content strategy exercise
Sarah Allen Summer 2017
part one
Opportunity #1
Instagram Channels Option to separate and designate accounts to Channels based off interests and types of content.
What does it look like now? •
Currently, the only way to view posts are through the Feed, Discover, and Profile Pages.
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Accounts you follow are not categorized or grouped in any way.
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The only way to find a specific account is through searching their Instagram handle.
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The Following List provides a series of accounts in order of most recently followed.
Why is this a problem? •
It is difficult to find a specific account or type of account you follow if you do not remember their Instagram handle.
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Users are not able to curate their Feed based off the type of content they want to see.
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The user has no way to organize the various accounts they follow.
How can we fix it? Illustration 84 accounts
Brands 310 accounts
USC Friends 428 accounts
I follow 1,098 accounts. Many of the accounts can be separated into these four different Channels based off the content I specifically want to see. Grouping these accounts into Channels allows me to curate my Feed and organize the accounts I follow.
Memes 20 accounts
Newsfeed Curation
I want to get some inspiration for an upcoming project and only want to look at illustrations on my Feed. With the “Illustration” Channel I’m able to watch stories and interact with posts of the 84 accounts that I have placed in this Channel. This feature allows me to curate my Feed and provides content specific to my needs.
Channel Account Page
My friend is curious about what Illustrators I follow and wants me to suggest some accounts to her. On this page I’m able to search for a specific account within a Channel and share my entire Channel with my friend through the option. I’m also able to remove accounts from my Channel on this page.
Following & Adding an Account to a Channel When I first follow an account, I am immediately prompted with the option to add it to one of my preexisting Channels. Because this account features content relevant to my Illustration Channel, I decide to include it within my Channel.
Adding an Account to a Channel
For accounts I already follow, I use the drop-down menu and select the “Add to Channel� option. This action places @designlovefest into my Illustration Channel for later reference.
Why “Channels”? The name “Channels” is a description of the utility of this feature. Instagram Channels allow content to be separated into different avenues. In television, channels are used to group content by differentiators like language, network, and genre. The commonality of “channel” and implications the word has in separating content makes “Channels” the ideal and logical naming for this feature on Instagram. Channels will join the Feed, Discover, and Profile Pages as ways to view and interact with posts.
Why is this a content opportunity? •
This opportunity allows the user to curate the type of content they want to see. Curation drives higher levels of engagement (liking, commenting, direct messaging) with content because it is hyper-relevant to the user’s wants.
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Instagram Channels gives users tools to organize the content they wish to consume.
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Narrows the scope of a search to find a specific account or type of account.
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Enabling users and influencers to share their curated Channels with their network - transforming those users into valued tastemakers within the Instagram community.
Opportunity #1
Friend Descriptions Synergistic combination of metadata and user input to provide detail and context to the origin of relationships.
What does it look like now? •
When accepting a friend, your options are to Confirm, Delete request, or Mark as spam.
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When you and a new friend become Facebook friends, Messenger prompts you to connect via message.
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Facebook announces your new friendship allowing friends to like and comment.
What does it look like now?
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You are able to search friends by name and filters such as recently added, work, and college.
Why is this a problem? Like in real life, it is difficult to remember the name of everyone you’re friends with. How you remember a person:
How Facebook remembers a person:
How can we fix it?
This problem can be fixed through a short meta description based off characteristics gathered from mutual commonalities on individuals’ profiles derived by a combination of machine learning and user input. Facebook has the ability to connect mutual events, universities, friends, and photos to a new friendship. The added user inputs further details the friendship’s origin, ultimately creating a more meaningful digital relationship.
Description used in Search
These descriptions can be used when searching for friends as shown above. This functionality will allow users to find and interact with specific friends more quickly and efficiently than before.
Adding Description to Existing Friends
The end goal of this opportunity would be for the user to define descriptions for every Facebook friend allowing the search process to be a more organic and human experience rather than putting stress on the user to remember the full name of a specific friend.
Why is this a content opportunity? •
This opportunity enhances digital friendships. It connects the true societal relationship people have to those online.
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More humanistic searching capabilities derived from how individuals naturally remember new friends.
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Allows searching for a specific friend to be a simpler, more efficient, and more satisfying process.
part two
Re-Envisioning Content Evaluation of the Create New Page mobile experience and recommendations for improvements.
What does it look like now? Current Flow
Get Started -> Page Title -> Categorizing -> Add Website -> Add Profile Photo -> Add Cover Photo -> Create
Feedback
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The experience is simple and easy to navigate but does not fulfill its purpose.
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The end goal of the experience is to have a ready-to-publish Facebook Page but the lack of customization within the experience does not allow this goal to be achieved.
How would I rework the experience? •
The navigation of this experience should be curated by the type of Page the user is creating.
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Following the Get Started page, the user should be directed to categorize their Page so that the experience from then on can become specific to the distinctive features for that type of Page.
Get Started -> Categorizing
How would I rework the experience?
Features
Type of Page
These are the features of each type of Page. The experience will depend on the Page category the user selects. After navigating through the first three steps of the experience (seen on the next slide), the user will be launched into a visual tutorial based off their chosen category. This tutorial will walk the user through the various features that might be useful to their Page.
Example - Restaurant Experience
The user is creating a Page for their restaurant. The content on the Title page changed based off that selection. For this user, it is easier to answer “What’s the name of your restaurant?” rather than “Give your Page a Title”. The question is a logical and straightforward call to action because the user has already inputted the purpose of the Page. The subheading is altered based off the Page category as well (i.e. “match the name of your restaurant”).
Example - Restaurant Experience
Other Features for Restaurants:
Ability to skip the step.
Description Website Services Ratings & Reviews Phone Address Map
Animation describing how email is used through the Page. Content is specific to local business/restaurant selection.
Check-ins Business hours Profile Picture Cover Photo
Next, the user is launched into a visual tutorial based off the features a local business/ restaurant Page offers. This tutorial walks the user through the various features showing how they can be utilized and optimized. Then the user is prompted with the decision to use the feature or skip it. The tutorial makes the experience a learning opportunity for the user. Because the user has learned the full capabilities of their new Page, they will more efficiently optimize their Page. This will improve the overall quality of new Pages being created in the Facebook community.
Why is this revision a significant improvement? •
These revisions make this experience a custom and more intuitive process for the user.
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The language and visual tutorial seamlessly guides the user through the experience allowing them to more efficiently create a new Facebook Page.
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Educating users on the depth of functionalities of their Page enhances the overall quality and interaction that it will have.
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Will improve the general standard of Pages being created within the Facebook Community.
thank you!
Sarah Allen sarahgal@usc.edu sarahgraceyallen.com 816.442.9744