Snapchat Concept: Designing for More Meaningful Interactions
Like many Snapchat users, I have had the app on my phone since middle school. After so many years of using the same app, I’ve noticed that my interactions on Snapchat aren’t always meaningful: replying just to keep streaks, forgetting what a friend after a message disappears, and mindlessly tapping through stories are some of my most frequent habits on the app.
Snapchat chats allow users to interact with their friends quickly and to share updates in the moment. However, many users are unsatisfied with these interactions because they are often meaningless. People simply go through the motions of receiving and replying to Snaps. In addition, while Snapchat’s group chat feature allows users to interact with several friends at once, group chats tend to die out once they become old and repetitive.
How might Snapchat motivated to use the app for meaningful interactions with their friends? How might the app increase engagement in interactions and create more depth in Snapchat chats?
Let’s Face It: Sending Snaps is Boring
At the beginning of this process, my hypothesis was: If Snapchat added excitement to its chats feature, users would use it more and be more motivated to have meaningful interactions on it. So, I set out to find out why Snapchat wasn’t users’ go-to for in-depth interactions and what they used instead.
Understanding Why Chats Can Become Boring
User Research
My goal was to discover how users interact with each other on Snapchat and how they use the app. Here are some key insights:
- Users use Snapchat frequently. (“I check Snapchat in short bursts throughout the day.”)
- Users like the informality of Snapchat and they use the app in conjunction with other communication apps. (“Snapchat is more ‘come as you are’ than other social media or communication apps.”)
- Users mostly interact with a smaller, more personal audience on Snapchat. (“I have way fewer people on Snap than on other social media apps.”)
- Chats are the main feature users use on Snapchat. (“When I check Snap, I reply to a few Snaps and maybe tap through a couple stories.”)
People Want to Have Meaningful Interactions
At first, I thought users didn’t use Snapchat for meaningful interactions because they didn’t like the app or they weren’t interested in having conversations or deeper connections. However, I learned that it is difficult to have meaningful interactions on Snapchat. People want to have meaningful interactions, but they have a hard time using Snapchat to do so.
As a result, my hypothesis only scratched the surface of the problem. I discovered that motivating meaningful conversations was a pain point.
Figuring Out What Feature to Improve
I recruited my sister, Aditi, and my dad as my brainstorming buddies. After exploring, we chose an opportunity to pursue further:
- Meaning on Snapchat: How might we make Snapchat more meaningful to use?
Encouraging Users to Have Meaningful Interactions
The problem with increasing meaningful interactions on Snapchat was that the existing setup and the disappearing, quick nature of chats on Snapchat didn’t lend itself to deep conversations.
Initial Approach
I decided to see if adding an incentive to make meaningful interactions motivated users to have those interactions. To test this idea, I created a paper prototype to determine whether a feature like this would serve a need.
I learned that since users liked “streaks” and other features which “gamify” Snapchat, adding more features which increased incentives to Snap would increase the occurrences of meaningful interactions.
How Other Products Execute Incentivizing Challenges
Many other apps have incentivizing or motivating features, like challenges, leaderboards, and badges.
Determining Necessary Elements for My Feature
I determined that content requirements for my feature included a leaderboard, challenges, some form of tracking / milestones, and a connection to group chats.
I then began to explore how the feature would fit into the context of Snapchat’s existing features by creating medium fidelity prototypes.
Then, I explored icons and using similar features to what Snapchat already uses, like Bitmojis.
After iterating on location of the feature, styles of icons, and importance of different aspects of the feature, I created a final interaction for using the leaderboards and challenges feature.
What I Learned
I learned that the design process requires countless rounds of iteration and re-designing. Throughout the process, I changed the direction of my feature and added new ones, such as integrating the leaderboards into group chats. I also learned that it is important to make the feature cohesive with the existing app, from making it visually cohesive to determining whether or not the feature makes sense for the app. In addition, I learned that designing requires a lot of patience — tinkering with high fidelities and redesigning icons took a lot of time, but was necessary to create a feature that would fit with the app.