CD Studio IV: Reconfiguring Social Media

This semester — CD Studio 4 — will be taught by Kyuha Shim. The first project of our second semester junior communication design class concerns reconfiguring social media.

Assignment 1.1

1.17 | Social Media Platform Analysis

For the first part of this assignment, we are creating several diagrams of functional analysis that include communication (e.g. send, receive, post/tweet, like) friends (add, remove, block, follow), groups (join, leave) in three different social media platforms.

Initially, I wanted to choose Instagram, GroupMe, and Wechat — the first primarily a photo/image-based social media platform, the second a messaging application, and the third a culmination of many functions and also one that not many Western users are necessarily familiar with (including functions like giving red pockets — a traditional way of money-giving during Chinese New Year, sharing Moments — much like Instagram with photo-sharing but can also be text and/or links, scanning QR codes, messaging, video-chatting, and all the functions that a messaging application usually includes.) The three vary in levels of function as well as complexity, which I thought would be fun to explore.

However, since we’ll be working as a team for this project (Lily Fulop + Deborah Lee), it makes sense to explore applications we all have experience using and are relatively familiar with. As a result, we’ve decided to explore …

1.18 | My Explorations (Instagram, Wechat, GroupMe)

The way Q described for us to break down the UI is outlined in this diagram:

Q’s diagram for illustrating our assignment.

Various layout / note-taking I analyzed for Wechat, Instagram and Whatsapp (not pictured).

1.19 | Group Discussion, Brain-storming

MAP EXPLORATIONS

Topics: information hierarchy (formal attributes, levels), privacy (public vs. private), mobile vs. web (intention of medium), input/output (of content)

Types of map: topographical maps, heat maps, stringed connections

It’s also helpful to bring in the analysis of formal qualities — typography, colour, grids, alignment, iconography, devices & analyze usability (placement of functions & icons, etc.)

Our Team’s Pinterest inspiration board

~*: Mastercard rebranding, Instagram rebranding

1.25 | Analyzing Social Media Platforms: You, Me, Us

viewing content

messaging content

real time distance

~*: taking out content and connecting periods to view pacing of story

1.26 | TO-DO List

1.26 | TO-DO List

• post content