WhatsApp Circles:

The Future of
Community
Design Research and Innovation

Final Report

Team 11: Ernesto Ramirez, Natasha Alksnis, Deanna Badi, Joseph Zhuang
December 13, 2020
Contents Abstract
Abstract 03 WhatsApp is an encrypted cross messaging and voice
over IP platform with a freeware service model and strong
Introduction 04 utilitarian design, making it the leading choice for millions
globally as both a personal and professional digital
communication tool. The purpose of our study was to use
Research Methodology 06 ethnographic research methods learned over the course
the semester to obtain a holistic understanding of
Key Insights 08 WhatsApp users’ experience and design a new offering
that would optimize their experience of the platform.
Refined HMW Questions 10 Privacy, online agency and work-life balance were the
most recurring themes emergent from the data our team
collected through interviews, literary reviews, shadowing,
Idea Prioritization 12
netnography and auto-ethnography. We also found that
these themes were more often expressed as needs
Prototype Evolution 14 amongst a user group whose school, work and social lives
converge on the platform. This finding influenced the
Usability Testing Process 16 tailoring of our proposed interface design for young
professionals but did not result in the prioritization of their
Final Prototype 18 expressed desires over the needs of a much more diverse
range of average to avid users. Based on the analysis of
our aggregate research, privacy, accessibility, affordability
Key Takeaways 24 and utility became the pillars upon which our proposed
solution, WhatsApp Circles, was designed. WhatsApp
Future Work 26 Circles is a phased interface redesign that will give users
the ability to create personalized “circles”, divisions for the
References 28 organization of personal and professional contacts with
group specific privacy settings. This redesign optimizes
user experience by offering tools to establish boundaries
and claim agency, facilitating a healthier relationship with
the platform and improved mental health by alleviating
stress related to work-life imbalance.

Keywords: Digital communication platform, freeware,

privacy, online agency, accessibility, work-life balance,
interface design, remote work, mental health, stress,

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Introduction
Digital communication serves as proxy for physical presences and participation within
our social circles when and where it is otherwise not possible; and remote work has
become an increasingly standardized practice in both professional and academic
settings. Boundaries once defined by physical place are lost when personal and
professional lives are enacted across the digital realm and the blurring of any
remaining boundaries is exacerbated when these lives converge on the same
platforms and devices.

WhatsApp is an encrypted cross messaging and voice over IP platform with a

freeware service model and strong utilitarian design, making it the leading choice for
millions globally as both a personal and professional communication tool. Using
ethnographic research methods to obtain a more granular understanding of the user
experience, our team sought to identify opportunities to innovate and augment the
platform.

The ubiquity of WhatsApp’s use resultant of its accessible utilitarian nature initially
presented us with the challenge of designing for all current and potential users;
however, quickly learned the desire to design for everyone would best serve as
compass, not the focus of our direction. After several phases of research our team set
our primary focus on designing for university students and young professionals
between the ages of 20-35, with a wider secondary scope inclusive of entrepreneurs
or individuals pursuing new education or careers after age 35 who may use the
platform similar to the primary user group.

Focusing on our primary user group was a choice born out of the contemporary
moment where school, work and social lives have migrated online as measures to
prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus have limited in person interactions. Our user
primary group was also selected as these users are of a generation born into the age
of information and digital services and optimizing their experience of WhatsApp
promises to have recursive design benefits designing into the future for new users. We
have consistently revaluated our objectives to align with the findings of our research
and in doing so we have understood our primary user’s needs are to maintain work-life
balance, agency, and security. These needs form the pillars of our proposed design as
we strive to optimize the user experience of WhatsApp by consolidating personal and
professional interfaces into a unified yet distinguishable experience.

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Research Methodology
Our team employed multiple ethnographic research methods in order to obtain the most granular understanding of our WhatsApp user’s experience. Quantitative data was obtained
through auto-ethnographic analysis and Qualitative data was obtained through interviews, “netnography”, literature reviews and shadowing.

Shadowing

1. Quantitative Data

Through shadowing consenting family members, we were

Quantitative data was obtained through the auto-ethnography
able to gain intimate insight on how some users engage with
and journaling performed over a two-week period by an
WhatsApp, as well as other platforms on their mobile devices.

individual team member whereby information about

messaging, calls, and media exchange was collected and

analysed. Quantitative data in this form provided metrics by

The shadowing of (X) individuals was conducted in Mexico.

which to interpret the average usage by an ideal user, as well as

*see appendix for field notes to date

to provide semi-objective empiric insight to complement our

interpretation of more nuanced qualitative data.

SWOT Analysis - Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities,

Threats

2. Qualitative Data / Informal

Through semi-structured interviews and shadowing we set out Throughout a series of meetings where we came together to
to understand how people engage with their communities and review our assignments post-submission our team
social circles outside of the platform, what other methods for continuously performed SWOT analyses in relation to other
communication are used, how frequently they engage in digital successful multimedia communication platforms, as well as
communication (on WhatsApp or otherwise) and for what other media platforms, in order to ground our objectives and
purposes.
outcomes as defined by economy, finance and policy.

