iMessage Concept: Remembering to Respond

All it takes is a simple text, and we are able to connect with our friends across the globe. I am able to make plans, ask for favors, just catch up and say hi. Yet, sometimes, I get busy and forget to respond.

When someone asks me a question on iMessage, I want to respond quickly, however I can’t do that well because I get distracted, or I don’t have the answers yet. Then, once I have the proper information, I forget to respond.

When Do Users Respond to Texts?

I set out to understand user’s main goals when sending iMessages, and the reasons that users may not respond right away to their texts.

Here are some key take-aways:

1. Users use iMessage when they want quick, short responses (“I want to make plans or talk about schoolwork quickly. Otherwise I’ll call to catch up”)
2. Users don’t respond to texts when there is missing information (“I can’t respond about whether I want to go to the gym when I don’t know my schedule yet”)
3. Users remember which messages they need to respond to by not opening the notification or by taking screenshots of the texts

I realized that the problem is not only remembering to respond, but also being able to navigate back to the text once you remember to respond.

The Culture of Responding Quickly

Users want to remember to respond to texts. Users feel bad when they don’t respond to texts right away and have to keep the other person waiting. And, the person waiting feels ignored when they don’t get a quick response.

“I get mad when I see the other person on Snapchat or Instagram, and I know that they are on their phone, yet they still haven’t responded to my text.”

I joined with two friends, and began the brainstorming process. We aggregated our ideas into different opportunity areas.

We narrowed down to 3 opportunity areas that we wanted to focus on:

1. Reminders. How might we be reminded to respond to our texts?
2. Categorizing Messages. How might we categorize our messages based on the information in them?
3. Communicating with the sender. How might we communicate with the sender about when we’ll respond?

Initial Approach

I had three different approaches to solving the problems in the three areas listed above. 1. Sorting messages within the iMessage app, so that texts are more organized. 2. Pinning specific messages and setting reminders so that users are notified to respond. 3. Out-of-app feature where messages are stored on the home page for easy access

Low Fidelity Sketch of the 3 Approaches Listed Above

I found that I could combine the first two ideas into a feature that allows the user to choose specific messages that they want to save for later and put these messages into a new space on iMessage so they are easy to navigate back to.

Save a Message for Later

I looked at different entry points for saving a message for later. I decided that A was the most suitable option. The star is not consistent with the use of the other react symbols (in option B), because it is not used to show emotion and should not notify the other person when clicked. Further, option C was not suitable because users may accidentally swipe out of the conversation when trying to star a message.

Returning to Saved Messages

What will remind users to go back and find the messages they starred?

I explored 3 iterations of placements for a starred section.

I chose option A because it doesn’t interfere with the other features of the app and doesn’t clutter the screen. Options B and C may clutter the screen too much and may interfere with the existing feature of pinning contacts at the top of the screen.

Visual Design- Choice of Buttons

Users found the placement of the star button on the top right of the screen to be easiest to locate because it is right next to the button to compose a new message. Further, users thought that option C best matched the design of the the iMessage homepage. Lastly, the design of option C is consistent with the red notification that appears on your home screen when you receive a new message.

What Happens When You Enter the Starred Section?

Once the user enters the starred section, how should it look?

I played with 2 iterations.

Option A has the same format as the homepage, whereas option B has a similar format to entering a conversation, with the contact name at the top of the screen.

Users found that option A was more suitable, because it better emphasizes that you are in the “Starred” Section. Also, it is easy to navigate back and forth from the homepage by clicking the star icon.

Final Prototype

The final flow allows users to hold down a message to star a message. The message will then be placed in the star section and you can reply directly to the message you starred. This allows users save specific texts that they can easily return to later, so they will remember to respond.

Would Users Remember to Check the Starred Section?

Some users still expressed that they may forget to check the messages in the starred section. So, I added a notification feature. After 12 hours, if there is still an unanswered message in the starred section, you will get a notification as a reminder to respond.

Notification Feature after 12 Hours if User Has Still Not Responded to Starred Message

Conclusion

A starred feature in iMessage makes specific texts easy to save and later locate in a separate section. In a culture that expects instant response time, this organization better enables users to respond quickly to their messages.