It is an added feature to the popular social media app, targeted to help alleviate common negative effects that come with extended exposure to social media content.
I approached this feature concept with mental health in mind, utilizing existing research studies, and discovering user behaviors.
As Instagram's popularity has grown, so has criticism over its negative effects on users’ mental health, specifically through social comparison and body image concerns.
Create a feature that allows users to experience the social benefits of Instagram, while minimizing their risk of exposure to harmful or negative app engagements.
After interviewing seven participants, there has been validation for a need to better tailor their instagram experiences as their moods or emotional awareness changes over time. Each user has a unique experience with the app and their needs may change day-to-day depending on how they are feeling.
Users are unaware of all or some of the existing features (e.g. Sensitive Content Control) that help shape their instagram experience. These features are not easily accessible and have not been properly “introduced” to users.
Although users want to experience the benefits of Instagram (e.g. getting inspiration or feeling connected to loves ones) they are oftentimes unexpectedly exposed to negative content.
All participants expressed that comparison and “picture perfect” content are damaging
All participants picked Ad Topics and Time Spent as the most impactful features that they would use
All participants would like to have deeper control of the existing settings (e.g. control sensitivity to certain types of content vs. all content)
After synthesizing my interview results I created the following personas of users who hesitate to use the app for different reasons—one for always losing focus and the other for fear of feeling self-doubt.
I created these empathy maps to have as reference points, ensuring that my designs address the user needs that really matter.
I assessed a variety of direct and indirect competitors, focusing on studying features related to forming habits and customization settings.
With the personas’ frustrations and goals in mind, I ideated Happy Modes based on the iPhone's Focus Mode feature. Since it is such a popularized and well-integrated feature in Apple's OS, I thought it would be a good foundation to start concepting from.
I made sure to work well within the boundaries of Instagram's design system with pop-ups, iconography, layout, and gestures. This way, my test participants have a more immersive experience when exploring the prototypes.
Providing the easiest and most accessible location for the new feature encourages users to take control of how they want to engage with the app before exposing themselves to potentially damaging content.
My interview results proved that the existing settings that users can currently take advantage of are scattered and hidden. Bringing them together increases accessibility and encourages users to actually put the settings to use.
Once Happy Modes are created, they can be instantly activated without ever leaving the feed. Users can swap between modes as their emotions change throughout the day.
Participants wondered why filtering out hashtags through Happy Modes wasn't available. I originally did not consider following hashtags to have a significant impact on a user's feed.
Some of my participants hesitated on moving through the task since they were unsure if what they had selected was registered. I added a blue action button to help signal them to complete the task.
Some participants expressed concern that managing profile lists in Happy Modes would be cumbersome, so I designed a way to add or remove accounts individually from the main feed.
All participants expressed that they would benefit greatly from a feature like Happy Modes. It would allow them to focus more on specific content and lighten the burden of being impacted by negative content.
A/B test placements of Happy Mode button to address a small portion of concerns found in the first usability tests.
Running usability tests where tasks include both Happy Mode and features like Time Spent, Ads Content, etc. will give us more insight on how the new feature impacts users’ mental health.
