UI/UX Case Study: Personalizing Tik Tok
Introduction
Tik Tok is currently the most downloaded app as it has been downloaded over 1.5 billion times on the App Store and on Google Play. It is used for creating and sharing short videos and is known for having an algorithm like noother app. Tik Tok makes it possible for anybody’s video, regardless of follower count, to go viral.
Tik Tok has two main feed options and they are the For You page and the Following page. The For You page is the initial screen that pops up when you open the app. It consists of never-ending short videos that you can spend hours and days scrolling through. This page is curated based on a user’s past watch and like history, since it recommends videos the user may like. Next to the For You page is the Following page. It consists of videos made by the creators that the user is following and these videos are not listed in any particular order.
Framing the Problem
This case study focused on creating a user-centric solution to the question, “How can Tik Tok be further personalized?” With millions of active users and videos being created on the app, the videos provided are entertaining but also endless. Although there is already a Following page that consists of videos created by people the user is following, we thought about how a user may be following hundreds to thousands of creators and there is not a more efficient way to personalize the content that appears.
The Process
User Research
My team and I gathered information on the experiences of Tik Tok users to understand what features they enjoyed the most about the app as well as any feature they wish the app had. We conducted directed user interviews on users between the ages of 19–21 who are all frequent Tik Tok users and are on the app 1–4 hours a day.
Some of the questions we asked were:
- How often do you use Tik Tok and what do you use it for?
- What type of content do you like to see?
- What’s something you like about Tik Tok?
- What’s something you wish you could add/change on Tik Tok?
Users indicated that they scroll timelessly through Tik Tok videos and enjoy using the app for entertainment. When we asked users about other content that they like to see, users responded with a popular range of topics like art, comedy, beauty, fashion, duets, and a few more.
The main response that users had when we asked what they would change about the app was that they a chronological option. Users indicated that they had issues with the lack of order in their Following page. One user said, “One time I was scrolling through my Following page and saw a video from 2019 and I was confused.”
My team noted that this was a popular complaint as well on other social media platforms like Instagram. The lack of chronological sequence gives a negative experience to users as they feel that they miss certain content and/or are not able to view all of the content made by people they follow.
Chronological Filter
Based on this feedback and user information, the first thing my team felt we needed to implement was a feature that allowed users to view videos in chronological order. A chronological feature was supported by about half of the users we interviewed, especially the users who viewed videos on their Following page. This filter saves the user from feeling frustrated by the lack of consistency in their videos in their Following as well as preventing them from seeing videos that are weeks to months old.
We placed the chronological feature, a clock icon, on the top right of the screen. It is next to the For You page and is small because we wanted it to blend in similar length with the For You heading. Once the user clicks on the chronological filter, the user will be to sort by “Most Relevant” or by “Chronological.” The user will be able to go back and unselect them whenever they’d like.
Content Filter
A second feature that was important to implement to better fit user needs based on our interviews is a content filter. Users shared a few common interests when it comes to the reasons why they use Tik Tok. Most users indicated they enjoyed the entertainment and watching funny videos. However, there was also a discrepancy between other videos users enjoyed watching. Some of the content users indicated they liked to see includes dance, fashion, beauty, duet, music, etc.
We placed the content filter on the top left of the screen. It is next to the Following page and is small because we wanted it to blend in similar length with the Following heading. Once the user clicks on the filter, a pop up with multiple popular features will appear. The user will be able to select as many features as they’d like to see on their page and will be able to go back and unselect them whenever they’d like.
Conclusion
Although Tik Tok has an algorithm for personalized video recommendations based on a user’s watched and liked videos, it does not give the user direct control over what videos they would like to see on their For You page nor is there an order of the videos displayed in their Following page. Users touched on these issues during our user interviews and we felt it was important to implement small icon features in the top of the screens to better customize the content a user would like to see as well the order they would like to see it in. To increase user satisfaction in a highly popular app, we implemented these two features to allow for further personalization to keep the users happy.
