LOOKS GREAT
ON ANY DEVICE.
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Problem
Forcing our users to download another messaging app proved to be an inconvenience they could not overlook. The time and energy needed to migrate friend groups on to a different platform just weren't worth it for them. Our highlighting feature turned out to be our biggest roadblock, resulting in a lack of user growth.
Blipit search
When pivoting to Blipit Search our goal was to meet users wherever they were, while maintaining all of the benefits of the aggregated 3rd party content for places near users. The transition was fast being we carried a lot of the existing infrastructure over from blipit messenger. Below you can see my process when taking on the pivot of turning blipit from a messenger to a search engine.
Competitive landscape research
After researching the competitors at the time (Vurb & Google), I found that we needed two crucial changes to be competitive.
• Place page cards
• Place page web links
Creating a simple user flow
The goal for Blipit search was the same as Blipit messenger. We aimed to develop a tool to help friends meet up from planning to execution.
With this in mind, it was essential to cut down on the number of environments a user could access within the app experience.
Wireframing for the future
Wireframing for Blipit search was a natural progression being we I was removing features instead of adding new ones. Being my goal was to keep things simple and reduce the number of environments a user could be, this influenced me to outline three core pages. The homepage (aka the search page), the saved places page, and lastly the settings page.
Allowing users to share with anyone
With Blipit search, users could share places with friends without them needing the app. Thus allowing everyone to enjoy the benefits of Blipit. We did this by creating web pages for each place page.
Showing value on the first page
It was essential to show the importance of Blipit search on the first page. We set users expectations on the first page, showing them places near them with all of the 3rd party app content related to those establishments. Along with this providing to prominent options to both Share those places or save them for later.
Shrinking the place page
I created new place page cards that offered the same amount of functionality while reducing the amount of screen real-estate needed to show content for places. Doing this allowed me to show more locations to the end user on one page.
Letting users get in, get what they need, and get out
Showing the aggregated content for places near people in Pop-ups, created the illusion of never leaving the app experience. Giving users the full benefits of our 3rd party solutions while allowing them to get in and out with ease.
Competition everywhere
Our financial runway was on its last dollar, and with the introduction of iMessage apps, their more significant user base made it too hard to compete. Soon other messengers followed suit, and there was no longer a need for people to access all their apps through an aggregated portal like Blipit search.