Reducing Social Media Addiction
Reducing Social Media Addiction
Case Study UX Research Product Design
Case Study UX Research Product Design
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The proliferation of social media platforms has resulted in various adverse effects, including depression, anxiety, unrealistic expectations, and FOMO, which outweigh the benefits of staying connected to loved ones, promoting social causes, and finding like-minded individuals. Our team aimed to develop a mindful approach that prioritizes user well-being and reduces addictive interactions.
Team Size
3 people
My Role
Product Designer and Researcher
Timeline
1 month
Hypothesis
Adolescents and high school students frequently exhibit a heightened vulnerability towards developing an addiction to social media. A potential resolution must assist them in upholding their social standing without social media exerting an overpowering influence on their daily routines.
Process
Through the Human-Centered Design Process, I established a framework with objectives and deliverables for each stage. This method facilitated the use of research, brainstorming, ideation, and prototyping techniques, forming a roadmap for the feature's design. Although the research and Problem Statement stages went as planned, we had to adapt the approach to suit our project's needs. During ideation, we found ourselves focusing on gamifying social media interaction rather than reducing addictive behavior. To address this issue, we implemented usability testing for each concept to evaluate its impact on users and make necessary adjustments earlier in the design process.
Problem Statement
How might we enable regular social media users to disengage themselves from major social media distractions by providing them a sense of time spent on the app which minimizes addiction while keeping the app an informative source.
Feature Identity
Our feature was created to align with the existing identity of the application, ensuring a consistent look and feel that promotes a sense of familiarity.
Aa
Inter Bold
Inter Regular
Peer and personal Comparison Charts
Promoting social responsibility towards managing social media addiction can be achieved by comparing peer charts of time spent on social media. This approach instills a sense of obligation among friends to monitor each other's well-being in this regard.
Timer Bar
A time tracker bar at the bottom to keep track of the time spent. This could be preset by the individual on the app.
How does it work?
The comparison chart shows data of close peers, who engage on daily basis.
Second chart shows personal engagement statistics and shows a week's worth of data.
The close peer group has the ability to like and comment on it.
Timer bar can be set one time and changed in settings.
Research and Design Process
Human-Centered Design Process
Going into the research in-depth.
Discover
Research goals :
Discover user Interactions on social media platforms that make it addicting.
Behaviors and daily routines associated around social media
Understand how people are influenced from such platforms.
Find Gaps in our existing understanding.
Methods Used:
Ecosystem Mapping
Literature Survey
Interviews
Method 1 : Ecosystem Collection Mapping
Goal of this method was to understand what we knew as a team and to scan the environment
Method 2 : Literature Survey
45% of Teenagers are continually online. Increasing risk of sleep and mental disorders.
45% of Teenagers are continually online. Increasing risk of sleep and mental disorders.
High school students who use Social Media regularly tend to have poor academic performance and increased risk of psychological problems.
High school students who use Social Media regularly tend to have poor academic performance and increased risk of psychological problems.
Method 3 : Interviews
" I start using texts and emails the second I wake up. The third or fourth app I check is social media. I use Instagram throughout the day like whenever I get time between the classes and use Tik Tok at night for entertainment for around 2-3 hours before sleeping. "
" Instagram has become an excessive distraction for me. Sometimes it’s hard to put my phone down and actually focus. This has also reduced my attention span. I find it hard to focus on even a short YouTube video. "
Define
In order to comprehend and establish connections within the collected data, we employed the affinity grouping technique to visualize the emerging themes and patterns. This method allowed us to organize and cluster similar data points together, creating a visual representation of the relationships and associations between them.
Social Media is deeply ingrained in daily routines and has a large influence on everyday decisions.
Social Media is also a way for people to educate and stay up to date with the current trends and events.
4/5
people check Social Media every hour.
50%
people want to spend less time on Social Media.
"How Might We" Questions
How might we reduce Social Media distractions ?
How might we create awareness of increasing Social Media Addiction?
How might we limit the time people spend on social media?
Design
In order to ensure that our users were the primary focus during our brainstorming session, we utilized User Scenarios and Storyboards as tools to keep our target audience at the forefront of our design process, also we brainstormed a lot of ideas and finally decided on the final one through usability testing. These techniques proved effective in guiding our ideation in the proper direction.
How might we limit the time people spend on Social Media ?
User Testing Testimonials
"I think this would definitely keep me aware of the time I spent on Social Media! If I am spending a lot of time, I would take a break and think about how much time I spent that day."
"The comparison would pressure for me to spend less time on social media, as social media is all about showing others."
Usability Testing
From User Testing it was clear that showing peer and personal comparison charts along with timer bar affected how a user would spend time on social media. Some were interested in seeing their close friends time and agreed that would change their behaviors too, on the contrary 30% did not like being compared and wanted just a personal comparison chart. The timer bar helped them keep track of the time and also gave more value to it.
What comes next?
How might we make this feature a value addition for Instagram?
Introducing ads for viewing peer comparison charts.
Viewing peer charts can be a paid feature.
People who have low engagement may start investing more time.
How comfortable might the user feel sharing their data with peers?
How might we make a success metric from this feature?
How will we implement this feature in other social media platforms?
How might the user feel if the amount of time spent on social media is very low, does the solution encourage them to spend more time?
Learnings from the method
The project was focused heavily on understanding user behaviors associated with social media. Throughout the process I tried to keep the user at the center and design around them.
Something that I would change during the process is, gather more research and understand social media behaviors of other demographics and motivations.
During the testing stage, It was insightful to hear the feedback of my peers and friends. They gave the feedback how this post will change their behaviors around usage of social media platform and give them a general sense of time being spent scrolling through them.
The Human Centered Design method was helpful in keeping me focused on the jobs to be done by the users, but the solution created from this might have some low technical details, thus during the implementing stage would require a considerable level of clarifications from various stakeholders.
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