Bridgefy
Supplementing communication with a daily dose of Bridgefy’s offline-capable messaging.
ROLES
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
TEAM
Brent McCormick
Joshua Jaime
TOOLS
Adobe XD, Miro, Milanote, Google Suite, Pen & Paper
DURATION
2-Week Design Sprint
A messaging app with commitment issues.
Bridgefy is a messaging app that uses a Bluetooth mesh network to deliver offline communication outside of a wifi or cellular network. It's been linked to protest zones and downloaded over 2 Million times, but currently struggles to cultivate sustained user engagement.
Our task was to identify the brand's target user and develop design solutions that help to make app more engaging and provides the functionality needed to promote everyday use.
Bridgefy has a single-use problem.
Users use the app once, are frustrated by the limitations, and typically never return. The challenge for our team was to redesign the app with features and an interface that encourage sustained, daily usage. We needed to understand what users wanted, expected, and why they were so quick to abandon the app.
This is how a new user currently experiences Bridgefy
Business Analysis / Surveys
Heuristics / C & C Analysis
Target User / Affinity Map
Feature Prioritization
Digital Wireframes / Digital Prototyping / Usability Testing
Hi-Fidelity Prototype
DEVELOP
DELIVER
DEFINE
DISCOVER
Design Hypothesis
Through our research, we identified two key elements to inform our design:
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Enhancing interface and implementing features that provide value for event-goers.
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Better-educating users on both the capabilities and limitations of the app.
By doing so, users will be able to engage without the frustration that initially drove them to abandon the app. Implementing these changes should increase average user engagement by 3x, and user retention by 8%.
Discover | Research
Making a good first-impression?
Our first step was to explore the app, and experience it as a first-time user. What we discovered wasn’t pretty.
There was too much setup, expectations were unclear, and we were ultimately left disappointed by the limitations.
A typical engagement would go like this:
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Download app.
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Open and sign in.
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Allow access to all your contacts.
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Enable Bluetooth.
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Discover you have no contacts in range.
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Discontinue using the app.
The reason most people abandoned the app was because it didn’t allow them the option to actually message anyone outside of the very narrow parameters needed to connect via bluetooth.
[Business Analysis]
Numbers don't lie
In order to make the app self-sustaining, Bridgefy needs growth in two key categories: Average User Engagement & Average Daily Users. As we learned about the business and reviewed their metrics, a few key numbers stood out that helped tell their story:
Despite the huge download numbers, the average number of daily users is small, with average user engagement per session tracking at less than two minutes.
Most telling of all, user retention was practically zero. New users simply didn’t return to Bridgefy.
2 Million
Bridgefy app downloads.
22k
Average number of daily users
1m 52s
The average user engagement per session is less than two minutes.
98.6%
of new users simply don’t return.
[User Interviews & Surveys]
Users helped to highlight frustrations with the app, the expectations they have for it, and how they might use it. It also indicated that Bridgefy users fell into two distinct categories.
The Contingency Planner
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Impulsive & Reactive
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Low engagement
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Low retention
This group drives incredible download spikes, specifically in countries with political unrest. However, these users don’t provide sustained or consistent engagement.
These are the Target Bridgefy Users.
They can vouch for the utility of this app by pointing to specific uses in their lives and they bring insight into how the app benefits them, typically when they attend group gatherings or events.
This person planned ahead, used the app as a supplemental form of communication, and made sure their contacts were also using Bridgefy. They understood and anticipated the limitations, and planned accordingly to make it work for them.
The Recreational Socializer
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Consistent & Habitual
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Prioritizes Communication & Connection
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Supplementing their communication, not replacing it.
Define | Synthesize
[Competitive & Comparative Analysis]
This helped to identify common interface design and successful features amongst other mobile learning tools.
The rationale was this: The more familiar a user is with the interface and layout, the more likely they’ll treat it as their daily messaging app.
We identified several key areas to prioritize:
Onboarding - Goal Oriented, Clear presentation of value, Request permissions at the right time and educates the user on the capabilities and limitations of the app.
Intuitive Interface - Minimal aesthetic, Clear hierarchy, Provides an experience and provides clear feedback and prioritizes discoverability.
Adding Contacts - Seamless integration of contacts, and further features, such as system status notifications and Group Chat capabilities.
Locating Friends - Specialized maps and advanced "pin" features that integrate with the native environment (concert venue, hiking trail, etc)
Develop | Ideate
[Prioritized Features]
System status indicators were critical to the redesign. Users need a quick, easy way to know their limitations and available options quickly and intuitively.
Badges and indicator icons served as a quickly scannable and understandable method.
New message notifications, online/offline status, select/deselect contact, and Status mode were all successfully indicated through this system of badges and icons.
[Prioritized Features]
An improved messaging interface breathed life into the redesign.
We consolidated contacts and chats into a Message Center tab, creating a “Home Base” for initiating and organizing messages.
Previously, you had to toggle between multiple tabs and find a tiny icon just to send a message.
Now, with the Message Center, messaging a contact is never more than two taps away.
[Prioritized Features]
Another important feature implemented was creation of Group Chats.
Since the Saavy Supplementer is event-focused, the app should anticipate their social situations.
Likely, group communication is involved, and group chats will be the preferred method.
Deliver | Implement
So Now What?
Bridgefy is rolling out an online/offline hybrid version of the app, which should address many of the immediate user frustrations and provide a real breakthrough for the app’s functionality and practical usage.
But with that new opportunity, several features will be vital in retaining new users. Keeping the user educated to the capabilities and limitations will be more important than ever before.
Here are a few key areas we identified as next steps in the redesign process, and further implementation of features not prioritized during the initial 3-week sprint.
Improved Onboarding Experience
A/B testing of copy (Improved awareness of capabilities & limitations)
Potential mockups (initial designs, not tested)
Brand Voice
Consistent Brand Voice throughout all products
Make sure Bridgefy’s identity and personality come through in every bit of content or copy
Consistency of voice across all screens
Differentiate/Standing out from the crowd
Locating Friends (Maps, Pins, Geographic Location, etc…)
Incorporate event maps, physical seat locations, and phone cameras to improve the experience of pinning locating friends.
