ACTUALLY
Timeline
July - Sept 2023
My Role
UX Researcher
UX Designer
UI Designer
No, it’s not Instagram
Actually is a new social media platform that tackles the current demands of social media for perfect, polished and curated.
Here's the Problem
69% of Millennials experience FOMO, comparing themselves to others on social media.
Initially however, I had assumed only one context for FOMO
Have you ever felt the Fear of Missing Out?
Experiences from which one is absent
Comparing your experiences to others on social media
Secondary research led to new knowledge!
69% of Millennials experience FOMO
39%
feel envious.
30%
feel jealous.
21%
feel sad.
“I tend to compare myself with others…"
I conducted interviews with my target users to learn about their pain points, motivations and behaviours in their experience with social media.
Participants
Young Adults
25-35 years old
Format
1 to 1 in Person
Video Call via Zoom
Vivien
2+ hours daily
Abigail
2+ hours daily
Lowell
1+ hours daily
🙋🏽♂️
can we sidebar real quick?
This was not the direction I had originally intended to explore.
I started this project excited at the idea of looking further into the FOMO that I’ve experienced, not wanting to miss out on fun that my friends were having.
BUT, hearing from people about their struggles with identity made me really excited to consider how I could design a better experience for them!
👋🏽
okay back to your regularly scheduled case study
Millennials struggle with comparison and discerning authentic content on social media.
Identity
How might we help millennials reframe negative beliefs so they can use social media in a healthier way?
Creating an Authentic Post
As a Social Media User, I want to create a post that shows two sides to a story so that I can encourage and foster a more authentic experience for myself and my community.
I know, I know, I’m not an artist.
But these sketches were the humble starting point for what would eventually become the final visual design!
Feed
Photo Selector
Post Details
It’s really exciting to think about the other epics and how they might look like as additional features. I was considering an onboarding process that could understand a user’s sensitivity and preferences and organize/curate their feed as appropriate!
As a whole, Actually and ‘FOMO’ was such a rewarding and fun project to explore, and the time constraints of a Bootcamp meant that I had to focus on 1 Theme. However, I think Actually will be of greater value and impact to users as it tackles these other themes as well.
