As part of the UC Davis Design Interactive Cohort club, I participated in a design challenge to redesign the social media app BeReal so they may compete more competitively in the market. New features were add while some were reworked.
Timeline
Jan - May 2022
Team
Dereck E. Villagrana
Tools
Figma
Disciplines
Human Interface Design
Iteraction Design
Real Interactions
BeCloser, Prompts, Memory Highlights, and Discovery 2.0 are new and improved tools that aims to help BeReal maintain long-term interest and relevance in the competitive social media market.
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.
UXR
My three main channels of discovery
Cons
What about BeReal keeps others from using it? Why are others hesitant to use BeReal?
Prioritization
What do users mainly use BeReal for? What keeps users coming back day after day?
Authenticity
How often are users staying authentic on BeReal? What may cause them to not be?
Key Insights
BeReal users are struggling to stay commited
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, while also giving them full control of their social media presence. BeReal's relies heavily on an authenticity centric model, below are some areas we discovered they struggle with.
Discovery
Discovery is a feature implemented to allow users to not only post their BeReal's to their friends, but also available for those around the world to see as well. This feature is highly under utilized and users indicate that this feature is "useless" or needs to be replaced.
Privacy
Users have a lot of concern for their privacy on BeReal. Commenting that the use of both cameras, their location being tracked, and the ability to only post everyone on their friends list and no option to select a few is concerning. Even within close friends, you still want to exclude others time to time.
Niche
BeReal's model on promoting reality over curated content was popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, however their numbers have declined since. Users found the approach neat at first, but quickly realized how limited and repetitive it can be. No incentive.
The Goal
To redesign BeReal and help retain long-term interest & maintain authenticity
Literature Review
Gaining context 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.
Competitive Analysis
BeReal vs. The World
Competitive analysis highlighted a market saturated with competitors offering similar features while also missing some key features. Below are a few we looked into.
Snapchat
Snapchat offers diverse features such as video messaging, live video chats, Bitmoji creation, AR filters, location sharing, chronological stories, and short-form content from creators.
In contrast, BeReal emphasizes authenticity with spontaneous dual-camera photos, RealMojis, and global content discovery.
TikTok enables extensive interaction with likes, comments, shares, Duets, and advanced content creation tools. BeReal focuses on spontaneous, dual-camera photos with simple interactions like comments and RealMojis.
TikTok offers complex features, while BeReal emphasizes authenticity and simplicity.
Instagram offers a wide range of social interaction features including likes, comments, shares, saves, and direct messaging. Content creation on Instagram includes photos, videos, Stories, Reels, and IGTV, with extensive editing options and filters.
In contrast, BeReal focuses on spontaneous dual-camera photos with comments, RealMojis, and audio additions, emphasizing simplicity and authenticity over extensive editing and content types.
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.
User Personas
Consolidating key insights into goal-oriented personas.
Using the information gathered during our research and studies phase, we created two personas whose goals resonate deeply with the data we collected
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.
Iterations from Usability Tests
2 rounds of moderated tests informed iterations
BeReal prompts + video iterations
Prompts are a new way to engage users and encourage timely posting, enhancing user engagement without resorting to typical addictive media practices. However, during usability testing, users struggled with prompt functionality. Originally, prompts disappeared when declined, but users wanted an option to change their minds. There were also issues with visual clutter on the homepage and confusion with the share-to navigation.
BeCloser
BeCloser allows users to create a list of friends with special permissions to view private posts, promoting authentic interactions. During usability testing, users struggled with layout, navigation, and understanding the BeCloser icon (a lightning bolt). These insights are helping us enhance clarity and usability in these areas.
Memory Highlights
We revamped the calendar system for memories to sort by Week, Month, and Year, and introduced a new feature called Memory Highlights. This allows users to display up to 7 past BeReals on their profile for friends to revisit. During user testing, we found that users appreciated the intuitive layout of the new memories calendar.
However, they encountered minor issues with the process of uploading highlights. These insights are helping us refine the highlight uploading process for a smoother user experience.
Discovery Redesign
The redesigned discovery page now offers users the chance to view posts from around the world at random and share their own posts with the global community. Users can customize their experience by choosing up to three different locations to explore. They can spin the globe or be surprised by the app, directing them to a feed specific to that location with a limited number of BeReal posts. During testing, users faced two key issues: too many search options and unclear purpose for the redesign.
Final design
BeReal prompts
Participate in simple challenges to add flavor to your BeReals. BeReal or BeFun? Why not BeBoth!
BeCloser
Some moments aren’t meant for everyone. Share your most authentic self with your closest friends.
Memory highlights
Save time digging through all of your BeReals by storing your fondest memories within your Profile
Discovery 2.0
Curate your daily expeditions around the world. Limited to 3 countries a day, users can now view global moments of their choosing
Reflection
Challenges and what's to come next
Redesigning BeReal presented both challenges and enjoyable experiences. Balancing authenticity while developing engaging features proved to be a significant hurdle. For example, 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 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.
Looking ahead in this project, our aspirations include conducting additional user testing to refine key features, undertaking another round of user surveys and interviews to gather valuable insights, implementing features that were initially omitted due to time constraints, and exploring alternative solutions for the current Discovery page. We believe there is untapped potential for further exploration and experimentation, and these steps will contribute to the ongoing enhancement and innovation of our work.
