Linkedin

Chat Reply Feature

Chat Reply

Executive Summary

As a personal project, I decided to try to challenge myself with copywork to add a feature to Linkedin

I committed to completing this within a two week sprint. I wanted to challenge myself to create a new chat reply feature

The Problem

Busy professionals need a way to communicate effectively with other busy professionals to mitigate miscommunication and save them time and unnecessary effort during a conversation.

My Role

I Initiated this project to challenge myself to see if I can effectively make improvements to products that already exist on a large scale. I performed user research, designed components for the desktop web app and mobile app, and tested my designs with users.

Understanding The User

My research participants were either avid linkedin users that used the chat daily, Linkedin users that used chat weekly, or Linkedin used linked in chat at least once a month. For a control group, I made sure one of my users was an ex Linkedin user who had abandoned the app after technical difficulties. .

BREAKING DOWN THE PROCESS

Research

To understand how I could implement this new feature I needed to know:

-How often participants used the chat feature on Linkedin

-If they had difficulty with clarity or effective communication

-What other chat platforms they use in their daily life

-How they rated the other platforms

-Why they rated them the way they did

-Platforms they have abandoned and why

-Features that other chat platforms used that the users found important:

  • Chat Reply - Priority

  • Edit - Priority

  • Delete - Priority

  • Reactions - Priority

  • Call feature - Priority

  • Alerts - Priority

  • Features Are The Thing!

    Features will make or break a chat application. When asking about platforms that the participants used it was pretty clear that the preferred platforms had very similar features, options, application choices.

    Features liked by my participants the most:

    chat reply, edit , call feature, mute, delete instead of edit (whatsapp), web app and mobile app, free

Competitive Analysis

Competitive research image

Insights | Pain points | Take aways

  • Insights:

    Features determine use vs. abandon

    There are many commonly used Chat apps

    Features that save time and effort are crucial

    Clarity is especially important when users are communicating

    Users really like the choice of browser web app/desktop app/ mobile app

  • Pain Points:

    Taking extra effort- to clarify what they are communicating when they don’t have a feature to reply directly to a specific message

    Taking extra time- to to clarify to whom they are replying and what message they are replying to in the thread, when they don’t have a feature to reply directly to a specific message

    Lack of organization- ways to find or differentiate friends vs. networking in chats

    Lack of features they think are important- chat reply, edit, delete

  • Take aways:

    Linkedin chat rated very low in favorite or preferred chat applications

    Whatsapp rated highest in favorite or most used

    Features are the most important thing that determines usage

    Time and effort that it takes a user while using an app will either keep them coming back or deter them from using

    The more helpful features the chat app has, the better it is

    If the user doesn’t have access to features that help clarity in communication the user is less likely to continue to use that chat app

Proposed Solution

I decided based user research to go ahead and start the design process to add the chat reply feature to the already existing Linkedin design system.

Design Evolution

  • Component Prioritization

    Build out chat components for web app to recreate Linkedin

    Build out the reactions bar with emojis and elipses

    Build out options card component and add the reply feature

    Build out chat components for mobile app to recreate Linkedin

    Build out the emojis/options card component and add the reply feature

    Combine the components into prototype for testing the new feature

  • MVP

    -Desktop Home Screen

    -Messages List Components

    -Messages Thread Components

    -Reactions Components

    -Options Card Component

    -Mobile Home Screen

    -Messages List Components

    -Messages Thread Components

    Reactions/Options Components

Mid-Fi Copywork

User Flow- Desktop

User Flow- Mobile

 

 

Options Component

Scrim

Chat Reply Bubble

Usability Testing

14 participants

I used maze to test with users

All participants were given

2 scenarios & 2 tasks to complete.

The tasks test for:

-Opening the messages

-New chat reply feature

At first it seemed testers were doing okay

  • Then the results started taking a terrible nose dive

  • Users were going way off the assumed path

  • I got feedback that the test was broken and the testers were getting trapped because the test screen was not scaling correctly

So I stopped the test right away

When I looked at the results, to my surprise, the path most testers were taking (when the test was working) was not the path I had built out. These participants didn't even make it to the second task because they either didn't know the path I had built out or they were frustrated and bounced. This insight was so vital! Once the test had broken no one was getting to the second task at all due to the scaling issue. so I figured out a small hidden trick in maze to make sure it scaled correctly and ran it again

Usability Testing Take 2

5 Participants

Users were still going off the path

-60% made it to the second task

-It was confirmed, I was going to have to build out the other path users preferred to get an accurate result for the new chat feature

Recommendation for Iteration/Rebuild

-Home Screen - hook up message bubble in navigation bar

-Build out the screen that message bubble in the navigation bar connects to.

-Build out the components this new screen will require

-Hook it up to my existing prototype to see if this will help get a more accurate gauge on the feature

Lessons Learned

  • You cannot-I repeat-cannot test a new feature in an existing platform and not account for all paths users take to get there!

  • Attempting an 'Adding a Feature Project' is priceless

  • Test throughout

Next steps

  • Move into the Iteration Phase

  • Build out new screens and components to add to my existing prototype

  • Retest final prototype

If you’d like to know more about this project, I’d love to connect

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