Problem Statement:
The initial design of the Flash app lacked warmth and approachability, projecting a cold, serious, and rigid impression that failed to resonate with users. Our primary goal was to transform the app into a friendlier and more inviting space that encourages users to share moments with their friends—the app's core feature. Additionally, we aimed to differentiate Flash from other photo-sharing platforms by creating a visually distinctive and engaging interface. The existing design was not only less visually appealing than its competitors but also unnecessarily complex, requiring thoughtful simplification to enhance usability.
User Personas:
Through collaboration with our UX Researcher and insights from user testing and interviews, we identified two primary user groups, which we represented as our user personas. These personas—Mina, a 19-year-old sorority student, and Ethan, a 27-year-old professional navigating a long-distance relationship—helped us define the project's design goals. Each persona reflected key aspects of our target audience's needs and preferences, ensuring our redesign would align with their expectations and enhance their experience.
Major Tasks/Objectives:
Revamp the user experience to be more:
1. Friendly, personable, and engaging
2. Intuitive and easily navigable
3. Unique and memorable in a crowded competitive landscape
1. Friendly, personable, and engaging
To achieve this goal, we refined key elements of the app, including its language, typography, color palette, shapes, and layout. Working in Figma, we began by replacing the Lato typeface with Poppins, a modern sans-serif font that exudes warmth and approachability while maintaining a clean and professional aesthetic.
Next, we collaborated closely with our copywriter to enhance the app's language and create a more conversational and inviting tone. One of our key changes was renaming the primary interaction from “tap in” to “zap.” This playful term added an element of fun and better aligned with the app’s vibrant personality.
To ensure a cohesive and consistent user experience, we developed a comprehensive style guide for the app. This guide includes standardized colors, fonts, shapes, icons, and components. By establishing clear design rules, we streamlined the development process and maintained visual harmony across the app. Below are screenshots of our style guide, icons, and other components we designed, organized into clean and consistent sections on Figma.
2. Intuitive and Easily Navigable
To enhance user experience and streamline navigation, we simplified the app’s main navigation bar, reducing it from five to just three core pages. This change makes it easier for users to access key features while keeping the interface clean and efficient. We also we updated the navigation icons to be both functional and user-friendly, ensuring a more intuitive experience.
Additionally, we added a dynamic element to the bottom navigation bar: whichever page a user is currently on is highlighted in the menu, providing clear visual feedback to indicate the active page. This simple but effective change ensures users always know where they are within the app.
Another example of this improvement is the redesign of the “Activity” page. Previously labeled as “Notifications,” the old design was cluttered with a long list of notifications, making it difficult to navigate. To address this, we reorganized the page into three distinct sections for better organization, clarity, and flow:
• All Activity: The default tab, this section compiles all notifications in one place.
• Interactions: This tab displays only the notifications for likes and comments.
• Connections: This tab filters notifications specifically about new followers, or when one of their contacts joins the platform.
3. Unique and Memorable
Competitive analysis: We conducted an in-depth analysis of the current social media app landscape, exploring platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, BeReal, Lapse, and Locket. Through this research, it became clear that Flash Social had untapped potential that wasn’t fully realized by the previous design. At its core, Flash is built around the idea of prompting users to share photos with one another, and we wanted to highlight this unique interaction in a creative way.
Drawing inspiration from the spontaneous nature of Flash interactions, we identified a connection to instant film photography. Our goal was to integrate the essence of both analog and digital photography, delivering a unique experience that allows users to create personalized posts that feel like instant photos. While we adhered to familiar social media conventions to ensure familiarity and a smooth user experience, we also incorporated innovative features that set Flash apart from competitors.
Key Features:
Zap Page: A standout feature, the “Zap Page” allows users to prompt others to send an instant photo—called a “flash.” This interactive element enhances the fun and spontaneous nature of the app, making it unlike any other social media platform. When a user receives a zap, they can easily respond through the dedicated Zap Page.To respond, the user simply clicks on the sender’s profile, then posts a “Flash”. Users have the option to personalize their flash by drawing on it and adjusting the color of the Polaroid-style frame to their liking. Once posted, the flash becomes a unique, personalized instant film photo that appears both on the user’s home feed and within their Time Capsules on their profile, creating a fun and dynamic way to document memories.Time Capsules: We designed an exciting new feature on the profile page called “Time Capsules.” This calendar-style section houses all of the user’s flashes from the current year, organized by month. For example, if it’s August 2024, all flashes posted in that month will appear in the “August 2024 Time Capsule.” This feature provides a nostalgic and organized way for users to revisit past moments. At the bottom of each month’s Time Capsule, users will find a link to “View all Time Capsules,” which leads to a page displaying past years’ flashes. This way, users can easily explore their history on Flash and relive memories from previous years.
By balancing familiar features with unique additions like the Zap Page and Time Capsules, we were able to create an app that feels fresh, engaging, and personal, while offering users a sense of continuity with established social media conventions.
Collaboration with Developer:
Throughout the design process, we worked closely with the developer to ensure smooth implementation. I was also tasked with testing the app for bugs and documenting any issues to ensure a seamless user experience. By documenting our designs in Figma and providing detailed bug reports, we ensured clear communication and an efficient transition from concept to execution.
Results:
Increased the user base by 400%, demonstrating the effectiveness of our design improvements. Ongoing user testing and screen time analytics will continue to guide future design decisions and optimizations.
