Social Media Startup
Spark
Social Media Startup
Spark
Client
Business partner & myself
Business partner & myself
My role
Head of Design, Partner
Head of Design, Partner
Responsibilities
Lead design & creative strategy for startup
Build product from the ground up
Lead design & creative strategy for social media
startup
Build product from the ground up
Lead design & creative strategy
for startup
Build product from the ground up
Methods
Design Thinking
Prototyping
UI Design
High-fidelity prototypes
Usability testing
User Research
User Interviews
Wireframes
Style guide
Design Thinking
Prototyping
UI Design
High-fidelity prototypes
Usability testing
User Research
User Interviews
Wireframes
Style guide
Tools
Tools
Figma
Sketching
Figma
Sketching
01 I Problem & Opportunity space
01 I Problem & Opportunity space
Problem
Problem
The main reason people use the internet and social media is to stay in touch with friends and family. Those important interactions happen in environments that users say they do not like.
Current social media (driven by advertising dollars) has been proven to impact users with many negative outcomes, including mental health disorders, poor self-esteem, addiction, cyber bullying, misinformation, low quality social connection, and more.
Tech & social media companies were blind to or chose to ignore the consequences of building habit-forming products that resulted in social media addiction.
Teens fighting big tobacco needs a web presence that represents them, informs people about their club, their goals , and makes it easy to join.
Club communication and sharing of social media assets needs to be streamlined.
The teens need to be able to maintain the site and update the content themselves post-launch.
Opportunity
Opportunity
Optimize for connection, not engagement
Flip the social media business model & fix the incentives of the internet
Provide real value to users by optimizing for connection, not engagement
A custom Wix site that represents the diversity of the Incorruptible.us teens, their club, shares resources, and makes it easy for new members to join.
Handoff onboarding materials with a PDF guide, Loom videos & a live presentation with Q&A to teach current and future YTAG members how to maintain and update their custom site.
A TikTok integration that allows students to update content on their site by using #IncorruptibleUs
Outcomes
Outcomes
Social media users make real, meaningful connections
Reduction of negative consequences of social media
Social media users make real, meaningful connections
Reduction of negative consequences of social media
02 I Research
02 I Research
The anxious generation
The anxious generation
The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, wrote an Opinion essay published in the New York Times calling
for a warning label on social media platformes, akin to labels on other products like cigarettes. He wrote, "The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor.
The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, wrote an Opinion essay published in the New York Times calling
for a warning label on social media platformes, akin to labels on other products like cigarettes. He wrote, "The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor.
Statistics
Statistics
Statistics
Social media use
linked to
heightened risk of
mental health problems
Social media use linked to
heightened risk of
mental health problems
The teens requested we hand-off a custom-coded Wix site that they would continue to maintain and update with fresh content.
Nearly half of
adolescents say
social media makes
them feel bad about
their bodies.
Nearly half of adolescents
say social media makes them feel bad about their bodies.
We asked participants about the impacts, both positive and negative, of social media….participants did think social media made some things worse, including grades in school (31.3%) and body image (46%).
(Source: Boston Children's
Digital Wellness Lab)
We asked participants about the impacts, both positive and negative, of social media….participants did think social media made some things worse, including grades in school (31.3%) and body image (46%).
(Source: Boston Children's
Digital Wellness Lab)
At least one third of
middle & high school
students have
reported cyberbullying.
At least one third of middle & high school students have reported cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying can take many forms, all of them harmful. It may involve harassment, the sharing of nude photos, encouraging self-harm or suicide, or falsely accusing someone of reporting troublemakers to administrators. (Source: Cyberbullying Research Center)
Cyberbullying can take many forms, all of them harmful. It may involve harassment, the sharing of nude photos, encouraging self-harm or suicide, or falsely accusing someone of reporting troublemakers to administrators. (Source: Cyberbullying Research Center)
The teens requested we hand-off a custom-coded Wix site that they would continue to maintain and update with fresh content.
Research methods
Research methods
Research methods
User Interviews
Secondary Research
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews
Secondary Research
Competitive Analysis
User Surveys
Data Analysis
Data Coding & Bucketing
User Surveys
Data Analysis
Data Coding & Bucketing
Data Coding & bucketing
User Interviews
Our users say...
Our users say...
Our users say...
