About
Text messaging is fun until messages get buried deep in a slew of text bubbles. Thready is a social messaging app that offers the clear solution to declutter topics by organizing conversations into separate threads.
Thready
Type
UI/UX,
iOS App
Area
Onboarding experience,
Tutorial flow,
Visual identity
The Brief
Since the app came out of beta, there has been a significant low user adoption rate. How might we optimize onboarding so users quickly understand and experience the benefits of messaging threads?
Through extensive user testing, we focused on optimizing the onboarding journey in order to match user expectations and habits when exploring the app.
The Decisions
People do judge a book by its cover
Social apps are an oversaturated market. Whether it be the visual aesthetics, the onboarding screens, and the first use-case; users will bounce if left with a negative impression.
Don’t make me think
Trial runs show a drastic drop off rate where users complete all the hot tool tips and are left with a blank screen on the home page. No contact list added, no active chats. Instead, users learn best when features function closes to their mental models. Having an active chatbot encourages chats, and also acts as a reference point for when users feel stuck.
Who is this app really for?
While everyone benefits from organized chats so no one gets ignored, we identified teams and committees where a surplus of members are active online might value these features offered more.
The Outcome
To combat the narrative that messaging apps are oversaturated in the market, we want to reposition Thready as a fun social app leaning into GIFs and theme customization. Instead of the cookie cutter iOS identity, we created a voice for Thready and splash of color to match. Each of us dissected different flows. The team addressed the onboarding screens and thread creation stream while I took lead on the chat tutorial flow.
The Impact
→ Reduced cognitive load and feature creep
→ Better communicated the value of threads
