VoxPopin

General Assembly
3 Week Design Sprint
3 Designers
Tools: Figma, Miro
"bringing order to the disorder of social media."
VoxPopin, an early stage social media platform, is in the business of humanizing the way we interact with each other and those in the public eye. In a time where the social-political climate is so volatile, the platform strives to encourage healthy discourse from all people, on all levels of the spectrum, based on your geographic location. It's a way to have your voice heard, to hold people accountable, and a space for collective understanding.

One of the ways they are trying to revolutionize they way people interact with social media platforms is by eliminating the comment section. Instead, they are introducing the terms "Pop" and "Swap" as interactions that mimic a face to face conversation. Pops are what one would consider a main post, where the user can log on and create a video of themselves talking on a certain topic. A swap, is another user's ability to reply to a pop. However, this reply would come in the form of another video. This is to eliminate bullying or negativity that can appear within the comment sections of posts.

Another unique attribute of VoxPopin is that when a user signs up, they are automatically associated with their local elected officials based on the geographic data they provide. This will  allow them to bring up discussion points, via pops, for other people associated with those officials to see. In doing so, this also allows officials to see what their constituents are saying while also weeding out negative dialogue from people who are not under their jurisdiction.

Where do we come in?

VoxPopin came to us with the alpha version of their app, in search of a team to conduct user research and improve the design based on user driven insights.

We conducted a few rounds of user interviews and usability tests with the goal to a.) understand the relationship people had with social media and b.) to see how they interacted with the alpha version of the app. The results from the the following are below.
In a time where the presence of social media can either be used as a tool for connection and belonging or a place to insight fear and tear people down, we set out to find exactly where people stood.

We used a questionnaire with open-ended questions to conduct our interviews. We focused primarily on the socio-political aspect of social media as well as the effects (positive or negative) that various apps have on communities of people and their mental health.

After synthesizing the data, we found a few common themes.
User Interviews
2 Rounds
10 Participants Total
"The best interactions are when people don't react with their first gut response."
  • 90% of people said social media had a negative impact on their mental health.
  • 80% of people said they used various platforms as a source to get their news.
  • All interviewees believe social media has deepened the political divide
  • All users also believe that social media provided an opportunity to create and empower communities.

Meet Toulia

The persona of Toulia did not change from our initial introduction to the project. She is still someone who desires a safe place to have meaningful conversations and to have the chance to connect with the people who might be able to put action to those conversations.

The interviews conducted on behalf of VoxPopin confirmed what our client believed when the idea for this platform was conceived. However, the insights discovered from our interviews provided a more intimate look into how people interact with our social world and how deeply they are impacted by the words and actions of other people.

Usability Testing

After conducting our user interviews, we conducted our first round of usability testing. The initial round of usability tests were focused on the overall user experience from navigation, to understanding interactions, and ease of use. The following quotes represent some of the users thoughts on the experience.

"I am not sure what the purpose of these buttons are."
"I'm confused by the terminology in the app."
"I have no idea where I am in the app."
Many users commented on the excess of confusing buttons on this screen. The icons were not descriptive in any way and the green toggle on the right side of the screen was not a familiar interaction.
The usage of "pop" and "swap" are also two terms that people were unfamiliar with. With no description or walkthrough, these interactions did not follow any of the familiar social media norms.
It was confusing for users to open the app up to the user profile. Many users stated that 90% of the time they are not posting. They would rather open the app and immediately start interacting with other peoples content.

What's the problem?

Based on our user interviews, my team came to the conclusion that the vision for the app initially still matched with the overall needs and frustrations voiced by the interview participants.

However, the results of the usability test indicated that there was room for improvement where the actual functionality of the app came in.

How might we....

- How might we reduce clutter so actions are more clear within the experience?
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- How might we make it more clear where the user is in the app?
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- How might we create a way for users to feel more part of a community based on their interests?

First Iteration

Within the time constraints of our project, we were able to fit in two rounds of iterations with rapid fire usability tests. In this first round, our focus was to address the most pressing issues that were brought to our attentions, pictured below. Our main goal was to remove clutter and make the experience more intuitive and familiar to the user.

aaaand, another one

After our first round of iterations, we got some really positive feedback from our users. They were much more pleased with their ability to find their way through the app. Our users also stated that they were much more focused on the content during this pass through because they were not as distracted by the various icons placed throughout the experience.

One of the bigger points that was brought to our attention in this round of testing was the outdated feel. While the functionality was much better, our users felt it could use an aesthetic facelift to match up to other platforms that exist.

In the example above, we updated the record function of the experience. In the screen on the left, the icon to record is actually a "play" button and was confusing users when prompted to make a "Pop". In the screens on the right, we altered the experience to include a "record" button, with an indicator to show when the user is actually recording. The user also has the ability to stop and start recording many times within one post.

What's next for VoxPopin?

Though our journey with VoxPopin has ended, there is still so much in store for the app and the possible impact that it may have on our society. We were able to present our research and suggested updates to the founder of VoxPopin. When we presented our suggestions, VoxPopin was in the middle fo launching their alpha and gathering buy in from public figures and the general public to be their first users.

If provided with more time, my team and I would have spent a lot more time in the community feature. Ideally, we would have built out more flows to demonstrate the potential it has to strengthen and build communities.

Another feature we would have liked to create is a "tour" of the app for new users. One of the biggest bits of feedback we received from our users was around the language used in the app. However, "pop" is literally part of VoxPopin and an integral part of its identity. So rather than changing the verbiage, creating a walkthrough would add value as users would get a thorough understanding when they are onboarded into the experience.

Ending thoughts...

The experience I had working on this project was one filled with so much growth and excitement. It was the first time I had ever worked with a real client and it was such an incredible way for me to be introduced into this world. We also had the incredible luck of our client being a UX designer already. She was able to come into the experience knowing what she wanted and was also able to offer such important feedback every time we met with her.

It was also really cool to be able to get to work with our user testers because they were so honest and gave such helpful feedback as well. One lesson I learned early on in my bootcamp, and one that has popped up in every design experience since, is that we are not designing for ourselves. We design for the clients and users who have the potential to interact with these products every day. The feedback they provide during the process is so so critical to us being able to create functional and exciting experiences.

My team and I worked extremely hard throughout this process and would love to share our updated prototype with you. Please enjoy!

View Interactive Prototype
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