Re-imagine: FACEBOOK STORIES
Product Strategy | Interaction Design | Case Study
HOW might WE IMPROVE THE FACEBOOK STORIES EXPERIENCE AND GIVE IT A COMPETITIVE EDGE AGAINST ITS COMPETITORS?
Facebook, a social networking site that makes it easy for you to connect and share with family and friends online, paved the way for the social media boom. It was a leader amongst many different social media platforms, however, Facebook failed to capitalize on the “stories” feature.
We proposed a repurposing of Facebook Stories to better suit its user needs and give it a competitive edge. We prose Stories would be a personalized curation of one's Facebook activity, showing content of mutual interest with its viewer.
Design Brief
With the rise in social media, improve one's experience with a specific social media platform.
Role & Contribution
I worked on user/ market research, visual style, ideation, user flow and video animation with my partner, Joohee Kim.
My individual contributions are:
Research (Secondary + Surveys + Interviews)
Leading ideation/ brainstorming sessions
User flow
Visuals
Video assets/ editing
Deliverables
Visuals, Final Screens, Concept Video
Overview
Outcomes
92% positive feedback during testing
01. Understanding how people view Facebook
02. Re-purposing Stories as a new form of communication
03. Communicating the solution in an approachable way
3 Big Takeaways
Although Facebook grew to become a leader in the social media space, as quickly as they rose to the top, Facebook fell to one of the least used platforms. Although Facebook capitalized on the connectivity and openness of social media in the 2010s, the future of social media is private.
We wanted to gain a better understanding of the “stories” feature usage. I sent out an initial survey to a diverse group of people through multiple platforms, focusing on Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.
Key Insights:
Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook have different personalities associated with the platforms.
Snapchat is private, Instagram is personal, and Facebook is too public.
Stories is used more by the younger generation.
Snapchat came first, and people are less likely to switch platforms.
Afterwards, I sent out a second survey geared towards Facebook audiences only in order to better understand users' interaction with Facebook. What they use Facebook for, if they use it as a social media platform anymore, and also about their interaction with stories. From these users, I conducted 9 user interviews.
Key Insights:
Facebook is too public, with connections from former classmates to teachers to even strangers.
Facebook is slowly no longer being used for user generated content, but instead as a media platform.
People don't find a use for the feature.
Out of personal curiosity, I posted the same image on my personal Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook stories.
Out of 443 Snapchat friends, I got 154 unique views. (34.8%)
Out of 1,024 Instagram followers, I got 309 unique views. (30.2%)
Out of 2,465 Facebook friends, I got 170 unique views. (6.9%)
01. Understanding how people view Facebook
In order to promote the usage of Facebook as a way to foster and deepen relationships, we wanted to capitalize on the robust data that Facebook has under its control. If a user created an account on Facebook from its glory days, the user’s profile is full of activity from wall posts, photo albums, to groups joined. What if Facebook could transform from a public- focused platform to a more intimate digital pocket through more 1:1 interaction points?
We decided to make Stories into a personalized curation of mutual interests between the user and their friends based on their activities (likes, comments, shares, posts), becoming a new form of communication between friends and acquaintances. Through this new feature, users will be able to use Stories to get to know people better, hopefully encouraging more user to user engagement and promoting the act of posting user-generated content.
02. Re-purposing Stories as a new form of communication
03. Communicating the solution in an approachable way
To take into testing, we wanted to create a more engaging way of introducing the new concept. We translated the solution into a motion design and storytelling exercise. We were challenged on how to effectively visualize all of our findings into a time-based medium. I took this video into testing about the concept instead of a clickable prototype. I tested our concept with 15 individuals of varying backgrounds and overall gained positive feedback towards the concept.
Full project process can be found here
Video can be found here: https://vimeo.com/256940928
Please reach out to e.soosea@gmail.com for any questions!