Orkut was a social networking site founded in 2004 by a Google employee. The site was owned by Google. Orkut was the most used social media website especially in countries like India and Brazil. In 2008, Orkut had 120 million users worldwide with more than 50% users from Brazil, followed by India (16.9%).
Orkut enabled users to create a profile, connect with friends and post anything from pictures, videos, status or news. Orkut had many nice features similar to its competitor Facebook like scrapping, posting pics, joining communities, etc. Orkut was successful as a social media platform till smartphones and facebook era started to flourish. So what exactly led to the downfall of Orkut?
- User Interface
UI wasn’t as impressive as its competitor Facebook. It had a very cluttered profile page according to me. There wasn’t clear visual heirarchy to arrange elements in groups or in order. In addition, it was hard to navigate on orkut. For example: orkut’s community member search feature had a cumbersome navigation.
Possible assumption
The assumption that orkut might have possibly made here is- including a lot of elements and features as possible will help make the design successful.
2. Privacy
Privacy was a big concern for users on Orkut. User’s information, photos, conversations on orkut were not secure. In 2006, a worm dubbed MW.Orc was discovered which could steal users banking information, passwords, etc.
Possible assumption
The assumption that orkut might have possibly made here is- there were no privacy issues with orkut.
3. Updates
Orkut released two updates or redesigns. But they weren’t as frequent as its competitor Facebook, myspace, etc. Facebook releases updates of their designs almost every 2–3 years on an average.
Possible assumption
Orkut probably didn’t feel the need for frequent updates
4. Mobile platform
Orkut did not start off on mobile platform. So it gave way to competitors who had the advantage of both desktop and mobile platforms. At the time Orkut started, mobile platform wasn’t a major thing since smartphones hadn’t been ubiquitous then. By the time orkut mobile started, it was a bit late since facebook was already burgeoning.
Possible assumption
Orkut probably didn’t think mobile platform was necessary.
5. Linked to Google+
Orkut was linked to google+ later on. Though this was intended to improve and increase user base, I thought that it was a redundant move, also considering google+ was not succesful.
Possible assumption
Linking Orkut to google+ might help improve the user base for both.
6. Age factor
Orkut was popular mostly among the youth, while its competitor facebook attracted users from all ages. This was also probably because of certain features in orkut that appealed more to the younger masses. An example: “Add to crush list” option when you visit a friend’s profile
The assumptions that may have led to the downfall of Orkut (or any product) proffer us lessons that be learned from the mistakes. As designers, these lessons are important so we learn from them and apply them in our endeavors.
