Facebook Messenger (9/18)
WHAT IT IS
Facebook Messenger is, in my opinion, one of the best messaging platforms there are. The interface is extremely well laid out, with the ability to name a group, see who has read the message in the group, tag people’s names to get their attention, react to messages, attach files, etc. While I do think that the memorability could be low for first-time users simply because there are so many features, the efficiency tradeoff is very high in that we are able to do so many things with this one communication platform. In addition, Facebook typically does a good job of introducing these changes one at a time, so that current users are constantly aware of and know how to use these new features without having to go through an annoying tutorial or use Google.
EVIDENCE OF FLAWS + DESIGN CHANGES
1.(left photo) Facebook allows you to access the Messenger phone app online by typing “messenger.com” instead of accessing the Messenger through a small window on facebook.com. Messenger.com has more features, a larger layout, and is therefore easier to use (FB Messenger is extremely accessible across multiple platforms). However, it also keeps track of which conversation you opened last, so if you are:
chatting with A and B -> leave the conversation with A open -> switch tabs to do other work -> receive a notification from both A and B (but only want to respond to B) -> go back to messenger.com, then
your conversation with A will still be open, and Messenger will mark A’s message to you as read (meaning that it’ll be blatantly obvious that you ignored A).
This affects efficiency because users cannot respond immediately to the person they want to respond to. A possible solution might be giving the page a timer for how long it is not in use, and once the timer ends deselect all chats and display a set background with a message like “Click on a chat to resume conversation.”
2.(right photo) Since Messenger is commonly used for student groups at Brown (and in general too), one user will frequently be actively involved in a large number of group chats. If notifications from multiple group chats occur at once, it can be hard to sift through them, especially if some of the people in the group overlap. Messenger allows us to assign a theme color to a group chat, but the color only appears when the chat is open — not for the notifications. It would be a more efficient interface if the names of the groups were color coded in the notifications as well.
CONSTRAINTS / WHY IT WAS DESIGNED THAT WAY
implementation cost + time/effort
Facebook obviously probably has a very large budget, so it makes sense that the interface is very well designed. In addition, Messenger has been implemented for quite a while now, which means that Facebook has had more time to perfect the product, apparent through its diverse range of features that are relatively straightforward (memorable & learnable) to use.
target audience
Since Messenger is a messaging platform, the target audience is all people who want to communicate. Since the primary goal of this product is to facilitate that communication, Facebook may have intentionally implemented features that let other group members know you have read their message (even when you may not want them to) in order to encourage faster and clearer communication.