Whatsapp - How Might We redesign Whatsapp so that it is focused on communities instead?
About the project
Whatsapp groups are generally by invite only as it was built as a peer-to-peer messaging platform, so how can we redesign it such that users may easily find and explore groups they may want to be a part of?
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The Problem
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No clear distinction between one-on-one chat and group chats
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“Status” feature was used mostly by older users. (40 yrs old and above)
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How can we ensure the safety of users with the implementation of this community feature?
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Duration
1-2 weeks from ideation to Hi-fi prototyping
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My Role
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This was a project I worked on with a team member with focus on the ideation phase where we churned out lo-fi wireframes on in an attempt to re-design and/or introduce new features. The design was iterated again on my own towards building a hi-fi prototype of the new features.
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The Solution
To incorporate an additional “Groups” tab with the option to find new groups, create private/public groups, make new friends and share thoughts and ideas to a community with similar interests
Ideation
Ideating through Lo-fi Wireframes
Sketching and Iterating designs​
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A new Groups tab to collate all the group chats. This is where users will be able to see all their group chats in one space and keep the one-to-one chats separate. We decided to move the Status feature into the new groups feature to encourage users to interact with each other, since the majority of users do not use it as it is.
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We also thought of Introducing a way to suggest groups that the user might be interested in based on their search and also to provide suggestions based on the current trending topics. There should also be an ability to add users as friends without revealing phone numbers to protect the privacy of the users.
Going into Hi-fi Protytyping
Extracting style guides and applying it to new features
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I did not have the exact font that was used in Whatsapp, but found a best fit font that matches Whatsapp interface.
The colours and icons were then replicated and used in the hi-fi prototyping.
Prototyping
Hi-fi prototype of the first design phase
Highlights of the app
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Story function has been incorporated at the top of the groups tab where the user will be able to see the "Stories" of their mutual contacts and accepted friends.
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Going into the 'Cheap Finds!' group info, the user's mutual contacts will be separated from the other members in the group
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Users will have the ability to add others as friends via an icon added next to their name. Members that they have added as friends will not have this icon visible on their screen to show that they are friends
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Users can decide to share their numbers and become mutual contacts if they wish to, through the existing one-to-one chat
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When searching for groups, users will be shown suggestions on trending topics
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Users will also able to explore other groups based on categories
Here's the link to the prototype
Challenges and Takeaways
Not everything went as planned
Perhaps these could be addressed in the next design iterations?
Call and video function in group chat? What about the story function?
It was not properly considered how these functions would turn out to be in a group setting of hundreds of people in a group chat.
It showed me that the beginning stages of drawing out the lo-fi wireframes was a crucial point to think from all angles of interaction especially when introducing new features.
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Sometimes it is ok for features not to be 'flashy'. It has to ultimately have a purpose, function well, be something that users find interesting yet familiar.
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Still fumbling with components and using of style guides
It was usually until after the shapes or icons are done that I realized that it would have been easier and more efficient to create components. This was a skill that I am still working on enthusiastically because I really like designing the screens.
I was 2/3 through my design when I realize that I did not stick to the styles I have saved because the original app design had slight differences in alignment and measurements as well.
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I also learnt that the aesthetic aspects of the new features and re-design should not stray too far from how the current aesthetics look like to remain on-brand.