3. Literature Reviews

Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews addressed questions that varied

Literature reviews informed, illuminate and at times

greatly, addressing thoughts on identity, identity expression,
different socialscapes, community, social behaviour, challenged our findings throughout the research process.
technology, the future, nostalgia, COVID-19 and other global The rich work of established scholars and researchers
crises, media, professional life, entrepreneurial ventures, helped shape new questions as we ideated and helped refine
academic life and nuanced topics that came up naturally in old questions which would serve as a guide to the next phase
conversation.
of our design.

*see appendix for list of questions, interviews transcribed and

fieldnotes to date
*See appendix for additional literature reviews

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Key Insights
Analyzing our research led us to the following insights regarding user experience
engaging in social and professional relationships online; both on and off the
WhatsApp platform, as well as offline prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accessibility (ease of use + affordable + reliable)

• Many people utilize WhatsApp for many different purposes due to its accessibility
regardless of the existence of its sister platform, WhatsApp Business

• Education, healthcare, and businesses utilize “regular” WhatsApp

• Competitive edge over other social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram,

Telegram etc: WhatsApp has a niche with a wide range of users not limited to age and
geographic location

• Connecting people across any distance

General Cyber Security

• Protection of personal details from exposure in professional environments, or to

individuals of unknown or undefined relationships (ex. Informal sales contacts through
platforms like Kijiji, entrepreneural business relations tied to a person number, distant
aquaintances.)

Communication Patterns

• The contacts present on an app define the communication space and types of
conversations present within

Anxiety in communication

• Better management of unrealistic digital communication expectations as related to

remote work, school and social lives.

• The negative expectations for “always-on” digital presence

Borders

• Continuation/pursuit of social life after work

• The desire for a digital partition mimicking the physical action of transition and
leaving or entering a place

• Physical, temporal, psychological borders

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Refined HMW Questions

How might we create a unified

platform experience while still
offering a clear distinction between How might we offer users the most
social circles for better work/life agency when performing online in
balance? their different work/school/social
circles?
1 How might we best abstract the
experience of spatial transitioning
and reimagine spatial boundaries in
3
a digital sense?

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Idea Prioritization
Early on in our research we understood WhatsApp’s popularity across user groups
comes as a result of accessibility in being both affordable and easy to navigate with a
neutral interface design. User familiarity and general satisfaction with the application
overall posed the challenge of augmenting the experience of WhatsApp without
deviating too far from the current affordances of the interface. For this reason, we
prioritized simple adjustments that could be made to the base architecture of the
application that would optimize the experience but avoid a breakdown of the
WhatsApp experience and any consequential user falloff.

Throughout all phases of our research the theme of setting boundaries in personal
and professional lives emerged recurringly. This theme was expressed by research
participants primarily regarding pain points in their remote work conditions, however
boundaries were also discussed positively when recalling the comfort or security of
experiencing certain places (ex. Bedrooms, personal office spaces, favourite
restaurants etc.). Upon analysing this theme further, we understood that physical
boundaries created by walls and partitions, as well as less opaque boundaries like
windows and doors, allow for user to define their identity and agency as they
configure themselves to different bounded spaces. For this reason, creating a
well-defined digital partition for users to experience the clarity afforded by a strong
sense of place became another design priority.

Security remained of key important to users as was expressed throughout out

research. General cyber-security and identity protection from otherwise unknown
online attacks was touched on, but a more nuanced security concern emerged
regarding privacy when research participants unpacked the difficulties of using the
platform when engaging with a myriad of contacts ranging from close personal and
professional contacts, to acquaintances, new contacts or unknown individuals. The
selective sharing of personal information such a platform access history (ex.
appearing online, last seen and messages read) and profile pictures were some of the
most recurring pain points as currently WhatsApp only offers “everyone” or “no one”
sharing options when setting such personal preferences. These options operate in
what users express feels like a punitive two-way function, for example if one were to
turn off sending read receipts, they would no longer be able to read receipts. Though
security remained a design priority, through our research we understood it serves as
an umbrella theme for more nuanced user needs like privacy and agency which are
expressed as of more immediate personal importance to users.

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Prototype Evolution
Digital applications incrementally integrate new features and services through
ongoing updates, and it is this implementation framework that informed the process
which led to our final prototype design for the WhatsApp brief. Our phased approach
begins with a “nowable” solution, an added feature called “safe chats”, which
introduces a new tab or “channel” to the interface. This simple addition tethers to our
design to the pillar of privacy without deviating too much from basic architecture of the
app thus laying the foundation for the next phase by fostering technical comfort
through familiarity. We repeat this process until we land on our final design, the
implementation of encrypted categories called Circles which allow users to define
specific boundaries for interaction with different social circles in a unified app.

