Adding a Feature to an existing App
Overview
WhatsApp is a messaging app that allows users to make video and voice calls, send texts, share a variety of media and be able to have conversations anytime and anywhere. It’s missions is to create a better way for people to connect to build community.
This project focuses on adding a feature to the WhatsApp that allows users to create polls to help with decision making and organizing plans.
The Challenge
As the result of the pandemic, WhatsApp has seen a 40% increase in usage as more users go online to stay connected with family and friends. Being a WhatsApp user myself and seeing my own usage of the app increasing from various groups of friends, I arrived at the idea of adding a poll feature that would help with organizing and planning dates & events at a time where we were so hungry for human connection again.
Role
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Timeline
6 weeks (80 hours)
Tools
Figma
Miro
Google Survey
Empathize
Research
I started the research by creating a survey and sending it to the Slack Community to see what initial data I can gather that would help me understand how and why the app is being used. Below is what I was able to uncover:
✅ The most common use for WhatsApp was to stay connected with family and friends
✅ The reason why users choose WhatsApp to communicate is that it’s free, easy to use when traveling, and helpful for those Android users
✅ Communication is mostly done in Group Chats vs. 1 on 1 direct chat
The answers confirmed what I had initially assumed but it didn’t really give me insight into the problem so I dug deeper by conducting user interviews to get more details into the pain points and frustrations and how they usually go about planning and organizing get-togethers.
User Interviews
I conducted the interview with 6 individuals all ranging between the ages of 32-43, who regularly use the app to communicate with friends and family. I had already floated the idea of adding a poll feature to WhatsApp prior to starting the project to my close network of friends. It was important for me to ensure that there would be value to this additional feature and that it would solve for an existing problem.
So, here are the problems identified.......
✅ Trying to plan and organize get togethers can get lost in the shuffle of conversations
✅ People are not responsive as a results of getting lost in the shuffle
✅ Having to use other methods of keeping track of availability or just completely lose track
I wanted to validate that the poll feature would be of value to them, when asked if they would use a poll feature, a majority of them said yes! But only if it was easy to use and didn’t require too many steps to set it up.
Persona
Based on my research findings and responses from the interviewees it helped me formulate the persona, Janette. The in-depth interviews helped me understand the user better and lead me to uncovering pain points that helped validate the idea of adding a polling feature.
Competitor Analysis
Before I get into the weeds of ideating I wanted to make sure I took inventory of what other competitors were doing, so I took created this competitor analysis and downloaded each one of these apps to assess the different functionalities. This helps me visualize what features to prioritize to help solve for the identified problems.
Define & Ideate
Getting the flow
Through research and validation, I’m able to create a task flow focused on how Janette would go about navigating the app to complete the task of creating a poll.
Task Flow
User Flow
In knowing that there are different scenarios in which Janette can navigate the app, the diagram below shows the various ways with necessary actions and new actions to take to be able to create a poll with the new feature.
Wireframes
Being a Whatsapp user myself, I knew the navigation of the app pretty well and sketched out where the feature would live and how it would be a seamless integration into the already existing brand design system.
The sketches reflect the user flow keeping consistent with the WhatsApp layout for the menu option with additional sketches that showcase the new poll creation screens below.
UI Kit
Utilizing the WhatsApp Brand Guidance I kept consistent with the visual components that the UI design already has in place and applied it to the high fidelity wireframes.
Prototype & Test
High Fidelity Prototype
I integrated the new features into the high fidelity mockups to create the prototype to conduct the usability testing on.
Usability Test
I conducted the usability testing on 5 participants who all have had experience using WhatsApp and each task was completed successfully! The integration of the feature was seamless, allowing for the users to navigate intuitively and find the new poll feature.
Priority Revisions
Based on user feedback there were a few revisions that I implemented, see the Before and After with annotated notes.
Reflection
Truth be told, this case study was a more personal one as I’ve been a WhatsApp user for the past 6 years and having a feature such as the poll feature has been high on the wishlist. The main takeaway from this project was making sure that you verify your assumptions with data and research. I was able to rely on my findings to help me validate the need for a poll feature and how it can solve for the problems identified from my user interviews. It’s easy to get lost in your own wants and become biased but working through the design process and focusing in on the research helped me put things into perspective and prioritize the user.