UN Ocean Prediction - Forum Feature
2026
Overview
The project involved redesigning the UN Ocean Prediction Forum to improve usability while preserving the website’s existing visual identity. The new interface organizes topics by categories and tags, with options for filtering, sorting, pagination, viewing popular topics and recent activity for users. Topic detail pages include descriptions and threaded replies, drawing inspiration from popular forums, like Reddit. A design system was created to provide organized and efficient development.
Problem
This year, I brought my contribution to the Forum section of the UN Ocean Prediction website. The forum provides a platform for all stakeholders engaged to discuss on topics regarding ocean prediction and digital ocean solutions.
The client required a visual and functional revamp of the Forum which would enhance the user experience while maintaining consistency with the existing Ocean Prediction website design.
Approach
The design focused on creating a landing page that showcases the newest topics, organized by categories and tags. The categories are color-coded and prominently displayed at the top of the page, while tags are located in the sidebar, alongside sections for popular topics and users' recent activity. Users can explore topics on this page, filter/sort through them, and use the pagination to dig deeper.
Each topic from the list opens to a detail page containing the description and replies. I drew significant inspiration from other forums, particularly Figma's Forum and Reddit, to explore how comments are displayed and how threads function in different scenarios. For example, whether there are only two comments, or if one comment includes nested replied.
Exploring other websites for inspiration was important in ensuring the forum doesn't feel foreign to the user. We all have accessed a forum at one point in our lives, so the user experience had to feel natural.
The design system
For this project, the design system was created to stay organized and offer developers a reliable reference for the main components which helps in a faster development.
Style guide - Forum section of UN Ocean Prediction
Final outcome
Forum landing page
Topic detail page