BeReal Redesign

BeRealer than ever Before.
Overview

As part of the UC Davis Design Interactive Cohort club, I participated in a design challenge to redesign the social media app BeReal, aiming to enhance its competitiveness in the saturated market. While many platforms focus on features like infinite scrolling, ads, and customizable posts, BeReal's unique value proposition lies in its emphasis on authenticity and unfiltered content.

Our project involved adding new features and reworking existing ones to improve user experience and engagement, ensuring that BeReal maintains its commitment to authenticity while offering a more compelling and competitive platform.

Awarded "Most Innovative UX"

Timeline
Jan - May 2022
Team
Dereck E. Villagrana
Tools
Figma
Disciplines
Human Interface Design
Iteraction Design
Presentation PDF
Google Slides
View Prototype
My Contribution
I was the prototyping and usability testing lead for the home page, BeReal Prompts, and video feature to increase user retention. I identified the problem areas through collaborative and independent research, developing strategies to easily find user data and the impact BeReal has on societal norms today.
My Services
User Research, Competitor Analysis, User Personas, Visual Design, Design System, UX Copywrite, Usability testing, Prototyping
The Problem to Solve
We found that BeReal users are struggling to stay committed.
Authenticity
Many platforms have begun embracing infinite scrolling, ad, and full customizable posts based models, focusing on providing their users with as much content as possible.
Niche Model
Many platforms have begun embracing infinite scrolling, ad, and full customizable posts based models, focusing on providing their users with as much content as possible.
Dissatisfied
Many platforms have begun embracing infinite scrolling, ad, and full customizable posts based models, focusing on providing their users with as much content as possible.
The Objective
To redesign BeReal and help retain long-term user interest & maintain their model of authenticity.
Authenticity
Many platforms have begun embracing infinite scrolling, ad, and full customizable posts based models, focusing on providing their users with as much content as possible.
Niche Model
Many platforms have begun embracing infinite scrolling, ad, and full customizable posts based models, focusing on providing their users with as much content as possible.
Dissatisfication
Many platforms have begun embracing infinite scrolling, ad, and full customizable posts based models, focusing on providing their users with as much content as possible.
Let's Think About it
How can we help BeReal keep user interested and bring in new users while staying within their niche?
The social media app market is saturated with a lot of various applications and offer different and similar features. Some offer infinite scrolling, the ability to edit/alter posts as the users wills it to be, likes/dislikes and ads. We wanted to focus on BeReal's values on authenticity, where users can post/view unfiltered content.
The Big Question
How might we increase user engagement, create a secure space for authentic interaction, and encourage exploration of the Discovery Page?
Competitive Analysis
To identify any potential opportunities to help retain user retention, I conducted a competitive analysis on 3 social media apps in the market (Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok) to compare against BeReal's place in the market.

Snapchat

An all-in-one customer service platform that helps you balance everything your customers need to be happy.

Instgram

Measure what matters with Untitled’s easy-to-use reports. You can filter, export, and drilldown on the data in a couple clicks.

TikTok

An all-in-one customer service platform that helps you balance everything your customers need to be happy.
iPhone mockupiPhone mockup
Play video icon
Dashboard mockup
iPhone mockupiPhone mockup
Play video icon
Dashboard mockup
User Surveys and Interviews
Validating Our Assumptions
Based on insights from our literature review, we designed a user survey with 35 participants and conducted interviews with 9 BeReal users aged 17-24.

The survey included both open and close-ended questions to measure current user practices, such as the frequency of feature usage and overall app navigation. Participants provided data on how often they used specific features and how they navigated the app's flow.

In the interviews, users appreciated BeReal's emphasis on authenticity and its stance against addictive social media practices. However, they expressed discomfort with being completely transparent in their posts and had reservations about the quick "post and go" user flow.
Literature Review
Gaining Contect from Texts
We explored journal articles, blogs, data metrics, and user reviews to gain an initial understanding of the app's current status and user base. From the metrics, we discovered that although BeReal experienced a surge in downloads in 2022, its monthly and daily active users significantly declined. Our most crucial finding was that BeReal, as a company, places a high value on authenticity and opposes advertisements and addictive social media practices.
User Persona
Based on data collected from our competitive analysis, literature reviews, including our own surveys and interviews, we constructed a user persona. This persona will help us make design decisions as we move forward with the project.
We learned that users enjoy having an outlet for photo, video and comment content creation and consumption, and a connection between users through shared interests and experiences.
Understanding that users want more interactive content within a social media app, like infinite scrolling, different ways to post,  to view and do, we quickly focused on fast, simple, and and recognizable experiences.
Let's Think About it
How can we help BeReal keep user interested and bring in new users while staying within their niche?
Approaching a Solution
How do we design for the ideal solution?
To streamline our generation phase, we condensed design requirements into actionable statements that permit us to explore many solutions while at the same time keeping us focused on the main ideas.
Feature Prioritization
Limited resources, limited features
Due to time constraints and technical feasibility, we went back to the drawing board and categorized all our features into four sections: Low Effort-High Impact, High Impact-Low Effort, Low Impact-Low Effort, and High Effort-Low Impact. For this project, we focused primarily on features in the Low Effort-High Impact category.
System Architecture
Challenges and what's next to come
Redesigning BeReal presented both challenges and enjoyable experiences. Maintaining authenticity while developing engaging features proved to be a significant hurdle. For instance, proposing two daily notifications conflicted with BeReal's ethos of capturing spontaneous moments.

Frequent updates from BeReal during our design sprint required constant reassessment to ensure our content remained distinctive. Our diverse team, with varying skill levels, became a strength as we shared expertise and bonded over the six-week process.

Despite the challenges posed by BeReal's ethical guidelines and the need to balance authenticity with engagement, our team persevered. The collaborative spirit made the journey enjoyable, and we're proud to have overcome the roadblocks encountered.

Made by  Dereck E. Villagrana  | © Copyright 2024

Made by Dereck E. Villagrana | © Copyright  2024

Connect with me on
LinkedIn