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Helping young users build a healthy relationship with TikTok

Helping young users build a healthy relationship with TikTok

Case study | UX design, UX strategy, mobile interface

Overview

Overview

TikTok is one of the largest social media platforms with over 1 billion active users, but it has been deemed highly addictive. It often causes emotional fatigue and screen time control difficulty, especially among its largest demographic of 16-25 y/o users. I developed a solution promoting intentional usage and feel-good exit.

TikTok is one of the largest social media platforms with over 1 billion active users, but it has been deemed highly addictive. It often causes emotional fatigue and screen time control difficulty, especially among its largest demographic of 16-25 y/o users. I developed a solution promoting intentional usage and feel-good exit.

Overview

Time
11 weeks

My role
End to end research and design

Tool
Figma

Advisors
Gregory Siegal, Spencer Schimel

Problem

Passive consumption of TikTok often lacks clear purpose and end point. This causes users to have a vicious cycle of emotional fatigue and difficulties in managing screen time.

Passive consumption of TikTok often lacks clear purpose and end point. This causes users to have a vicious cycle of emotional fatigue and difficulties in managing screen time.

Solution

Personal session is a new TikTok feature helping young users build healthy-habits with niche-themed viewing sessions and engaging activities to exit the app.

Personal session is a new TikTok feature helping young users build healthy-habits with niche-themed viewing sessions and engaging activities to exit the app.

Design solution

Design solution

Personal session


Introducing
a new feature

Heavy users* encounter a video campaign explaining the new feature on their FYP. They have the option to enable personal session instantly on a pop-up.

Targets heavy users:
100+ minutes of screen time a day. 􀁌

A video campaign on FYP, produced by micro influencers. 􀁌


Purposeful use with sessions just made for you

Users receive personalized session recommendations, reflecting their previous usage patterns and the time they enter the service.

Upon entering the session, their FYP is replaced with the selected session and show relevant content for the set time frame.

What changes during a session? 􀁌

What changes during a session? 􀁌

What changes during a session? 􀁌

How can users control personal sessions? 􀁌

How can users control personal sessions? 􀁌

Feel-good exits

Session ends with one or multiple activities called Feel Good Exit, which gives users time to detach them from app-hopping.

1
Mindfulness activity

Users practice calming and digestible activities guided in a TikTok manner- animated video with audio guide.


 2
TikTok now prompt
challenge

Enhancing the existing feature, TikTok now, it gives users prompts that makes them engage out side of digital space and give them a sense of achievement.

Process

Process

I followed a four-step, circular process to research and design the product.
I revisited previous steps and incorporating new insights to refine the challenges and clarify the end goal.

I followed a four-step, circular process to research and design the product.
I revisited previous steps and incorporating new insights to refine the challenges and clarify the end goal.

Define

Finding the right problem and users.

I conducted a secondary research to to learn more about the platform and its users.

Finding the right problem and users.

I conducted a secondary research to to learn more about the platform and its users.

Studies show that

TikTok is by far the most addictive social media. 􀁌

Define- Findings

TikTok’s largest demographic, Age 16 - 25 users are the most prone to get negative impact. 􀁌

Defined problem statement

How might we help young users consume TikTok in a controlled manner and build healthy use habits?

How might we help young users consume TikTok in a controlled manner and build healthy use habits?

Discover

Discover

Uncovering the root cause of dissatisfaction and addiction
Method
User interview | Secondary research | Current product audit | Competitor analysis | User survey

Uncovering the root cause of dissatisfaction and addiction
Method
User interview | Secondary research | Current product audit | Competitor analysis | User survey

Key insights

User interview

User interview

I interviewed five users about their overall social media usage and habits to uncover the difficulty in controlling screen time on TikTok.

→ Users experienced losing control over their usage and negative afternote on platforms where they engage passively.

I interviewed five users about their overall social media usage and habits to uncover the difficulty in controlling screen time on TikTok.

→ Users experienced losing control over their usage and negative afternote on platforms where they engage passively.

User interview

User interview

Secondary research

Secondary research

I examined psychological research papers for quantifiable data on  passive and active social media usage.

I examined psychological research papers for quantifiable data on  passive and active social media usage.

Current product audit & competitor analysis

I analyzed TikTok's in-app screen time management features and third-party productivity apps.

User survey & Affinity diagram

I conducted a survey with 38 responses from 16-25 y/o TikTok users via Google survey and categorized the collected responses with an affinity diagram to discover users’ main pain points. 

I conducted a survey with 38 responses from 16-25 y/o TikTok users via Google survey and categorized the collected responses

goal

Goal
1. To understand their behavior and purpose on TikTok

2. To learn about their graduation feeling and trigger

3. To discover their screen time management method and difficulty

Goal
1. To understand their behavior and purpose on TikTok

2. To learn about their graduation feeling and trigger

3. To discover their screen time management method and difficulty

Survey highlights

Survey highlights

1.TikTok usage can be categorized as :
entertainment, escape, Info, social interaction, and self- expression seeking.

2. Active users have a clear end point and passive users don’t.

3. Info seeking users’ behavior aligns with that of active users.

passive VS active user path

I created two user paths to further clarify my findings from survey and find the difference of passive and active users' pattern

I conducted a survey with 38 responses from 16-25 y/o TikTok users via Google survey and categorized the collected responses

Synthesis

Developing a strategy to create a clear roadmap by synthesizing insights and findings.

Developing a strategy to create a clear roadmap by synthesizing insights and findings.

Key characteristics  of
each user type

Strategy

  1. Provide purpose and end point to passive users to encourage intentional use.


  1. Help create positive afternote for passive users.


  1. Ensure users to return to real life instead of app-hopping after they exit TikTok.

  1. Provide purpose and end point to passive users to encourage intentional use.


  1. Help create positive afternote for passive users.


  1. Ensure users to return to real life instead of app-hopping after they exit TikTok.

design

design

Solution

Offer a session with tangible beginning and end point for each usage to prompt an active use pattern for passive users

Offer a session with tangible beginning and end point for each usage to prompt an active use pattern for passive users

Niche themes reinforce the purpose and intention behind each usage.
Set time frame creates a start/end illusion of usage, interrupting the cycle of endless video consumption.

Post-video activities give time to detach and positive graduation experience.

Entertaining AR/geofence quests allow travelers to explore the airport

Ensure travelers’ ability to return to their gate at any time.


Create a sense of community among passengers with a user-generated group

Reflection

Research & Design is a circular process.

As I was tackling a broad issue of social media addiction, I had chances to revisit previous steps and redefine objectives based on new findings. I learned how a circular process could steer the project in the right direction, more precisely.

You can leverage constraints.
The biggest challenge in designing the solution was implementing new strategies to the existing product. The constraint of finding the middle ground allowed me to explore and test multiple solutions even further.

Recontextualizing airport wait time 􀄫

Recontextualizing airport wait time 􀄫

ⓒ 2023 Junhyung Cho

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