for Creators to stay engaged, which resulted in less overall engagement and activity from fans.
We noticed many platforms leaned on monetization tools such as tips, subscriptions, live-chat payments and virtual gifting to keep both fans and creators engaged. We believe there was an opportunity to take a more integrated and conversational approach that felt native to chat, making monetization feel less transactional and more nautrally aligned with how Creator and Fans interacted on the existing feature.
Our Solution
Locked Messages, a way to earn directly in chat without breaking the flow.
Creators could send messages during live conversations that fans could unlock for a small fee, making their time in chat feel worthwhile. It kept engagement high, gave fans more ways to interact, and preserved the informal, real-time interactions that made Housechats feel personal to their fans.
System Architecture
Mapping out the key path scenarios that Creators take in order to make the feature clear and useable
Designing the locked messages flow required a thoughtful system architecutre to support nuanced creator behavior. We needed to account for all specific cases and reinforce the monetization opportunities without adding frcition and ensure the system could adapt to the new message stages dynamically.
Approaching the design
Balancing Creator Incentives and Fan Experience
- It gave Creators a new monetization moment built into an existing experience, letting them stay active in chats without shifting away from casual conversation.
- It preserved the real-time, community-driven connection that fans craved the most.
- The experience became a new spontaneous way for fans to unlock content in the moment.
Qualitative Testing
Making sure both Creators and Fans could easily use the proposed solutions and making any neccessary changes
To ensure adoption and usability, we tested the experience with both Creators and Fans early and often. We paid close attention to where confusion or friction occurred and made the proper adjustments. Our goal was to make monetization feel natural for Creators, and discovery intuitive for Fans.
Quantitative Testing
Validating through visual testing and quantitative feedback
After refining the core interaction flows, we moved into visual design testing to assess clarity, hierarchy, and visual affordance. Using A/B tests and unmoderated prototype testing tools, we tracked user actions, click paths, and completion rates across different design variants. This allowed us to measure if one design had impact over another.
