Enhancing WhatsApp: Redefining Group Chats for Effortless Data Management
Disclaimer- This is a personal project and I had no association with WhatsApp during its development.
How I discovered the problem statement
In my second year of college, I joined a WhatsApp group intended for students to assist each other by solving doubts, sharing assignments, delivering circulars, and discussing questions. However, as the group expanded, it transformed into a chaotic space with hundreds of daily messages. Due to its academic importance, leaving the group was not an option. The challenge was to sift through this information overload and extract what was essential.
To cope with the hundreds of messages, I found myself spending a considerable amount of time selecting and deleting unnecessary content. However, this became a time-consuming task, and on some days, I felt left behind because I couldn’t keep track of important questions shared within the group.
The messages kept pouring in, and it got overwhelming.
The real difficulty arose when the group started discussing other chapters too. As a beginner, I focused on Real Analysis but found our batchmates and seniors discussing other topics like complex analysis, group theory, and number theory. The entire chat became a mess, and I lost track of my studies. Sorting among the questions sent as screenshots or photos became challenging. Gradually, I lost track of the questions, leaving me overwhelmed and tense.
This experience got me thinking — why doesn’t WhatsApp have a feature to manage such things? Was I the only one facing this issue, or did others share my frustration? As I pondered, I found the idea intriguing, and that’s what led you to read this article.
Initial problem statement based on my experience- I am not able to manage some important things on WhatsApp.
Refined problem statement based on my experience- Users of WhatsApp (especially students) have difficulty in managing question images.
Questions that struck my head
- Do students really need to manage the question images or screenshots?
- What group of people need a feature for the management?
- Is this an actual problem?
- Can switching to another app for managing question images and screenshots would be a solution?
- Can adding a new feature lead to decreased efficiency of WhatsApp?
- How other apps are solving this problem?
Qualitative research
Photo and Screenshot Sorting-
In the media section, photos and screenshots are currently sorted solely based on the month they were sent, lacking a more defined organisation.
Lack of Chapter Identification-
There is no designated way for users to identify the chapters to which the questions belong, making it challenging to categorise and manage study materials effectively.
Difficulty in Tracking-
Users find it challenging to manage photos as they often lose track of the chapters associated with the questions. This lack of organisation makes it harder for users to navigate through their study materials.
Mind Mapping for Navigation-
To overcome the organisational challenge, users resort to mentally mapping which photo or screenshot corresponds to the last question they marked, introducing a cognitive load.
Use of Star Marking-
Some users have adopted the practice of star marking the last question visited as a workaround to ease navigation through the study materials.
Impact on User Engagement
The overwhelming volume of chats has led to user dissatisfaction, with some members leaving the group. This indicates a potential impact on user engagement due to the current organisation and navigation challenges.
Competitive analysis
Channels for Organisation
1. Slack and Discord allow the creation of channels within servers.
2. Users can separate discussions by subject, project, or topic using this feature.
Robust Search Capabilities
1. Slack, Discord, and Telegram offer powerful search capabilities.
2. Users can easily find past messages, resources, or discussions within a group through advanced search functionalities.
File Sharing and Cloud Storage
1. Telegram, Slack, and Discord provide cloud storage for shared files.
2. This feature enhances convenience for storing and accessing study materials within the platform.
Quantitative research
Observation of competitive analysis and quantitative research
An observation revealed that a significant number of individuals aged 20 to 30 use or have utilised WhatsApp group chats extensively for sharing documents, links, and images. A common need emerged for a feature that could assist in organising question images efficiently, categorising them into different topics. Notably, WhatsApp and Telegram emerged as the preferred platforms for group messaging.
Interestingly, people leaned towards Telegram due to its ability to store documents and images on cloud storage, offering a practical solution to save valuable internal storage compared to WhatsApp.
Conclusion of competitive analysis and quantitative research
The media section essentially serves as a gallery or repository within the WhatsApp application, allowing users to access and view media files, including images and videos, that have been shared within the group. To address internal storage concerns, users can have the option to turn off the Media section, opting to store question images in their respective folders under the ‘Docs’ section. This customisation allows for more efficient organisation and storage management.
Ideation
In the context of WhatsApp, users receive hundreds of question images daily, making it challenging to keep track of practiced questions. There’s a need for a feature that simplifies the organisation of these images, allowing users to maintain a structured collection and also help users to keep track of their practiced questions.
Solution Space
PART I
When a group member uploads a photo or screenshot containing a question for clarification, they have the option to tag the image with specific subtopics under designated category sections. This tagging system allows each question image to be categorised into different subtopics within its relevant category. For instance, a question image can be tagged as both ‘Real Analysis’ and ‘Assignment.’ Once tagged, the question image can be effortlessly shared directly within the WhatsApp group for further discussion.
PART II
Group members receiving the question images can then easily access the group media section by tapping on the three dots. There, they’ll find a curated collection of all question images neatly organised in one folder under the ‘DOCS’ section
PART III
Upon entering a folder that houses all question images tagged with a specific topic, users have the option to select an individual question image. By tapping the ‘track back icon,’ they are promptly redirected to the exact chat section where the image was initially shared.