How Human-Centric Design Shaped Sorta Stupid’s Website

09.16.25

Human-centric design is the blueprint for building better digital experiences. In Paradigm’s latest project — a website for a fast-growing YouTube channel — the principles of human-centered design guided every decision. Step behind the scenes to see how Paradigm created a wholly intuitive interface design for Sorta Stupid. 

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Looking to the Fans

Sorta Stupid had a well-established fanbase of over 500k YouTube subscribers and 30k Patreon members. Plus, the brand was continually expanding its reach — attracting new audiences via Discord, Twitch, streaming services , social media and their webcomic,“Billy Ends the World.”

Screenshots of the Sorta Stupid website with text: "Meet Your Audience Where They View. Responsible Design is Responsive."With so many ways to engage, Sorta Stupid needed its website to act as a hub for it all. We believed the best path forward would be stepping into a subscriber’s shoes — leading us to employ the following human-centric design principles in our work

  1. Prioritize Each Person. Sorta Stupid’s audience is more than the numbers on a screen. Paradigm recognized that they are individuals with unique needs and motivations that would influence their interactions.
  2. Push for Resolutions. Sorta Stupid’s website needed to be functional rather than just flashy. We resolved to identify pervasive user challenges and address them through an intuitive interface design.
  3. Think in Systems. When it comes to building a website, every element should play a role in the greater system. We aimed to leverage all visuals, messaging and functionalities to reach overarching conversion goals.
  4. Keep It Simple. Our team didn’t rush to create sweeping solutions all at once. Rather, designers and developers completed iterative UX systems that were prototyped, tested and refined so it would truly meet audience needs.

Screenshot of the editing interface for Sorta Stupid's website with text: "Details. Details. Details."

 

Building a Home for “Billy” 

After a comprehensive audit, our team identified the following audience challenges and solved each via human-centric design.

Billy character smiling at a mobile phone mockup of the new website.1. Integration 

Subscribers want to engage with Sorta Stupid across multiple platforms. To accommodate engagement, we knew that the brand’s website needed to make all content accessible from one location. 

Our web developers consolidated via platform integrations, including YouTube, Patreon and Discord. The result was a single ecosystem for content, conversations and channel updates that fell in line with membership tiers. Additionally, we integrated characters from their webcomic, “Billy Ends the World,” throughout design. 

YouTube, Patreon and Shopify logos next to each other on top of screenshots of the platforms.2. Familiarity 

Research by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that users prefer websites with familiar layouts. Sorta Stupid’s audience was used to engaging with the brand on established platforms — meaning that intuition could be leveraged in Sorta Stupid’s favor. 

Our designers mirrored YouTube’s intuitive interface design on multiple pages of the new website. The human-centric design felt familiar, with video browsers and recommendations, while still maintaining the quirkiness of the Sorta Stupid brand. 

3. Organization. 

YouTube’s structure allows users to easily navigate and discover content that aligns with their interests. Consequently, Sorta Stupid’s audience had become accustomed to a high level of organization in their interactions. 

To meet their expectations, our team developed multiple avenues for filtering, sorting and searching. For example, the homepage incorporated multiple drop-down filters for media type, genre, series, reaction type and membership tier. 

4 mobile screens showing the filter system of how to find a video using the site.

4. Interactivity. 

YouTube empowers users to find community among like-minded individuals and influence the content they enjoy. Sorta Stupid’s audience had come to expect connections with the brand, making community-building an integral component for success. 

Our goal was to create a sense of exclusivity on the website. As such, our designers created unique interactive elements such as dedicated comment sections, fan art galleries and upcoming release schedules.

Fan Art page screenshot next to enlarged image of fan art.

Explore Human-Centric Design with Paradigm 

The Sorta Stupid website now stands as a catch-all hub for brand engagement. Fans of gaming, reaction videos, podcasts and more now have the opportunity to consume content, connect and catch the latest updates. To see how we deployed principles of human-centered design, visit the Sorta Stupid website. 

Interested in human-centric design with Paradigm? Contact our team below to start building your intuitive interface design.