03 ‘SAVES’ FEATURE - TIKTOK

_background

TikTok has been the latest exciting social media app that connects users through sharing short videos. Although the app is simple, there are not a lot of features considering how expansive their user base is. The variety of content on the app ranges from recipes to diy to comedy to general entertainment, but there aren’t a ton of ways for users to find old videos that they want to revisit without scrolling endlessly.

_{the problem}

The current saving feature for favorited & liked videos lacks organization and is generally a mess for users who want to revisit videos they enjoyed viewing. 

To add an exciting new feature to their current app that allows users concisely organize saved videos in a customizable way.

_{user interviews}

To start my research off, I conducted user interviews with three frequent TikTok users to get a better feel for the overall need for this type of feature and how others would envision it. These were my key insights:

• All the users agreed that there is a need for a feature that would help them saved and revisit old videos within the app
  
• All of the users imagined a system with nameable folders: “similar to Pinterest,” one user said.

With my suspicions confirmed, I was able to start researching other apps and how they utilize a saving feature.

_{competitive analysis}

I reviewed the features Tiktok offered and compared it to (what I consider) the best organizational social app, Pinterest. Although pinterest’s main focus is organizing and constantly rotating ideas & inspiration, from my interviews, I know that users on TikTok could benefit from a similar system. This gave me a great understanding of how other apps utilize a saving feature.  

_{task & user flow}

In order to better understand and visualize how the user would navigate through the saving process, I created a very simple user and task flow. This helped me gain some logical insights as to how the feature would exist within the app and how many steps the user would need to take in order to access the feature.

_summary

Overall, the research helped me more deeply empathize & understand the user’s needs when envisioning this new feature for TikTok. Through asking the user how they personally would understand a feature like this, researching other apps, & going through task/user flows, it helped me better understand how the user would use a feature like this and what it would look like. 

_{sketching it out}

After gaining insights about what users want and how the feature would function, I did some brief sketching to determine how the feature would look on the app. I kept the design as close to the app as possible.

All of tiktoks icons deviate from standard iconography because they have so many features that they personally have had to create and pioneer. That being said, it was easy to create an icon that would cohesively fit because text underneath is a standard practice throughout the app. I wanted it to look somewhat recognizable but also approachable to the user.

_{wireframes & prototype}

With the placement ready, I sketched out some wireframes to get a good feel for how the user would access the feature and what it would look like.

From the wireframes, I created a few different flows to really flesh out the feature; a new user flow, a more “lived in” flow, and how the user would go about adding videos to their ‘saves’ while browsing the homepage.

I decided to create the testing flow using the more “lived in” feature with the intention that users would like to see this feature in action vs being thrown into a new concept.

_{testing the design}

After creating the design, understanding the flow, and working to create all the necessary screens, I tested the design by running the prototype through maze.co, a usability testing software that gives key user metrics.

Result summary:

• The direct success rate was 20%, indirect success rate coming in at 60%.
  
• An open answer question was placed at the end of the test and 2 out of 5 comments had confusion with the placement. 
• They wanted the placement to be closer to the existing ‘likes’ feature on the account page. There was a median result of neutrality-happy towards the placement chosen.
  

“It wasn't intuitive that the feature would be in the inbox section, but I liked the icon for the folders.”

"I first thought this would be in the profile tab since that's where my liked videos are. But it would be easy to get used to it being in the inbox tab." 

Overall, the users were content with the placement, but I trusted the users feedback that the feature should exist closer to the existing familiar saving techniques.

_reflection

After the tests, I created a list of modifications that would best suit the user’s experience of the feature.

A few things for me to consider for the next round of testing were:

• Testing a new pathway for the user, rather than a user entering an existing account’s pathway. 
  
• More frames to create more depth in the app.
• Widen touch points for the users.
• A new user tutorial/tips.

_results

Taking all feedback received & reflecting more, I made some final alterations. Aside from the UI improvements, I decided to change where the feature lives and place it in the same area as the likes & favorites. Ultimately deciding that prioritizing familiarity over easy access was a better choice for the user’s understanding of the TikTok app.  

After creating this feature & finishing this project, TikTok recently debuted a feature called “Collections”. The addition of this feature, although a bit different from how I envisioned it, proved my initial hypothesis that users had a definite need for a feature like this.

Despite the contrast in the feature’s appearance, my placement is on the same page as the app’s new feature. I’m pretty happy to say that I really was not that far off with how this feature was conceptualized and executed in the app. To see that my research probably echoed some of the actual research this amazing company was conducting is an exciting feat.