Event Planner

Adding a concept feature to iMessage

Project Overview

iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. Users can start a group conversation with friends and family, name the group chat, add or remove members, and share photos & links.

iMessage Event Planner is a feature concept that supports users by offering planning tools to successfully create an event within their group chats. The proposed planning feature works to make it convenient for users by having all event details saved in one location.

Deliverables

User research, UX design

Roles

UX Designer, UX Researcher

Tools

Figma, Whimsical, Optimal

Problem

Organizing events in groups chats poses a challenge when important details get lost within the conversation thread.

  • Enhance Information Visibility: Improve the visibility of important details related to event planning within the group chat.

  • Streamline Event Coordination: Facilitate smoother processes by reducing the chances of essential details being overlooked or lost.

  • Improve User Experience: Enhance the overall user experience for individuals involved in the event.

Objectives

Group chat (left), Create Event (right) concept

Given the diversity of planning websites and social media apps, the challenge arises when users opt for different platforms to coordinate and track events. It is hypothesized that integrating planning tools into an instant messaging platform, where users already engage in event ideation, would provide a more convenient and cohesive solution.

The Hypothesis

What Features are Users Using to Plan?

Research

I wanted to learn which platforms and features users find helpful in creating and organizing their events. I did an in-depth research to gain insight on what existing products currently have to offer. I analyzed Facebook, Doodle, Google Calendar, Wrike, Notion, Asana, and Lettuce Meet.

Competitors

Most common features from other planning websites and social media apps:

  • Task manager

  • Highlighting important messages

  • Comment section for suggestions

  • Alerts and reminders

  • Visible guest list of attendees

  • No mandatory account sign-up to view event

  • Clean, minimal UI that shows event details clearly

My findings allowed me to better understand the market so that I can incorporate these planning and organizing features into iMessage.

My research focused on learning what challenges users face when planning an event and what tools they use to solve those issues. I created a survey of 17 participants from the ages 18-41 years old.

Exploring User Insights

I interviewed 6 participants to learn about their experiences as the planner and the guest for events. Interview takeaways:

  • To keep event details organized and for collaborative efforts–they use spreadsheets and event planning websites

  • Hosts & organizers need participation and quick responses from attendees

  • Sidebar conversations get mixed in with event details in the thread. Not being able to keep it separate makes it difficult to find important event details

Building Empathy for Organizers

Define & Ideate

From my research findings, I created three personas– Courtney (the organizer), Jason (the entertainer), and Janice (assistant to the planner). I focused on the organizer persona when creating task and user flows.

Courtney, the Organizer, is the main persona I considered during my design process:

  • Feels frustrated with the lack of responses from friends

  • Wants efficiency in finding and sharing event details

  • Goal is for everyone to be informed

Personas

I began to visualize how users may access the feature. When users mention a date in their group chat, they have the option to Create an Event. Another point of entry is directly in Group Info where users can find all events as well as Create New Event. Both options are quick and convenient for users.

Entry Points to Create an Event

I created task flows that are quick and direct:

  • Pinned Messages is one of the planning tools that can be easily found and accessed

Pinned Messages

User Flow

  • Clicking the underline date mentioned in the chat

  • or Clicking into Group Info (setting)

Key Screens

Key screens I focused on were Create an Event and Planning Tools. From the research, users prefer planning tools that are familiar and easy to use. I’ve designed it to be intuitive so that it’s quick to learn the navigation and features.

Group Chat: 2 Entry Points

Group Chat

There are two entry points to the planning event feature:

  • Entry Point 1 - Group Info (group chat icon). Users are able to View All Events and Create an Event.

  • Entry Point 2 - Click the mentioned date (Sept 24) in the group chat (if a member mentions a date).

Entry Point 2: Mentioned Date

Entry Point 1: Group Info

Create Event Details - Add

Create Event Screen

Event: Potluck Screen

Potluck

After the Event Details, users will be able to view and access planning tools in the event:

  • Pinned Messages - Users lose important details in the conversation. Messages can now be saved by pinning

  • Voting Poll - voting is organized with a voting poll

  • Task List - displays tasks, who is assigned the task, and when it’s completed

  • Invite List - shows which users are attending, not attending, and have yet to respond

  • Calendar - user can add to their personal calendar

  • Alerts - users may set reminders to complete their tasks and alert them when the event is starting soon

Event Screen (top half)

Event Screen (bottom half)

Prototyping & Testing

Gathering User Insights

After creating key high fidelity screens, I conducted usability testing using GoogleMeet. I gathered 6 participants who regularly uses iMessage. Users were assigned tasks of creating an event, finding the new event they just created, and finding each planning feature.

  • Observe ease of the navigation

  • Observe where the users will go to Create Event

  • Test to see if users can easily find important event details

  • Test to see if users can find the planning tools

  • Discover inconsistencies in the feature including navigation errors or lack of clear content, labels, etc.

Objectives

Successes

  • All users successfully completed the task of creating an event. Usability rating 4.9 out of 5

  • After exploring the feature, they were quick and confident in knowing where everything was

  • Users were familiar on how to use the planning tools

  • Users mentioned that they could see themselves using this planning feature. They particularly liked the Voting Poll and Task Manager

Feedback from testing and design critique brought forward issues with my initial designs. To limit hesitation and confusion, I made the following changes:

Improvements

Narrowing Down the Entry Points to Create an Event

Before: 2 Entry Points

After: 1 Entry Point

A couple of the users took some time to think about where they could find Create an Event due to:

  • One user clicked on the app bar, but soon realized it would be found in Group Info and was able to find Create an Event

  • The users that created an event using the date pop-up were confused on where to find the event they just created. They went back to the date pop-up. They clicked Show in Calendar to find the event, but it wasn’t there

To eliminate the confusion, I decided to narrow it down to one point of access to Create an Event.

Relocating Pinned Messages

Before: Pinned Messages was found after Event Details

After: Pinned Messages moved to the top, before Event Details

Users expected Pinned Messages to be found right away, near the top of the screen. Before, it was located after Event Details. Users almost missed Pinned Messages by scrolled past it.

I made changes by moving Pinned Messages to the top so that users can easily access it instead of having to scroll down to find it. It’s intuitive for iMessage users to find Pinned Messages at the top and important details should be the first thing users see.

Final Thoughts

What I Have Learned

This project was good practice for exploring ideas to add onto an existing product. One of the challenges was that I had to fit this feature into iMessage’s existing UI which gave me the opportunity to further learn about Apple’s design patterns.

  • Integrating finance apps that tracks shared expenses

  • Everyone in the group chat will be able to add their availability to find common free dates

  • Integrating calendar apps other than Apple’s calendar

  • Creating more access to the event planning feature, such as– a desktop view option, creating event from the Apple calendar

Next Steps

See More of my work