Instagram Events
Add a feature
Background
Instagram is a popular social media application known for its photo and video sharing services. As it has developed over the years, it has become a place for users to share content, discover new businesses and create communities through the platform. However, as users can join channels to communities it does not have a feature that organizes events.
Problem
There is no event planning feature on the platform. Users are often redirected to a 3rd party link or need to check on different posts to stay updated. This can lead to needing to download additional applications or creating new accounts.
Solution
Add an event organization feature into messaging that frames the main event details and allows everyone involved to collaborate within that created group event. Everything shared within the group will be accessible to the event participants. This will streamline and allow the user to stay within the application.
My Role
Researcher,
UX/UI Designer
Tools
Figma, Zoom
Duration
75 hours
Device
Mobile
Competitor Analysis
I reviewed other event organization applications to review their strengths and weaknesses. Applications like Partiful were 3rd party apps that users will tend to use to establish and organize their guest lists. Evite and Paperless Post were among the apps that were shared during my user interviews.
User Interviews
Conducted 5 user interviews to get an understanding of their experience with Instagram and event planning. I also explored what their pain points were and what they enjoyed about other applications they have used. Through these interviews a majority of users use Instagram and noted that Instagram was their primary mode of communication with friends. In regard to event planning, these differ, a majority just using messages to communicate their event details.
“When I RSVP it should consolidate the information , place for comments, have all the information in one place, and place for reminder” *In regards to making event planning more intuitive
“Used another app but didn’t like that I had to download another app to access all the features”
“Opens Instagram right when I wakes up , I looks at messages first, gets sent memes, I gets notifications on my phone which directs me where to go”
Research Synthesis
Taking the information I gathered from the user interviews, I used an affinity map to organize the information and identify patterns in the connections. This research helped with refining the features, such as the app blocker during focus time to minimize distractions and the mood tracker to allow users to educate and be more self aware of their mood to maximize productivity levels.
Affinity Map
Key Findings
Structure
When event planning users have no set structure for keeping track of information. Users note liking these types of apps that structure out all the information that might be needed.
One Central Place for information
Users don't want to download an another app. They'll usually message their friends but then responses can get lost and there is no central location for important information.
Messages and group messages can be a pain to keep track of. Large group messages can cause a lot of spam messages which can lead to users possibly missing important information.
Pain Points
User Persona
After reviewing my competitor analysis and user interviews, Instagram was a universal application that users used to keep in contact with friends and discover new communities. Currently users have had experiences with the competitor apps and had positive experiences. Taking the feedback from users and other products, I created the following user persona to define users needs, interests and frustrations.
Task Flow
For the feature, I wanted to have it reside in the messages. From the user interviews I conducted, users frequented the messages sharing content and keeping in contact with friends.
I created the task flows to further break down the user pathway.
Users also mentioned that Instagram stories was another frequented feature within the application and would connect the events feature beyond just messages. Allowed users to also share content like photos and videos in one place.
Wireframes
Low Fidelity Wireframes
After creating the feature map and task flows, I sketched out and created low-fidelity wireframes to layout the structure and brainstorm concepts. Since this feature will be within messages I utilized the existing UI to see how the feature would seamlessly be integrated.
High Fidelity Wireframes
After some testing on the low fidelity wireframes, I developed the wireframes following Instagrams branding. I collected and used the elements already existing in within the platform to blend it into the existing features.
Success Metric
Task completion (5 participants)
User rating usability (Scale of 1-5)
3.5
How clear were the tasks? (Scale of 1-5)
3.5
App satisfaction (Scale of 1-5)
4
How long it takes for a user to complete a task
Around 30 seconds to 1 minute
Errors Made
2-3
Is this something the user would use?
70%
Usability Test Results
Challenges
Users did have some confusion locating the feature. Some users have different formats of the app which lead to confusion of the most up to date formatting I had on my application. Users thought the formatting change was something I had rearranged but it was just a different version from what they were currently using.
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User Feedback
Besides the challenge of getting the users past the different formatting, the users thought the feature placement made sense logically. Since it was a feature that is within messages it took a little extra time to find it. Participants found it useful to have the information posted at the top of the banner. They noted that it would be a function that they would use if it was available. Users valued seeing all event details, visibility for guest list, who is going and not going. One interesting note I received was that one user expected it would be a individual post that would be available on the main feed. Users also mentioned that it fit well into the existing UI.
Once the high fidelity frames were complete it was time to test both flows which was creating
an event and also posting to the event story. During these moderated tests I was able to see users
thought process and hear them talk through the flow.
Iterations to prioritize
Refine the look of the event details; adding in the number of guests going, maybe, and not going
Review icons to assure there are no duplicates to avoid confusion
Work on icon sizing and alignment
Iterations
The users were all able to complete the task flows although I was faced with the challenge of users experiencing and being used to the version they had on their own phones. Since the current formatting is out of scope, I made sure that I was designing off the most updated version. The following iterations also clarify any of the questions that users brought up during testing.
Prototype : Instagram Events
Event plan within Instagram. Organize events details within your group chats. Share content and details all in one place.
Share to a event story which allows all guests involved to into a group story. This includes announcements, photos and videos.
Make announcements in the group allowing any information to get pinned to the banner.
View Prototype
Final Takeaway
Developing this feature was great practice. It was nice to see feedback from users and great to hear to hear that this is also something they could see themselves using. I wish I explored more or conducted a/b testing to see if there was a preference for the feature to be placed in different part. of the app. I did face some challenges getting users to the feature since it is within the messaging feature. It was also interesting to see how much it affected users when users first saw the prototype I had users show me that they all had different variations of the applications. Users were able to still figure out the app. Even with the additional time the users needed to explore the functions they were able to intuitively figure out the feature.