KiKi stands apart from other social apps with its implementation of a digital currency called “KiKi Coins”.
KiKi Coins are spent when inviting others to meet and they’re earned when invitations are accepted. This concept was conceived to promote physical meetups over chats.
“We are the first social network in the world that shortens the virtual time of users and promotes experiences in the real world.”
- KiKi Social
KiKi incorporates a brief onboarding process in hopes of engaging users. However, profiles end up incomplete as a result.
Data shows users are bouncing very early in the onboarding process. The KiKi team hypothesizes users don’t trust/understand the app.
KiKi incorporates a digital currency known as “KiKi Coins”. The KiKi team hypothesizes that this page needs a redesign.
Due to the structure of KiKi’s algorithm, the app needed a creative way to convince users share their location even when not using the product.
KiKi was past the launch phase so we could test with a live product.
Our sessions started with a brief interview before proceeding with the product testing.
Competitive analysis was conducted on the six most relevant competitors.
An analysis involving all ten of Jacob Neilsen’s usability heuristics was performed.
KiKi Social is actually designed to circumvent the pain points of competitors, but users don't see the value because they don't understand the concept
If users were properly informed on KiKi’s functionality, we could help the app reach its full potential
After discovering that signing up with Google was providing a disjointed experience, we examined the apps from our competitive analysis and discovered that none of the top competitors offered Google signup as an option.
We recommended to the KiKi team that Google signup be replaced with Apple to match competitors. The solution was out of scope and added to the backlog for later.
A carousel would give users a preview of KiKi’s concepts to build appropriate expectations, trust and understanding.
The carousel describes the premise of the app and it’s most important features
New profile creation screens would capture the right information to build more appealing profiles.
Also, the birth date entry screen was redesigned to reduce bounce rates.
Steps were added to profile creation that users wanted and expected
A “Getting Started” guide was added to the end of profile creation to educate users on functionality.
The “Getting Started” guide describes KiKi’s concepts in further detail
A “Discover” (swiping) tutorial was necessary because KiKi’s nontraditional swiping methods were confusing users. A change in functionality would have been better, but this solution was much lower in effort.
Even users who had never tried a dating app had preconceived notions about what directions to swipe
Appropriate hierarchy and a more explanative coin page increased user understanding.
KiKi grants users 50 coins upon signing up, which I incorporated into a “Congratulations!” popup to create a more rewarding experience.
I tried a method borrowed from another app that guides users through permission screens in an attempt to increase allowed access. Usability testing showed it was too many screens and too confusing so a simpler backup design was implemented.
The initial “Always Allow” location access flow
Simpler solution to getting users to “Always Allow” location access that takes them to their settings
Onboarding was smoother, profiles were complete and users were more likely to want to connect with others.
User comprehension increased tremendously due to the new informational screens. Credibility was restored by being upfront with users on the coin concept.
Being upfront with users builds the trust and credibility necessary to make a product successful long-term
As a 5-week project, some of the design iterations given at handoff still need to be tested for validation.
Many of the heuristic violations still need to be addressed. I included the heuristic analysis in the handoff folder and stressed its importance to the KiKi team.
Ideally, I would make two major changes: replacing Google signup with Apple could greatly reduce bounce rates, and changing the app’s location algorithm would make allowing location access a non-issue.
This project was a great lesson in collaboration and communication. By drawing analogies and telling the story of the user, we could understand the project as a team.
I also learned that explaining the reasoning behind my designs helps validate them and facilitates discussion between team members to generate additional solutions.
Ultimately, the relationship between designers and developers comes down to impact vs effort. While a designer may have a better grasp on impact, a developer can provide better insight on the amount of effort required to implement a design.
I found that by offering multiple solutions to a problem, many times a happy medium can be found that works well for the entire team.
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Questions or comments?
Contact me at petebruno1@gmail.com