03 I The Idea
03 I The Idea
03 I The Idea
Social media that's good
Social media
that's good
We identified features of current social platforms that have negative effects on their users. Below
are features and goals that Spark will offer as solutions to these problems:
We identified features of current social platforms that have negative effects on their users. Below
are features and goals that Spark will offer as solutions to these problems:
Fully customizable, modular profile pages. Spark users create profiles that truly represents them. Current social media platforms put users in a box and make it hard for people to showcase their full personalities. Our users can add their own backgrounds, music, videos, writings, gifs, memes, polls, AI creations, and more
Fully customizable, modular profile pages. Spark users create profiles that truly represents them. Current social media platforms put users in a box and make it hard for people to showcase their full personalities. Our users can add their own backgrounds, music, videos, writings, gifs, memes, polls, AI creations, and more
No quantifiable metrics. Counting likes, views and other data often makes people feel bad and makes
them compare themselves to others.
No quantifiable metrics. Counting likes, views and other data often makes people feel bad and makes
them compare themselves to others.
Eliminate endless scroll. Endless scroll contributes to social media addiction, insomnia, and informational overload.
Eliminate endless scroll. Endless scroll contributes to social media addiction, insomnia, and informational overload.
Prioritize connection. Primarily, users should add people they know in“real life”. Facilitate online friendships
because of common interests via our Circles feature. Help new online friends create real world relationships.
Prioritize connection. Primarily, users should add people they know in“real life”. Facilitate online friendships
because of common interests via our Circles feature. Help new online friends create real world relationships.
Our Circles. This feature helps people bond with others who have the same interests. Connecting over common interests
makes more meaningful connections.
Our Circles feature helps people bond with others who have the same interests. Connecting over common interests
makes more meaningful connections.
No ads. Advertising drives the attention economy and social media addiction on current platforms.
We won’t have their hands in our experience. Spark will be funded by micro-transactions like special profile stickers, assets,
and sharing stickers with others.
No ads. Advertising drives the attention economy and social media addiction on current platforms.
We won’t have their hands in our experience. Spark will be funded by micro-transactions like special profile stickers, assets,
and sharing stickers with others.
No ads. Advertising drives the attention economy and social media addiction on current platforms.
We won’t have their hands in our experience. Spark will be funded by micro-transactions like special profile stickers, assets, and sharing stickers with others.
Threaded comments. Comments on posts follow the order of the conversation, not the ones that score the highest
metrics.
Threaded comments. Comments on posts follow the order of the conversation, not the ones that score the highest
metrics.
Threaded comments. Comments on posts follow the order of the conversation, not the ones that score the highest metrics.
04 I Ideation & Design
04 I Ideation & Design
Sketches
Sketches
I sketched out ideas and discussed with my business partner to get ideas and features flowing.
I sketched out ideas and discussed with my business partner to get ideas and features flowing.
Lo-fi wireframes
Lo-fi wireframes
05 I UI Design
05 I UI Design
Y2K nostalgia with a
little extra gloss
Y2K nostalgia with a little extra gloss
When I talked to users about their favorite social media platforms, Myspace and Tumblr came up a lot.
Taking inspiration from these platforms made sense because they're fun, customizable, and full of personality. We are tapping into Millenials' nostalgia and the Y2K trend that is popular with Gen-Z.
When I talked to users about their favorite social media platforms, Myspace and Tumblr came up a lot.
Taking inspiration from these platforms made sense because they're fun, customizable, and full of personality. We are tapping into Millenials' nostalgia and the Y2K trend that is popular with Gen-Z.
When I talked to users about their favorite social media platforms, Myspace and Tumblr came up a lot.
Taking inspiration from these platforms made sense because they're fun, customizable, and full of personality.
We are tapping into Millenials' nostalgia and the Y2K trend that is popular with Gen-Z.
Moodboard
Moodboard
Style guide
Style guide
Color
I chose bright neon hue colors inspired by the color of the lights of electronics in the early digital age. They are youthful , but also have edge against the contrast of a dark background.
Users can use these or other colors to create their own unique profile background gradients. The style of the profiles takes some inspiration from Aurora UI.
Color
I chose bright neon hue colors inspired by the color of the lights of electronics in the early digital age. They are youthful , but also have edge against the contrast of a dark background.
Users can use these or other colors to create their own unique profile background gradients.
Type
Mae Variable is modern, sleek, and contemporary to fit the current digital moment.
Type
Mae Variable is modern, sleek, and contemporary to fit the current digital moment.
Components
Components
Hi-fi design & prototypes
Hi-fi design & prototypes
One of our biggest priorities was to design a site that the teens feel represents them. We knew that the teens were active on TikTok, so we created an Incorruptible TikTok challenge.
When someone uses the assigned hashtag their TikTok video is showcased on the Who We Are page.
One of our biggest priorities was to design a site that the teens feel represents them. We knew that the teens were active on TikTok, so we created an Incorruptible TikTok challenge.
When someone uses the assigned hashtag their TikTok video is showcased on the Who We Are page.
