Unboxing Instagram App
A few of the many unboxing app series that I am going to write about.
Check out my last unboxing app article. It’s about Google maps.
Instagram is by far my most favorite app. It is one of the four apps on my iPhone bottom menu.
The design is so simple and yet has so much packed in it.
Logo & Font
I am definitely a fan of the old logo.
- It has a 3D effect to it.
- Gives a vintage feel. I like anything vintage and so do many other people.
- It has a freaking realistic camera lens which is all Instagram is about.
- And it has a strip of colorful band ending with the word ‘Insta’.
It’s totally perfect, right?
Nope!
Why?
Because it doesn’t represent Instagram’s personality. It doesn’t represent Instagram’s most followed people.
Instagram’s most followed person is Selena Gomez and then it’s Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian! Do any of these people sound or even represent vintage to you? No! Their Instagram posts don’t represent that too.
They represent future, glam, color and modernism which is the new logo.
And hence, the new logo is very representative of it’s current community.
With respect to Font, the iOS version of the Instagram app uses Freight Sans for headings and the system’s Neue Helvetica for everything else.
Landing / Home Page
The moment you open the app, you see a picture covering more than 60% of the screen which is the best part about Instagram design. It shows you what you came here for.
The icons are simple and nice but I am not sure why the ‘My profile’ icon is open when all the other icons are closed. It loses the consistency.
And the ‘messages’ icon doesn’t exactly represent messages. Many a time I don’t realize it represents ‘messages’ because most apps don’t have that icon on the top right corner. It’s usually in the bottom menu bar. Also, I have asked a lot of people who use Instagram and almost everyone answered that they don’t use the messaging feature. So don’t I.
Apart from that, the home page has a simple clean look.
Recently, Instagram came up with ‘Stories’. Stories is a concept brought out by Snapchat where people can post a temporary picture or video of what’s going on in their present day. You can view the stories on top and post your own story using the + icon. It’s nice that Instagram decided to add some color to it’s app by having the colorful ring around the stories by the people you follow.
You can upload multiple stories in a day and Instagram will stitch it together and make it last for 24 hours for your followers to view. If you are viewing stories, you can tap on the story to go to the next one or swipe to see the story of the next person who has uploaded a story.
Arrow marks or indications while viewing stories will go a long way for most users!
While uploading a story, tap on the bottom middle white button to click a picture or press and hold it to record a short video. Use the arrow on the top right corner to upload and the settings icon on the top left corner to control who views your story.
Really wish the white icons were thicker!
You can’t click on an image or a video and view it in maximum but you can zoom in to the photo or video and hold it to keep it zoomed in. Strange!
I would rather have the option of viewing the image or video in full screen like in other apps.
Lastly, you can tap on the skeleton heart or double tap on the image or video to like it. Two options to like something!
My profile
I almost never use the 4 icons above my pictures. And strangely enough I cannot view the ‘places uploaded photos in’ icon in other’s profile which is sad because it will be cool to know where other people have traveled to.
The edit profile button might as well be in the settings or part of changing the display picture.
The follow someone icon lets you find people in your contact or Facebook friends list who are in Instagram. This could be achieved using the search icon in the menu bar.
Filters
One of the main features that attract users to Instagram!
There are 23 filters right now and America’s most favorite filter according to designschool.canva.com is Clarendon.
Since it was launched 5 years back, Instagram has kept some filters and changed or added a couple more filters. My personal favorite are Clarendon, Juno, Ludwig and Hefe.
You can also tamper with the properties of each filter by tapping on the edit button. Finally, you can post your amazing new filtered photo with #hashtags so that people can find it and also share it on other social media.
Other features
What to learn from Instagram design
- Tuck away all the extra features inside icons and keep the home page very minimal with the solution
- Experiment with various design aspects
- Introduce popular and trending concepts related to the app’s statement
- Focus on the app’s main solution and not the accessories that support it
- Stick to the app’s original idea and do not get too ambitious and deviate
What can change in Instagram Design
- Icons need to be consistent
- Messaging icon should be common like other apps to garner recognition
- Have additional prompts in areas such as ‘viewing stories’
- make icons stand out even if they are just white or black
- Conduct a survey and remove features that are not being used to reduce the data usage
- Zoom into photos and videos can be replaced by trying to view the image or video in full screen
- Have multiple ways to do a particular function
- Reduce the number of icons and buttons in some places and put relative features under one icon
