The problem with Snapchat’s UI is that it’s use has evolved away from its design. The current Snapchat UI is centered on taking pictures and sending “snaps.” According to our usability study, users favor Snapchat’s group chat and chat features to its image-capturing tools.
In the changes suggested here by the prototype, we push for recentering the user experience around the chat feature and simplifying the app to its core features again.
Our prototype opens to the chat screen with an updated menu bar for simplified navigation. Moving the settings into the navbar saves users multiple seconds trying to find the settings. Replacing the Snapmaps with a new profile page consolidates extraneous features to one page. Finally, by centering the chat, we allow users to simplify their required clicks to navigate to the chat they are searching for.
To see users interacting with our prototype, click here!
Prototype screens created by Adrian Rabadam, Mia Brasil, and Angela George
Make Snapchat Stories Relevant
The team imagined a new stories page for Snapchat that was more relevant and personal to users. I used Facebook’s story page as inspiration for this redesign. A preview view of friends’ stories makes the page visually appealing and shows users content from people they know first before moving to advertisers or popular posts nearby. A common complaint against social media for gen-z is that the content from the people they follow and want to hear from is lost in a sea of advertisers and recommended content. The new stories page would still allow space for advertisers while prioritizing space for friends.
Ultimately, Snapchat is never going to see this UI redesign and our current social media giants will continue to devolve into TikTok clones until new social media rises in popularity… but a girl can dream, right?
This post is paraphrasing a usability study conducted by Mia Brasil, Adrian Rabadam, Angela George and Nomei Turner
Cover Photo by Đàng Thiện Thanh Tài https://www.pexels.com/photo/little-kid-playing-imaginary-ghost-in-park-6331537/