UX Case Study: Mobile App Threaded Comments
Brief: Provide mobile app users the ability to specifically reply to a users comment and engage in “threaded” conversations on content within their Digital Workplace.
Problem
Mobile app users could only comment directly on content but were unable to reply to other users' comments. This made it difficult for users to carry on conversations; especially when there are many comments on content.
Goal: To build and design a feature in our mobile application to allow users to have engaging conversation threads on all content types offered where commenting is enabled.
Design Process
Technical Requirements
Have threaded comments functionality available to mobile users
Support for threaded comments across all current content types offered
Support for threaded comments, up to three levels, for all content types
User is able to view a comment
User is able to edit their own comment or others (permission-based)
User is able to delete their own comment or others (permission-based)
User is able to attach a file to all three levels of commenting
Notifications of comments are sent out and received
User is able to take an action on a comment (like & reply)
All comments are indexed for search capabilities
Support for moderation of all comments (permission-based)
My role
I primarily worked on the workflows, user journeys, and interaction/visual design portion of the project, while working alongside a Product Manager/Owner, Front-End Developers and fellow UX designers for collaboration sessions and feedback.
User journey
User flow diagram with different use cases with the feature.
Sketches
Wireframes
Tight designs
The designs shown above in the Sketch document only show examples of one use case/user flow.
Final design
After several back-and-forth conversations with mobile developers, product managers and stakeholders - we finally came up with an MVP version of what would be implemented in the near future, and figured out upcoming enhancements to make to the feature in the future!
Any replies back to a comment automatically is grouped into a thread underneath that specific comment to ensure the conversation experience on the app stays engaging and intuitive.
Conclusion
What did I learn?
That researching early on in the process of a project – no matter what project it is, is always going to save you and the company time and money.
Giving stakeholders, product managers, and the development teams that are working on the project constant early previews of what you have in order to catch any show-stoppers.
Rough sketch all ideas before bringing them into Sketch or other designing platforms.