Enhancing WhatsApp Status User Experience to Improve User Retention
Simplifying WhatsApp Status for a Better Experience
📚 Index:
1. My Ultimate Redesign of WhatsApp Status User Experience
2. The rationale behind selecting the app and its workflow
3. How I Understood and Identified Areas for Enhancement in the Current Design
4. Brainstorming for Ideas to Solve the Problems I Identified
5. Crafting a Low-Fidelity Prototype: Journey from Concept to Design
6. From Concept to Reality: Building a Dynamic App Interface with a High-Fidelity Prototype
7. Ensuring Effectiveness: Usability Testing to Validate Design Solutions
8. Enhancing My Redesigned Screens with Usability Test Feedback
9. Key Learnings ̣
👉 How i participated in the UX Design Challenge
So, it all began during this cool 2-week workshop I joined to learn about UX Design. Imagine learning how apps look and work — that’s what we did! We covered some important topics like Fundamental Principles and Heuristics (which are like rules for good design). We even learned to make the design using Figma and added cool animations.
After these two weeks, our guide, UX Anudeep, said, “Hey, you guys are ready to understand real apps and solve design problems!” That got me excited.
So, I took up a challenge: making the WhatsApp Status User Experience better. Just in just few days, but I was ready with all my new design skills to give it a go!
👉 My Ultimate Redesign of WhatsApp Status User Experience
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the original screen and the redesign.
What is the solution and How does it help the users
In the final solution, I’ve introduced a feature that allows users to sort statuses based on their preferred time, providing easy access to statuses from any channels or statuses they’ve previously viewed. This improvement empowers users to effortlessly locate viewed statuses within their preferred timeframes, allowing them to quickly filter the latest posts from their favorite channels. This enhances flexibility and efficiency in their overall user experience.
What Business Metric Does it affect
A positive and efficient user experience, aligned with Jakob’s Law and heuristic principles, is key to retaining users. When the platform is easy to navigate and satisfying to use, users are more likely to stay engaged, fostering improved user retention.
📌How I Reached the Final Solution
👉The rationale behind selecting the app and its workflow
In the “Learning From Existing Design” workbook, I checked out different apps to understand how they’re designed.
Using the same method, I chose WhatsApp for this task. It’s widely used, so any improvements I make will affect a lot of people. It’s also easy to find users for testing because many people use WhatsApp.
In the “Business Impact of UX Design” workbook, I checked out different apps to see how their designs affect business. The workbook helped me learn how designs can influence not just how easy something is to use but also the overall impact on the business.
I chose to focus on the search feature because making it better will help users find things faster. This improvement could have a big impact on important business measures.
👉How I Understood and Identified Areas for Enhancement in the Current Design
I improved the WhatsApp Status user experience by analyzing user interactions, applying user-centered design principles, and aligning with usability heuristics. By addressing common user questions systematically and connecting insights with heuristics, I aimed to create a more intuitive and efficient search flow. The goal is to enhance user satisfaction and contribute positively to the overall WhatsApp Status user experience.
Heuristic principles are practical guidelines in design based on common user behavior. They help evaluate and improve the usability of interfaces by leveraging experience-based rules of thumb. Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics is a well-known example, offering principles like visibility of system status and user control. Designers use these heuristics to identify and address potential usability issues, aiming to create more user-friendly interfaces.
Below are some questions, each followed by my corresponding answers:
✅Heuristic principles applied
🛑Heuristic problems found
🛑Q — Why is there a separate tab for status in WhatsApp?
✅A — The separate tab for status aligns with the heuristic principle of “Visibility of System Status.” This design choice allows users to easily access and view the status updates of their contacts, providing a clear and visible indication of what is happening within the application. It enhances user awareness and reduces the cognitive load by making the status feature readily available and distinct.
🛑Q — Why do users sometimes miss important status updates on WhatsApp?
✅A — Users may miss important status updates due to the heuristic principle of “Visibility of System Status” not being fully optimized. If status updates are not prominently displayed or if the notification system is not effectively communicating new updates, users may overlook them.
🛑Q — How can WhatsApp improve the user experience for viewing and responding to status updates?
✅A — To enhance the user experience, WhatsApp could consider incorporating the heuristic principle of “User Control and Freedom.” Allowing users more control over the visibility settings of their own status updates and providing easy-to-use features for interacting with others’ statuses could improve overall satisfaction.
👉Brainstorming for Ideas to Solve the Problems I Identified
From the problems defined in the evaluation stage, I came up with a few ideas which are listed below in the image (Fig 3: Ideas).
I conducted research and brainstorming to devise solutions for the identified problems:
Idea 1: Categorization Option on the Top.
