Instagram Concept: Creating Connections Through Communities
Like many people, I go to Instagram for my daily dose of the Internet.
I tend to find most of my online content there, and as I scour through Instagram for the latest trends and funny videos, I tend to keep seeing the same repetitive content over and over again.
After talking with my friends, I saw that this is an ongoing issue with a lot of people. Users are often frustrated when they’re not able to choose what they see on both their home page and explore page. Instagram keeps showing you content similar to things you’ve already liked, and doesn’t leave much room for exploring new interests.
User Research
I set out to learn how different users are affected by Instagram’s current content and what constraints they felt when interacting with posts and videos. What I found was that:
- Users have to go out of their way to find new content
“I have to go and search for something specific if I want to see new content, instead of Instagram just showing me.”
- Users get bored of constantly seeing the same content
“Because of what I post, I keep seeing cooking posts over and over, and never see any new types of posts.”
- Users feel like they have little control over the content they are shown
“I would like to be able to choose whether I am seeing my friends’ posts or new videos and posts.”
Instagram’s People Problem
Users want to see content that interests them and keeps them engaged on Instagram, but they can’t do that well because:
- Instagram keeps showing them the same type of content, which they are getting bored of.
- Users can’t really choose what type of content they look at
People Want to See Their Interests In New Content
What I found was that users have to put in a lot of work in order to get new content related to what they already like. When users like a certain topic, Instagram will repeatedly show them that same thing, rather than present new content related to their current interests.
People want to find new content related to their interests, but they have to go out of their way to engage with it.
Finding What Feature Would Improve Content
I recruited two of my friends as my brainstorming buddies, and through many sticky notes, we came up with various solutions.
We explored features like filters and content buttons, but they didn’t really add to the problem of exploring content that the user is interested in.
What we found in the end was that Instagram is missing a sense of connection. Despite Instagram’s current heavy focus on content, Instagram was originally created as a way of connecting with other people online. In order to tie the content on Instagram back to that, we decided on Instagram Communities.
What Even Are Communities?
I thought of Communities as a feature that would allow users to find specific content based on their interests.
The idea is that users could follow specific community pages, such as “Foodies.” Once they follow that community, they will be able to see content under those communities in their Communities page.
They would also be able to see only content from that specific community, such as by going to the Foodies page. This would allow users to handpick what kind of content they want to see, and to view content specific to their interests.
In order for users to explore new topics and interests, I also thought about implementing the feature so that users could access a specific community from posts they see on the Explore page.
All of these things were just ideas, but they would all contribute to making Instagram users feel more in control about the content they are seeing.
Initial Approach
I thought of placing communities as its own page, given how much content it would have available for users. This meant replacing the shop icon on the navigation bar, which in hindsight didn’t align with Instagram’s brand.
I was inspired by Instagram’s Explore page and Shop page when it came to designing how the Communities page would look, and I took from individual hashtag pages to decide how specific community pages would look like.
My Many Explorations and Flows
After solidifying my feature and what it would achieve, I went into the next stage of my design process: creating lots and lots of flows. I finally decided on these final three:
Once I had decided on these three flows, I wanted to explore different ways that I could design each screen.
For the individual community pages, I was unsure about how to structure their profile pages. I didn’t them to be too similar to profile pages or hashtag pages, but I also wanted to stick to Instagram’s design style.
I tried adding profile pictures, placing the community name in different places, and even adding a banner. In the end, I decided on the middle design, but took away the top username since it was unnecessary.
Since specific posts can be tagged as being a part of a specific community, I needed to explore different ways to add these tags to individual posts. I explore two different places where I could place them:
While I preferred having the community tags on the top, the “follow” button was already there, and I didn’t want to override Instagram’s current design. So instead, I placed it next to the interactions on the bottom of the post, since there was plenty of space there and it didn’t feel like it was intruding.
The final exploration I did was deciding where to place the Communities icon. I preferred to have it on the navigation bar, but I didn’t want to overcrowd it or replace an existing page. So I did the next best thing, and placed it at the top right of the home page. Messages and notifications are already there, so users would be used to accessing pages from there.
Design Kit
To make my prototypes more accurate, I created a design kit for my Instagram feature to make sure I was being precise when it came to colors, typography, and spacing.
I found this to be extremely useful later on in my design process, as I could easily reference the UI kit when making design decisions.
Finally, The High-Fidelity Flows
After many hours spent on every detail imaginable, I finally had my complete high-fidelity flows. The outcome was way better than I could’ve imagined, and seemed like something I could actually see on Instagram.
These three flows show the different entry points for engaging with the Communities feature. The first is through the Communities icon on the Home page:
The next is through the Explore page, when searching up a specific community:
The last entry point is also through the Explore page, but instead through a community tag on a specific post:
The Finished Product
Conclusion
I learned so much in the process of designing the Communities feature for Instagram. What I took away the most is just how much and how quickly things can change. I originally had a sort of filter feature in mind as the solution, and what ended up working for my people problem was much more interesting and added more to Instagram as a whole.
Since I had time restraints on this project, there is still so much I would like to add to my design and feature. For instance, since I was focusing on the content aspect of it, I did not design what it would look like on the posting side of it. I think of this as an ongoing process, and something that I can improve on in the future as I grow as a designer.
What I love about Instagram is how it connect people to each other, and this design project really allowed me to focus on that. I loved how much this taught me about the design process, and I am excited to keep learning more.
