UX of Ephemeral MessagingHira JavedUX/D Toronto MeetupJuly 31, 2014

What is ephemeral messaging?

• Ephemeral: Something that is temporary or has a brief existence.

• Ephemeral messages: Text, photo and video messages which are deleted shortly after they are read or viewed.

Who are the key players?

SnapChat

Bolt Mirage

Who is using these apps?

What attracts these users?

• Their parents are on Facebook and Twitter so they’re looking for other platforms.• Leaving a digital trail creates the possibility

that others may judge them.• Temporary nature of these messages

means users don’t have to invest a lot of time and thought on what they communicate.

What attracts these users?

• Less effort means easy to share.• Conversations are quick and frequent. • Ephemeral messages try to recreate that

natural conversation feeling. Just like having coffee with a friend, users don’t have to worry about being recorded.

Designing the ephemeral experience

Give users control over their messages• Option to select how long the messages

are visible for.• Option to permanently delete or save

messages. • Study conducted by Blink shows that users go

back and forth between keeping messages and setting them to delete.• Wickr also did a study and noticed the same

thing.

•

Frankly iOS app Frankly iOS app

Create a sense of ‘ephemerality’

• Tap to display• Hold to record• Time limit

•

Frankly iOS app SnapChat iOS app

Frankly iOS app

Glimpse iOS app

Prevent screenshots

•Message disappears while its being typed, creating a very small window of opportunity for the receiver to read it. • Only swiping reveals message, preventing

screenshots.• Inform the user when someone takes a

screenshot.

Glimpse iOS app Confide iOS app

Screenshot notification from SnapChat Screenshot notification from Wickr

Encourage conversations

• Option to add captions and drawing capabilities allow users to add context to visual messages.• Asking users to reply back encourages

them to continue the conversation.

SnapChat iOS app SnapChat iOS app

Slingshot iOS app Slingshot iOS app

Be transparent

Frankly iOS app SnapChat iOS app

SnapChat iOS app Wickr iOS app

Wickr Mobile Website SnapChat iOS app

Frankly iOS app Wickr iOS app

Wickr iOS app

Frankly iOS app Wickr iOS app

Allow users to find their friends

Involve the parents if needed

• SnapChat Parent Guide•Wickr – Users under the age of 13 require

parental consent

Wickr iOS app

Make it fun!

Slingshot iOS app SnapChat iOS app

Questions?