UX Musings: Creating a more social experience for Instagram Live in the age of physical distancing.
The Setup
Co-Vids, now streaming.
Spring has finally sprung. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and for the moment, we’re stuck indoors.
While not ideal, doing our part to flatten the curve presents an opportunity to finally take a moment. Remember when we used to complain about never having time? Well now we do — so put your feet up, start that project, or just keep scrolling. For the foreseeable future, social media will not only act as a primary source of connection to loved ones, but as a lifeline for musicians, performers, and entertainers stranded at home like the rest of us.
With the indefinite shutdown of live venues across nations, along with bans on public gatherings, artists are flocking to Instagram Live to keep audiences engaged. In the weeks to come, seeing a favourite musician perform from their living room could be the highlight of the day for some. With additional functionality, this sense of personal connection could be extended to the friends of the user without distracting from the moment.
Problem Space
Live, from isolation.
Upon entering a live feed on Instagram, the user is given simple functional components to choose from. They can either drop a comment into the scrolling global chat, heart the feed, or send the presenter a question. This mostly anonymous engagement is only personalized by the ability to send the feed to a friend without comment, simply to make them aware of its happening.
This is the extent users can participate with their friends while watching live. The user can’t message friends without closing the stream, and has no insight into who’s watching along with them. Any need to use other parts of the app also requires the live stream to be closed completely.
The Solution
All in here, together.
The primary weakness here is that Instagram Live’s Send button doesn’t provide the functionality to actively engage friends who are watching in tandem. As seen in the graphic above, changing the Send action into a more robust Watch Together feature could create new shared experiences between users.
Feature Set
Finding your friends in the crowd.
Invite
Instead of removing the original Send function, incorporating it allows users to continue inviting friends who aren’t already watching the stream. As priority is given to those currently watching, this function is consolidated down to an unobtrusive search, giving visual hierarchy to users under Watching Now.
Watching Now
Friends watching the stream live who have yet to leave the global chat will appear here. The user can either select one friend to chat privately or multiple to form a group.
Existing Chats
These are chats that friends of the user have already created during the stream, requiring a knock to join.
Notifications
Outfitted in the same styling as Instagram’s request container to join a live video, several prompts have been created which insert into the feed. These will differ depending on if the user has initiated a chat or been asked to join one.
Changing Chats
Pictured below, we can see what it looks like to have initiated a chat with a friend. If the user decides they would like to see what other friends are saying, clicking the Watch Together button again will include some subtle changes:
Your Chats
This is where the user can see who they’re currently speaking with. Clicking Leave will close the conversation and bring the user back to the global chat.
Back to Global Chat
If the user wants to peek out of their private chat without leaving it, Back to Global Chat will allow them to temporarily return to the global chat without closing their conversation.
Keep Streaming
I don’t wanna miss a thing.
Closing a live feed to message a friend back during a performance can feel a lot like running to the bathroom in the middle of a concert. In this next example, I’ve pulled inspiration from Twitter’s use of docked video, allowing for access to the app while videos continue to play:
Similarly, on Instagram, a two-finger pinch could consolidate the live stream down to a thumbnail, leaving the user to go about their business without missing a moment.
Additionally, the new thumbnail could be dragged around the screen to avoid any unintentional covering of functionality.
Final Thoughts
Adjusting to new normals.
Responding to a crisis like Covid is a social responsibility shared by all of us. It’s a new human experience nobody opted into, yet demands our immediate attention. We are now collectively presented with an opportunity to find new ways of bringing ourselves together. For the tech industry, meeting the changing needs of users starts with better tools for engagement.
Notes
I’m a Vancouver based digital designer and creative director. For 6 years I’ve helped companies establish themselves online through design informed by strategy. I’m currently looking for opportunities on product teams. If you’re looking to grow your team, connect with me on LinkedIn.
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Screenshots for the Instagram Live mocks were taken from KEXP’s Metric — Synthetica (Live at Sasquatch) video.
Special thanks goes out to my friend Marina, who gave me the idea for this post when she told me to go watch Diplo’s living room live stream. 🌵
