Hani Park Designs

Designing for people, driving business results

Status

Launched in Q4 2023

Company

The Washington Post

My role

Strategy, Research, Design

Overview

In late 2023, I led the redesign of The Washington Post’s Recipe Finder platform as Principal Product Designer. The goal was to transform a fragmented, outdated experience into a cohesive hub that deepened recipe reader engagement and fueled subscription growth.

Impact

increase in CTR

191%

increase in recipe saves

191%

increase in recipe saves

86%

increase in SEO raking

86%

increase in SEO raking

53%

increase in evergreen

content traffic

53%

increase in evergreen

content traffic

50%

increase in platform

subscription conversions

50%

increase in platform subscription conversions

Go to Recipe Finder

The challenge

Recipe Finder was underperforming in both user value and business outcomes:

For users: Disorganized search, limited filtering, and fragmented content led to high drop-off. Readers often couldn’t find or return to recipes they loved.
For the business: Poor user experience leads to reduced engagement, limiting traffic growth and monetization opportunities.

This was a chance not just to “fix” the recipe tool, but to reposition it as a retention and business growth driver within The Post’s ecosystem.

My approach

I led a cross-functional process anchored in research, collaboration, and alignment on impact.

1. Discover → pinpoint the problem

Discover → Define the Problems

Competitive analysis

I analyzed features across five major recipe platforms to identify gaps and opportunities for The Post. This research not only highlighted trends but also built a strong case for stakeholders to invest in key features.

Stakeholder workshop

Following the competitive analysis, I led a workshop with key stakeholders to brainstorm and organize feature ideas from a business perspective.

By involving partners early, I created alignment on priorities, surfaced hidden risks, and built momentum toward investing in features that balanced user needs with business goals.

Ideate → define high-impact opportunities

Opportunity mapping

I pulled together insights from user interviews, competitive analysis, and stakeholder workshops into an opportunity map built around the habit loop.

It helped us turn feedback into concrete feature ideas and gave the team a clear view of which features mattered most.

Impact effort matrix

I introduced an impact–effort matrix to work with stakeholders and engineers, which helped us identify the highest-impact MVP features and align roadmap phases with engineering capacity.

Design → build a scalable system

I redesigned the search bar component and refined its behaviors to improve usability and consistency across the design system.

Launch → deliver measurable impact

Launch → Deliver Results with Measurable Impact

The launch of Recipe Finder delivered measurable growth across The Post’s ecosystem.

53% increase in evergreen content traffic

50% lift in subscription conversions within the platform
86% improvement in SEO ranking performance
Recipe saves and repeat visits grew significantly, showing stronger user retention
Positive reader feedback highlighted Recipe Finder as one of The Post’s most loved features

Attracted new subscribers by blending hard news with soft content like recipes.

Mobile-first in mind
I prioritized fast, intuitive search and discovery on mobile before extending the experience to tablet and desktop.

A unified recipes platform
I designed Recipe Finder as a unified platform where users could search, save, organize, and connect with recipes in one place, creating a seamless and intuitive cooking experience.

A smarter, more intuitive search
I designed a seamless search experience by introducing an autocomplete search bar that suggested relevant recipes

Rating
I fostered community engagement by enhancing recipe rating and commenting features—capturing valuable user feedback while also using the feature as a gateway to encourage more subscriptions.

Recipe page with 'Start cooking' CTA

Attracted new subscribers by designing a clear, action-oriented recipe page with a prominent ‘Start Cooking’ CTA, guiding users directly into step-by-step cooking mode.

Design → Craft a Scalable System

Redesigned the search bar experience and advocated for WPDS design system updates, ensuring Recipe Finder integrated seamlessly into The Post’s broader product ecosystem.

Updated the search bar component and refined its behaviors to improve usability and consistency across the design system.

High-fidelity prototype of an auto-complete search bar

I introduced an impact–effort matrix to work with stakeholders and engineers, which helped us identify the highest-impact MVP features and align roadmap phases with engineering capacity.

Opportunity Map

I pulled together insights from user interviews, competitive analysis, and stakeholder workshops into an opportunity map built around the habit loop. It helped us turn feedback into concrete feature ideas and gave the team a clear view of which features mattered most, guiding where we focused development.

Ideate → Align on High-Impact Opportunities

People love the new Recipe Finder

“
This is great!! The recipes look fabulous, and I so appreciate being able to access them without a separate recipe subscription.

from my window
“
Thank you so much for such a nice, well-rounded recipe site that is included.

Homicidal Muffin
“
SO MANY gorgeous recipes and choices! I love that the comments section is back. Yes, it was all a long time coming, but so worth it.

Astoi auio

“
This is great!! The recipes look fabulous, and I so appreciate being able to access them without a separate recipe subscription.

from my window
“
Thank you so much for such a nice, well-rounded recipe site that is included.

Homicidal Muffin
“
SO MANY gorgeous recipes and choices! I love that the comments section is back. Yes, it was all a long time coming, but so worth it.

Astoi auio

Reflection

Frame design in business terms: Research and usability insights resonate most when paired with revenue, retention, or risk.

Community is a growth engine: Features like comments and ratings aren’t “nice-to-haves”—they build habit and loyalty.
Systems thinking matters: By designing modular, scalable components, we unlocked future opportunities beyond the initial launch.
Influence through facilitation: My role wasn’t just producing design—it was aligning diverse stakeholders on a shared vision and phased roadmap.

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Next project

Status

Launched in Q4 2023

Company

The Washington Post

Services

Strategy, Research, Design

Designing for people, driving business results

🎨 Open to work!

Excited for new opportunities. Feel free to reach out to learn more about my design process and approach.