Whatsapp new feature : How to create events in group chat?
UX / UI : 6 days — team 1 person
The app is sending, and receiving a variety of media: text, photos, videos, documents, and location, as well as voice calls. Messages and calls are secured with end-to-end encryption, meaning that no third party including WhatsApp can read or listen to them.
“Behind every product decision is our desire to let people communicate anywhere in the world without barriers.”
Whatsapp is the world’s most widely used email service, used by an average of 1 billion users every day (source : https://blog.whatsapp.com/).
In my interviews sessions, i have found that people often pointed to the fact that group discussions lead to seeing each other, and therefore suggesting outings together. Below, some users insights.
“It is so useful when i travel, because it is simple. I can get in contact with so many people. But it is complicated to gather all people together”
“I wanted to invite friends for my birthday, was searching for an option to invite them… , most of my contacts are on whatsapp. I had to use Facebook”
→ In the last insight, there is a deeper concern. Users turn to other plateforms instead to create events, such as Facebook or Meetup.
Whataspp have just added group calling. To continue in the project to offer more and more to user, as easy as it is to create a group, proposing outings together can quickly seem complicated — as there are no option to do it.
What about increasing loyalty by allowing users to create events in group discussions ?
How to implement this new feature?
First, identify the main steps that will allow the user to browse this function and prepare the flow :
- Create an event
- Enter title, location date, start and end information
- Send the event
Secondly, identify the existing graphical elements, language, usage patterns, to give functional and visual consistency. Below are those that will be integrated into the steps concerned by this functionality.
1 - 2 - 3 : integrate this functionality into the existing menu, group information page, and graphic elements from creating a group.
4 : the android-style calendar to enter date and time
First tests
Then, we made user tests and the corrections were integrated in the mid-fi. User feedback:
— wants to have information about who is participating in the proposed events.
- Create an event
- Enter title, location date, start and end information
- Send the event
- ADD > A way to check who accepted or do not answer
Once we have integrated the user modifications, we have retested, below is the completed version of the prototype below :
Key learning
- The challenge is to integrate all these elements while respecting the Whatsapp information architecture
- coherence in the graphical elements
- testing is the key to a better user experience
- Users are your best friends to improve the flow, the choice of elements to highlight and a loyalty in what you offer.
Next steps
- Propose an icon to create an event directly on the discussion page, and avoid going into the menu to access it. But need to study this option with users if they need it.
- Make important information more visible in the output, while respecting the information architecture codes — below iterations of how to visualize how many people accepting the event.
To go further
We also noticed a lack of graphical consistency. Maybe it’s time to improve the language and the graphical charter to allow users to experience a stronger visual consistency and contribute to reinforce their loyalty to Whatsapp.
Thanks for reading me :)