My Thought: Incorporate a search or filter option within the categorization to facilitate users in finding what they need easily. This approach aligns with the principle of “Flexibility and Efficiency of Use,” ensuring swift access without the need for extensive scrolling.
Idea 2: Easy Switching Between Recent Updates, Viewed Status, and Channels.
My Thought: Develop a simple and intuitive menu allowing users to seamlessly switch between Recent Updates, Viewed Status, and Channels. This adheres to the principle of “Visibility of System Status,” granting users a clear understanding of their location within the app and enhancing overall navigation.
Idea 3: Streamlined Access to Channels, Recent Updates, and Viewed Status.
My Thought: Introduce a one-tap access feature for Channels, Recent Updates, and Viewed Status. This aligns with the principle of “Flexibility and Efficiency of Use,” reducing user effort and frustration associated with scrolling. A direct and quick access method enhances the user experience and satisfaction.
In conclusion, my research suggests adding a search/filter for efficient use, designing a clear menu for better visibility, and introducing a one-tap access feature to enhance user experience in the identified areas.
👉Crafting a Low-Fidelity Prototype: Journey from Concept to Design
I was really excited to draw my idea on paper and turn it into a real feature. I drew different screens to match the idea, explaining how the features would work. I also figured out how to arrange the categories at the top of the screen.
I heightened the excitement by creating a prototype in the Marvel app, drawing inspiration from the UXAnudeep’s demonstration. Applying lessons from the “Low-Fidelity Prototype” Workbook, I linked and connected the screens.
Seeing my app in action felt surreal during the demonstration. Navigating between screens and categories, I could easily move around and return, thanks to the prototype.
👉From Concept to Reality: Building a Dynamic App Interface with a High-Fidelity Prototype
I applied the knowledge gained from UXAnudeep on UI elements, screen replication, and the “High-Fidelity Prototyping” workbook. This helped me establish smooth navigation between screens and use smart animations for a seamless and straightforward animation process.
Then, to give my designs a more authentic app appearance, I modified fundamental elements of the screen. For instance, I transformed the scrolling status from left to right into a category tab featuring options such as Recent Updates, Viewed Status, and Channels. I also ensured these categories have distinct appearances when selected or not.
👉Ensuring Effectiveness: Usability Testing to Validate Design Solutions
Now that I’ve done my designs to fix some issues I found, I’m testing them with people to make sure they work well. Since a lot of people use WhatsApp, I asked random person at a cafe to try out my designs. I had them do some tasks(asked to perform) to see if they could easily understand and use what I created.
Tasks are given to the user:
· Go to WhatsApp Status page
· Can you follow few channel's?
· can you find the option of recent viewed?
· can find the option to view “viewed status”?
Observation points I wanted to look at when the user was performing the tasks.
1. Can the user easily differentiate between recently viewed and viewed status?
2. Is there any categorization available for all three features on status: recent viewed, viewed status, and channels?
3. Can the user find the last seen status easily?
4. Can the user differentiate between the latest posts on channels?
5. Is the user able to categorize channel preferences?
Insights got from Usability Testing:
1. Can go to the status page.
2. Can easily find “Recent Updates.”
3. Encountered no difficulties in differentiating the last seen status.
4. Unable to differentiate between the latest posts and determine which channel they were released on.
5. Unable to find channels according to their preferences.
👉Enhancing My Redesigned Screens with Usability Test Feedback
During usability testing, I discovered that users encountered difficulty scrolling, despite the inclusion of categories. Users also expressed having a specific time in mind for their searches. To address this, I introduced a filtering option based on the time period when users conducted a specific search.
To simplify the filtering process, common filter options are presented as clickable chips. This enables users to swiftly apply filters without the need to navigate through sorting menus and choose from multiple timeline options.
🔖Key Learnings
🌐 Learning from Existing Design;
Anudeep emphasized understanding designs from the user’s perspective. Activities on Heuristics and UX principles in the workshop provided practical insights, allowing me to apply them effectively in this challenge.
🎨 Learning about UI Elements:
Using insights from the workshop, I created challenge screens. Anudeep covered basics like screen size decisions, common app elements, and spacing principles, providing a foundation for designing.
🤓 Learning in Usability Testing:
Real user feedback was crucial to gauge design effectiveness. I discovered the importance of unbiased tasks and allowing users to comprehend tasks independently. Anudeep demonstrated effective testing methods and user behavior observation.
🔄 How the Workshop Changed Me:
The workshop brought significant realizations. I shifted from a linear process approach to one where processes make sense in context. Collaborating with the community unblocked thoughts, and Anudeep’s guidance extended beyond UX to areas like UI, job selection, and more. The experience not only enhanced my UX confidence but also improved collaboration, time management, and decision-making based on meaningful UX reasons.
