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Empower Report +
The solution for a new Instagram reporting system to help users feel empowered to improve their feed.
Role
UX Researcher,
UX Designer
Duration
3 Months
Feb - May, 2023
Team
Felicia Li, Jessica Cromp, Tiange Zhou, Ashley Lin
Tool
Figma, Miro, Tableau
Process
Overview
Problem
When Instagram users come across biased and stereotypical contents, most of them will ignore it because they feel that reporting won't make any difference. This leaves the user with a negative experience and a lack of agency.
How might we:
How might we motivated users to report biased and stereotypical content in more on Instagram?
Project's Goal
Our team aims to present a solution to help users feel empowered to improve their Instagram feed.
Research
Our research approach involves conducting surveys and interviews to gain a deep understanding of user behavior, preferences, and feedback.
Population
25-34-year-olds，the largest segment of Instagram's user
Methods
Survey
Think Aloud Protocols | Interview
Survey
Goals
1. Users' past interactions with Instagram's content reporting and hiding features
2.Understand the prevalence of distressing content encounters
3.Capture user reactions to such experiences.
Finding
01
More than 50% of the respondents have experienced biased and stereotypical contents
02
Among those who have ever reported, more than half of the users are not satisfied with the reporting system
03
Users choose to ignore no matter if the contents are biased or not.
Survey's Insights:
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Most of respondents are not satisfied with current reporting and hiding system
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It seems that most of users are ignoring the content regardless of the nature of it (neutral or stereotypical). But this can also be explained by a potential phenomenon that people are not noticing the stereotypical ad at all (they do not see that as a stereotypical ad).
Research: Interview
Goals
1. Understand why respondents is not satisfied with current reporting and hiding system
2. What are reasons that lead users to ignore contents are biased and stereotypical on Instagram
Findings: Interview's Quotes
Reason: why user rarely reports
"I never thought about reporting, because it was only one swipe away compare to reporting process "
Reason: why user doesn't feel empowered
"I don't know if the report system really works. Let me refresh again, they're definitely gonna have similar ads show up again after reported. They are annoying"
Reason: why user doesn't feel empowered
"I have reported, but I don't know what happened after I reported these contents, which make me feel like I wasted my time."
Reason: why user rarely reports
"There have too many steps and categories in the report process. I use Instagram to relax and get entertained, and do not want to take time to deal with serious stuff."
Interview's Insights:
1. Participants don't seem motivated to make a change due to a lack of positive response
2.Participant suggests that it takes too many steps to report compare to swipe the posts away
Define
Affinity Maps
To organize the information and facilitate a design brainstorming session, we have created affinity maps.
To View the full version please click the images or the link: Walk the wall
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Problem Statement
After the process of organizing and analyzing our research findings, a key problem has emerged:
The existing Instagram reporting system is overly complex and lacks sufficient positive feedback mechanisms.
Brainstorm Design Ideas
We employ the technique known as "Crazy 8s" to foster rapid ideation and gather a multitude of creative design concepts, to solve the problem .
To View the full version please click the images or the link: Walk the wall
Selected Design Concepts
1. Reduce the steps users need to report or hide a post
Polly refrains from reporting an Instagram post due to the time consuming and intricate categorization process.
Polly has now discovered that by pressing and holding the post, a pop-out window appears, allowing her to easily select either "Dislike" or "Report" with just two clicks.
With the newfound simplicity in reporting, Polly is now more motivated to report potentially biased and stereotypical content on Instagram.
2. Create an update panel after users report contents
Polly saw an Instagram post which she believes is biased and doesn't want it to appear on her feed.
After reporting the post, she receives updates at each step of the process until it is removed.
Polly feels empowered knowing that Instagram is listening to her voice, and she takes pride in contributing to the fight against biased content on the platform
Design
Paper Prototype
We developed a paper prototype for new features, by utilizing Figma to simulate the Instagram browsing experience and complement our paper prototype.
High-Fidelity Prototype
Design Solutions
01. Simplified Hide & Reporting Process
Our design solution prioritizes user empowerment by simplifying the content reporting process. We have reduced the steps required to report content to two, making it more efficient and user-friendly.
02. Transparent Reporting Updates
We've introduced a reporting updates page for transparency. Users can track their reports in real time, seeing Instagram's actions and their impact on the community. This transparency fosters a sense of responsibility and engagement, reinforcing users' belief in shaping a better Instagram experience.
User Testing
Feedbacks
Advantages:
1. Positive feedback after reporting makes the process more transparent. Users believed Instagram took their report seriously and made changes after consideration.
2. Reduced cognitive load to process and report posts because of minimal steps to report contents on Instagram feed. As a result, users will be more engaged in the process of reporting contents that violate community guidelines.
Improvement:
1. Some users might need an instruction for long pressed report action when they first start playtesting the prototype. We believe a tutorial might be introduced when a user first installed the app.
Postmortem
What Went Well:
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Reasonably plan ahead and finish deliverables before the deadline
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Each member has similar level of workload
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The team worked together to figure out
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Well Communication between teammates
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What didn’t go well:
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Length of the meetings each week.
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Actions:
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Set the length and goals of each meeting before hand
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Be more efficient during group meeting