WhatsApp Redesign
This is just a self-challenge project. WhatsApp has all the copyrights of the original design and is in no way affiliated with this project.
Remember the days when texting was a struggle and each message cost a fortune? Then WhatsApp appeared like a hero in shining armor! Now, it's the go-to app for chatting, calling, and sharing stuff with anyone, anywhere in the world. It's like a life raft for families and work groups. You can use the app to place and receive calls, send and receive messages, and exchange files, images, and videos. And the best part? It's free! So long, ancient texting struggles!
Defining the Problem
The pandemic shifted education and work online, and WhatsApp became a go-to platform for both personal and professional communication. The trouble is, with over 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, it's difficult to manage our messages, especially when we're trying to balance work and personal life.
The struggle is real, folks. We've all been there, trying to concentrate on a work assignment, only to be distracted by a barrage of messages from our loved ones. Or, on the flip side, trying to enjoy some quality time with family and friends, only to be interrupted by work messages that demand our attention.
That's where we come in. We've put our heads together to find a solution to this modern-day dilemma. We believe that by simplifying the problem, we can help people achieve a better work-life balance, one WhatsApp message at a time.
Improving the usability of an app that already works well.
Research and Learning
To kickstart our project, we had to check if we weren't the only ones juggling work and personal chats on WhatsApp. So we decided to run a usability test. We talked to our friends, family, and even people from different countries and industries to understand the user group affected by this issue. It turned out that everyone was annoyed with constantly switching between work and personal chats. We realized that the switchover time needed to be minimized without messing with the app's interface. Let's just say, the results left us with our thinking caps on!
Adding a Promotion tab
As we scratched our heads pondering the problem, the idea of grouping chats together seemed like a no-brainer. But alas, WhatsApp only had one chat tab - talk about a tough crowd. Adding more tabs to the already cramped Chat, Status, and Calls pane was out of the question.
After much brainstorming, we came up with a solution: a separate pane dedicated solely to different chat tabs. And since ads seem to follow us everywhere we go, we figured why not add a promotional tab in the mix? This way, all those pesky ads can go to their rightful place, leaving the personal and professional tabs for more important conversations.
Making the Design Accessible
Now, like a bunch of enthusiastic people who are happy with their problem-solving skills, we added the tabs, but as we delved into the design, we realized there was still a hurdle to overcome: accessibility. With the rise of large phone sizes, switching tabs meant an uncomfortable hand stretch for the average user.
To tackle this, we came up with two ways to transition between tabs: swiping across the bottom of the screen or tapping the button in the lower right corner (marked in pink below). To keep things simple and easy to use, we placed the buttons in the "thumb-zone" area (marked in green), where 75% of mobile interactions happen. This way, you can swap tabs without having to constantly adjust your hand orientation and keep things in the green zone. No more awkward stretching!
Let’s connect!
yashviihp@gmail.com
yashvihpatel
yashviiiiipatel