Project Type
- Team-based
- UX Research
- Qualitative
- Quantitative
Tools Used
- Figma
- Lean UX Canvas
- Google Forms
Challenge
Current state of the system
Instagram is built to be addictive
- Instagram is a "painkiller product" -it generates a stimulus around negative emotions such as boredom and temporarily alleviates that emotion.
- Instagram is designed to maximize your time spent on the app. It generates more profit through ad revenue the longer users stay on.
There is a lack of trust from the company selling users’ personal data
- 79% of its users' personal data is shared with third parties. This includes search history, location, contacts and financial information.
- Most of this data is collected for targeted ads to generate revenue.
Focused on Advertisements
- The company started as a way to connect people through images, but now is turning towards advertisements and content creation with a focus on 4 key ares: Creators, Video, Shopping, and Messaging.
- Instagram no longer wants to be thought of as a photo sharing app, but rather a general entertainment platform.
- 22% of teenagers named Instagram as their favorite social media platform. It is currently underperforming Snapchat and TikTok amongst this demographic.
Process
Understanding Users
Combining demographic research along with user surveys helps paint a picture of who is using Instagram and how they are using the platform through qualitative and quantitative responses.
1.074 billion
Global users in 2021
140 million
Instagram users in the U.S.
71%
of U.S. adults age 18-29 use Instagram
87%
Instagram users are outside the U.S.
354 million
Instagram user between 25 & 34
Survey Results
24–30 year old female, USA
- 1-3 hours a day on Instagram
- Edits photos before posting
- Regularly posts to her stories twice a week, but rarely posts to her feed
- Uses Instagram to interact with friends and family and as a personal diary
User Outcomes and Benefits
Users gain control over the content shown to them and participate in what they can view.
- Choose your interests and hobbies and view content related to them.
- Chronological timeline to keep up with friends and family
Users’ perceive the application is helpful.
- Option added to set a timer to let the user know when to take a break from using the product
Solution
- Data privacy transparency
- Application modes
- Customizable ads
- New scrolling functionality
- Timer inside the application
Hypothesis A:
User engagement, trust, and retention will grow as users are able to define their hobbies and interests, which will help determine which advertisements they would see and customize their experience. This will also help increase engagement with the advertisements that are provided.
Hypothesis B:
User engagement will increase if the user can control the content they view if through different profile modes such as: friends, family, interests/hobbies, finance, and sports.
Hypothesis C:
User retention and engagement will increase if we provide the ability to personalize the scrolling experience since they can remove irritations in the app’s functionality.
Hypothesis D:
user retention will increase if users had a reminder in the application based on a timer to let them know when to take a break from using the application to help them feel like Instagram isn’t as addictive.
Priority
Business Risks
- Loss of ad revenue
- Loyalty shift from advertisers
- Competition from TikTok
Technical Risks
- Redevelopment of the interface
Design Risks
- Increase in initial time investment to create an account
- Ensuring ease of use and discoverability of new layout
Marketing risks
- Less control over impressions for ads
Experiments
Continuation of customer survey
- Deeper, probing questions
- Larger sampling size
- Follow-up interviews with participants with interesting responses
Participatory customer journey mapping exercise with ~8-10 participants
- With customers who gave interesting responses in the survey
A/B Testing with mockups
What is the next important thing / risk?
Business Risks
- Loss of ad revenue
- Loyalty shift from advertisers
- Competition from TikTok
Technical Risks
- Redevelopment of the interface
Design Risks
- Increase in initial time investment to create an account
- Ensuring ease of use and discoverability of new layout
Marketing risks
- Less control over impressions for ads
- User demand for content will have an increased presence for ad exposure