Several key snapshots from our prototyping: utilizing colour, playing with the
balance between private and public, and segmentation/boundary development Our Adobe XD document, the artifact of our discussions and iteration efforts

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Usability Testing Process
Some questions we asked during usability testing are as follows:

• What are your first impressions on the interface?

• How would you interact with Circles? What do you think it is?

• What areas of the redesign are you still confused/not sure about?

Usability testing validates assumptions made in the prototyping process and ensures • What do you like about the current prototype over the existing WhatsApp design?

that our solution is functional, valuable, and desirable. In our tests, we were able to • Any suggestions to make creating social circles easier?

obtain feedback from real users who had not looked at our prototype previously,
providing some fresh perspectives on our work. Due to time and resource limitations,
our team was able to uncover insights and areas for improvement only through smaller
rounds of usability testing. However, if the changes we propose were to be We created some scenarios for users to complete:

implemented, they would go through hundreds of rounds of usability testing to ensure • Create a new Circle for your friend group and add a contact to it.

that the solution would fare well among WhatsApp’s large user base. • Find out how many notifications you have overall.

• Go to All Chats.

• Ernesto is a work colleague. Find his messages to you.

• Change the settings for when you want to receive notifications in your Work Circle.

Insights

• Users found the additional functionality of Circles an improvement over the existing
WhatsApp interface.

• Users liked how the Circles was easy to access through the bottom nav and modal
switcher.

• Users liked how we preserved the All Chats functionality, for those who didn’t want to
utilize Circles. In the future, we would look into whether a way to turn Circles off would
be valuable for certain users.

• There was still confusion over the distinction between Groups and Circles (Groups
and individual chats can live inside a Circle)

• Ambiguity around how notifications would show up if a contact was in multiple

We wanted the experience of WhatsApp to be as universal as possible; we looked into Circles

easy reachability with the usage of thumb, adding the circles icon on the left bottom
part will help the user navigate between circles easier.

Early iterations focussed on keeping the structure similar amidst adding additional Future Work

functionality; originally, we utilized a hamburger menu structure to switch between There were still several underlying questions we didn’t have the time to finish
Circles. Through usability testing, we uncovered how this placement proved solutioning for. For example, an area for improvement identified through usability
challenging for a constantly repeated action. We translated this insight by creating a testing was making the distinction between Circles and Groups more clear. If we were
dedicated navigation section. to continue prototyping, this would be addressed in a later stage.

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Final Prototype

Circles: A better
way of organizing
and managing
your social circles

Create
distinctions
and
boundaries
between social
circles

Easily toggle between

various Circles

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Final Prototype

Securely share an encrypted number

without giving out your real one

Manage your profiles and notifications within

each circle
Still don’t want to change?
(want to turn off work-related notifs after 5 pm? Use the the classic “All
We gotchu) Chats” view.

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22 WhatsApp Circles: The Future of Community Team 11 23
Key Takeaways

Physical borders or boundaries impact our Due to WhatsApp’s ubiquitous use– optimal solutions
communication behaviours as we reconfigure through re-designs and new offerings should feel
ourselves to the respective environments these familiar and not interfere with a large portion of users
boundaries define (ex. Home, office, school, restaurant that may prefer to keep maintain use of the traditional
or social club) or most current interface.

WhatsApp’s social communication platform still a

primary choice for professional users despite the
existence of of WhatsApp for Business. Users were Our project required a thorough understanding of how
found to stay on the original platform for reasons of users behave online, on WhatsApp, as well as forming
familiarity, comfort, accessibility, and ease of use. and understanding of how their social behaviours are
Users do not find it desirable to migrate to other digital expressed off platform and offline. Expanding our
spaces if it is not necessary. research to interactions within immediate an extended
social circle off the platform provided insight into the
variances in communication across different
geographic regions and amongst different
demographics; why users chose to utilize one
Human relationships are incredibly complex: offering a communication tool over another; how environmental
simple tool for people to feel more comfortable across boundaries affect communication patterns, and what
digital communications spaces can address a myriad an increasingly digital social landscape may require as
of much more nuanced personal and interpersonal compounded by the effects of COVID-19.
needs.

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Future Work
Our design offers a new set of tools to WhatsApp users who wish to construct and
maintain their digital space as determined by their preferences and needs, while still
being tied back into the architecture of WhatsApp by maintaining the tether to the
app’s pillars of privacy, accessibility, affordability and utility.

In the future, we imagine our final design would continue evolving to serve user needs
by exploring augmentation for enhanced remote communication. Future iterations in
this direction may be informed by researching the normalization of long-distance
relationships (familial, platonic, romantic, and professional) resultant of globalization;
more specific configurations of these relationships as enacted across a digital space;
innovative technologies and how they might be adapted address fundamental human
desires like the experience of touch, sense of place and co-presence.

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Appendix & References
Attached seperately

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© 2020

Printed in Canada