LOOKS GREAT
ON ANY DEVICE.
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Problem
A combination of stagnant user growth and a depleting financial runway led to a much needed revamp of their mobile iOS app.
The goal was to shift focus to the messaging aspect of their solution, while also fixing other core fundamental UI problems.
Blipit messenger
When I started working for Blipit, they were in the transition of becoming a messaging app that focused on making it easier for groups of friends to meet up. They did this by leveraging external 3rd party APIs to aggregate content (Ex: Yelp, Foursquare, OpenTable, Uber, etc…) for destinations near users, Allowing friends to share places with each other and plan events using the content provided. Below you can see my process when taking on the transition of turning their app into a messenger.
Finding low hanging fruit
Bi-weekly usability test with a group of 8 students from NYU showed us that some low hanging fruit ideas would help vastly improve the overall end user experience:
• Fix inconsistent UI colors
• Creating empty states
• Improve chatroom findability
• Make it easier to find places
Breaking down the social planning process
By performing “down the hall” research at WeWork, we found that everyday social planning involved a five-stage process.
The social planning process was inherently complicated, and friends would continuously return to a form of communication (Ex: Messaging, Social media, Phone calls, & Email) to share their opinions and plan with each other.
Finding missed opportunities
A missed opportunity that I had noticed was that the original app failed to showcase the companies we were using as our solutions. We were losing out on taking advantage of their brand recognition, which would allow us to set user expectations when using the app.
Competitive analysis
I decided to do competitive landscape research on the more popular existing messengers on the market. In doing this, I sought to come up with a list of must-have features to compete with them. To no surprise Blipits, original app was missing a lot of core elements that come with messengers.
Wireframes
Though we moved at a breakneck pace, I always made it a point to wireframe before getting to the design process.
A fresh new start
I designed a messenger that would help get friends together with as little friction as possible when it came to planning and execution.
Putting messaging first
The goal was to position ourselves to compete with other messengers on the market. In doing this, I provided the necessary UI elements and must-haves that existed in all popular messengers on the market.
• Bottom Navbar
• Chats page
• Contacts list page
• Settings page
Searching for places and sharing them easily
To get friends together with as little friction as possible from planning to execution. I had to present the options to find destinations at every turn for the end user, which meant users had to be able to search for places in both the bottom Navbar and more importantly within the chatroom.
Using our solutions to their full potential
I decided to capitalize on the brand recognition of the companies we used as our solutions, which helped set user expectations allowing them to trust us as a platform.
Onboarding in context
I designed numerous forms of onboarding methods for new users. My goal was to provide help at every turn. From when they first open the app, to when they first interact with the app, explaining things in context. I also used this as an opportunity to give the experience more of an overall personality.
Increase in user return-rate
After all of these changes were made to the app we saw an immediate spike in user return rates. Users were spending more time on the place page and sharing more places with each other.