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Crafting a game-changing feature for an established app.
UX / UI Designer Research Conductor 2.5 Week Duration 2024
Background
Instagram reels are entertaining, but they have what to improve. Instagram is a popular social media platform where users can share photos and videos, connect with friends, follow their favorite celebrities, businesses, and influencers, and discover new content through hashtags and explore pages. It's known for its visually-focused interface and features like Stories, Reels, and IGTV, making it a versatile platform for both personal expression and marketing.
Problem
Scenario 1: It is Amazon prime day, you are scrolling through Instagram and your favourite influencer is sharing their favourite amazon purchases. You see that one item that you NEED. A cute summer dress, an awesome kitchen gadget, a hose for the backyard or that new toy your kids would love. At the end of the Reel they say, “linked in my amazon storefront”.
UCHHHHH not again. You click the link in their bio, enter the storefront and have to search for the name of the item. After tons of scrolling you find it.
How frustrating? This is not good enough for users...and frankly it interferes with the user achieving their goal.
Scenario 2: You are scrolling through instagram and a reel pops up that you have never seen before, you watch it and at the end they say “check out part 2 for the reveal” or “see the rest in part 2”. so you click on the profile and you scroll until you find the video you just watched. Which sometimes is quick but sometimes can take way too long.
Solution
With these two issues, we have a few potential solutions:
Instagram links would be a direct, clickable link in a reel that would lead the user from the exact image/reel to the product on the website. A no brainer...
How about adding a feature where videos can be linked after uploaded? This will allow the user to continue on to the next linked video without having the enter the profile and search for the second part Reel. This would benefit the scrolling user and the creator, therefore benefiting Instagram as a whole.
Research Goals
We want to pinpoint what about Instagram Reels is frustrating users so we can figure out what features they need to reach their goals.
1. Discover what the pain points are with Instagram Reels
2. Understand how the user spends time on Instagram
3. Learn more about the user’s shopping habits in relation to Instagram
4. Find out if the user would prefer a separate app for short video content
Conducting Interviews
How do you spend your time on Instagram?
Do you watch reels?
Do you ever click links on instagram to either shop or other?How often do you get influenced to buy an item from a reel?
Do you share content with others? How?
Can you tell me a time you experienced/were frustrated with reels?
Scenario 1 - You are watching a reel and you want to buy one of the items they are promoting. What do you do?
Scenario 2 - You are watching a reel and the video has a second part. What do you do?
If you could change any part of Instagram what would it be?
Research Results
Product Links: With User’s are extremely frustrated with the long process it takes to find product links when showcased in Reels.
Two Part Reels: User’s are not willing to spend time finding the second part to a Reel which created a lack of views or frustration for the user.
Sharing Reels: User’s find it an obstacle to see the series of shared Reels in a conversation..
Personas
1/3
Since Instagram is such a popular and global app, the types of users are endless, but these 3 personas capture the majority of user's needs. It also helps understand the users as a whole.
Project Goals
Business Goals
Our business goals are to increase user engagement, improve customer satisfaction, streamline user experience, bring in revenue from advertisements, and minimize user frustration when searching for specific reels (reels that have a second part).
Shared Goals
Our shared goals are to provide a user-friendly experience, simplify the purchasing process, and foster a positive interaction with the platform.
User Goals
Our user goals are to provide a seamless shopping experience, enable effortless content discovery, ensure easy navigation on Instagram, offer quick access to product links, and reduce frustration in finding specific reels from creators.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
With our interview discoveries, personas, and understanding the project goals, we started to develop a low fidelity wireframe that incorporated these solutions.
The low fidelity design focused on incorporating the current design of Instagram while adding the new features. These features are; The Swipe Feature, Links in Reels and Connecting Reels.
High Fidelity Design
Besides from adding more value to Instagram users with brand new features, the goal of this project was to have those features look and act seamless with the current interface. This was the primary motivation for this design.
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