Focus mode
A hypothetical new feature on Instagram that eliminates distractions.
Sole UX/UI Design
Role
Tools Used
Figma
Google Docs
Timeline
80 Hours
BackgroundAddicted to Instagram? Don’t worry me too! It’s hard not to be when Instagram is known for using features that cause addiction.
The app is very influential as it’s the 4th more used app in the world with 1.3 billion people using it. (Data Portal)
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Users with heavy app usage are highly prone to depression, anxiety, body image issue and self esteem issues. (APA)
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I hypothesize that users of this app unknowingly spend many hours on it which leads to an addiction that correlates to negative mental health difficulties.
Let’s start investigating!
Research GoalWe want to learn users' behaviours and habits when engaging with Instagram so that we can understand how the app affects their daily lives.
With this in mind, let’s start the research!
Competitive analysisAccording to my competitive analysis research, users have a difficult time managing their social media habits.
Alright so get this, researchers are trying to find how much social media is a “healthy” amount to consume. It’s all hypothesis but right now the number is 30 minutes TOTAL! At the moment users spend on average 1.5 hours on Tik Tok, 45 minutes on Youtube and 30 minutes on Snapchat per day. It’s most common for users to consume multiple social media platforms per day.
With that being said Tik Tok and Youtube have made recent efforts to help consumers with their habits. Tik Tok is implementing a 1 hour screen time limit for users who are under 18. As for Youtube, Google Chrome came out with an extension called “Youtube Rabbit Hole” to help stop users from falling into watching non-stop Youtube videos. Looks like Snapchat left the group chat.
Diary studiesOver the course of three days I followed six participants (not in a stalker-ish way) and checked in with them three times a day to understand how each user incorporates Instagram in their daily lives. I configured the information into an affinity map. Here are some key findings:
100% Users aren’t aware of their habits on Instagram
100% Of users assumed they spent longer amounts of time on Instagram.
50% Of users click Instagram out of habit without realizing it.
50% Users tried different interventions to limit their social media usage
17% Users went to a 3rd party site called ‘Your Hour’ which tracks a user’s habit and creates detox challenges for the user.
33% Users turn off notifications past a certain hour (but will still check their notifications past the cut off).
Instagram has become an integral part of users social lives
66% Of users mention they often message their friends on Instagram.
50% Of users mention Instagram is their primary way to contact friends.
17% Users admit to not having people’s phone numbers anymore, but has their Instagram handle.
How might weHow might we help users who get distracted by Instagram during their work day, minimize those distractions during their working hours so they can focus on the task at hand?
Create a toggle that switches between the regular Instagram layout to the new “focus mode” layout that reduces the amount of distractibility.
Say goodbye to procrastination!
WireframesI made two wireflow versions of the layout with different toggle placement to test out which one is most effective.
Usability testI conducted multiple A/B tests with six participants to see which one is the winner (most accessible and effective)!
Two onboarding screens
Toggle bar on feed page
Scroll limit to three posts
Version One
Version Two
Two onboarding screens
Toggle bar in settings
Scroll limit to five posts
AnalysisVersion One was the lucky winner!! Although I still had to make some tweaks…
Keep the onboarding screen to one page
Only 17% of users read through the entire onboarding screen.
Move the toggle to the top right corner
50% Users suggested putting the toggle on the top right corner as their eyes naturally gravitated towards that area to find the feature.
100% Users who tested the five post scroll mentioned it felt either too long or awkward and suggested to limit it to three- 100% users who tested the three post scroll mentioned it felt like the right amount of posts.
Use a three post scroll limit
The solutionCreate a feature that minimizes distractions!
Accessible toggle
100% Users are more prone to use the feature if it’s easily displayed on their screens.
50% Users find Instagram distracting during their work day so I eliminated anything that incorporated the most distracting features- videos and infinite scrolling.
Eliminate main distractions
Allowing users to stay connected with their friends.
67% Users mentioned using Instagram as their main platform for communication between friends whether it’s something trivial or important, which is why I decided to keep this feature.
ReflectionThis was one of my favourite projects to do because the topic hits close to home. What I enjoyed the most was connecting with my participants over the course of the diary studies. Because I had interacted with them multiple times throughout the day, they eventually got comfortable with me which lead to very honest and insightful interviews at the end of the study.
A hiccup: I'll be honest, even after doing ALL the research on how bad social media is for our mental health, watching countless interviews of various CEOs of these platforms warning the public of these apps, and seeing its effects firsthand with my participants, I too fell into the trap of social media harder than ever. I would say that before the project, my social media use was relatively average, but since starting this project, it got progressively worse. Because of my addiction, I ended up procrastinating quite a bit while working on this project. Anytime I would open Instagram to check its UI or to check in with my participants, I would spend WAY too much time mindlessly engaging with the scroll of doom (infinite scrolling). Now that this project is finished, I'm putting myself on a social media detox!
An improvement: I could have definitely explored and sketched way more layout options for this feature. When I locked into my idea I kept having new ideas and visions of how I could change the layout in focus mode, but it was too late to explore as I was on a time constraint. I think it’s due to the lack of exploration during my brainstorming sessions. Next time I will be generous with my time when I’m at the brainstorming and sketching phase of the project.
A lesson: I knew about dark patterns before this project, but it wasn’t until I had to dissect the UI and design of Instagram where it really clicked how much of an impact design has on our well being. It brought awareness to my practice and makes me want to become more intentional in my designs. Not just trying to create optimal user experiences but also being conscious of the users’ well being.