UX Weekly: June 30
In which I’ve taken it upon myself to craft a weekly UX newsletter for the span of my UX internship with Critical Mass. This newsletter goes out to our creative team each Friday.
UX in the Wild
Snapchat rolled out its new SnapMap feature this week. For those of you who are unfamiliar, here’s a quick overview: SnapMap was marketed as a way to share stories by location and view what fun things are going on near you, but in practice, it shares your actual location (down to which house you’re in on the block) every time you open the app. Scary? Hell yeah.
But what’s worse is how Snapchat rolled out the feature. When I first learned of this update, I assumed that this location sharing would be turned off until the user went in and made the decision to turn it on. That doesn’t seem to be the case. I’ve spoken to friends who had no idea this feature existed, but I could show them themselves on the map. And even for those who did know that the SnapMap existed, the onboarding never made it clear that your location is being broadcast every time you open the app. This article goes into the marketing and onboarding process of that a little more.
How would I have approached it?
Well for starters, you don’t turn it on for people who haven’t opted in. That’s just silly. But there’s also no reason for you to be able to zoom in so far as to see which house your friends are in. Make it so that you can’t zoom past a certain point. Keep it vague.
But hey, hindsight’s 20/20 right?
All this being said (and now that I’ve properly scared you right before a big weekend), I actually like the idea of sharing stories based on location and the “hotspot” aspect of the map (aka the more stories are shared in a location, the “hotter” that location is). We’ll see how this plays out.
What are your thoughts on this feature? Is it news to you? Do you see this being a game changer for Snapchat, which is still reeling from Instagram’s thieving ways? I want to know!
Okay, Good
We’re changing it up a bit with the newsletter lineup this week.
I’m in love with how design can actually make things better in the world. When people put care and empathy together with innovation to develop something truly life-changing.
This is a jacket that transforms into a tent for refugees. It’s so cool. I want to wear one. But I also want to give one to every homeless person I meet on the street. Fashion and design can exist as an instrument of social change. 💖
And yes, I did find this through a Microsoft ad on my Facebook feed that will not go away. But you know what. I don’t even care. (Although I did click into the ad, so now I get even more Microsoft ads specially picked just for me. Thanks for that, targeted marketing.)
The Fun Part
And now, introducing the generation that’s not quite Gen X and not quite Millennials: the “Xennial.” I think they just didn’t want to be blamed for the oncoming avocado shortage.
All jokes aside, this micro-generation makes sense. It’s the older millennials who aren’t necessarily digital natives themselves. Because 20 years is too long for a generation when technology moves as fast as it does.
Anyway, here’s a super-millennial response to the idea of “Xennials”. And while you Xennials may have different experiences, please don’t leave our millennial club just yet. We love you. We need you.
Well, have a great weekend, y’all! Drink lots of beer and shoot off lots of fireworks. Because America.
