ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
4 Weeks
TEAM
Individual
RESPONSIBILITY
UX Research, Feature Ideation, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Interaction Design
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Individual
TIMELINE
4 Weeks
RESPONSIBILITY
UX Research, Feature Ideation, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Interaction Design
✶ CONTEXT
✶ CONTEXT
Using Instagram Saved frequently revealed how difficult it can be to find posts once they’ve been saved. What started as a personal frustration led me to question whether others experience the same problem and find solutions.
Using Instagram Saved frequently revealed how difficult it can be to find posts once they’ve been saved. What started as a personal frustration led me to question whether others experience the same problem and find solutions.
✶ OVERVIEW
✶ OVERVIEW
Explores why retrieval breaks down after saving, and how Saved could shift from a browsing experience to a retrieval-focused one. Through interviews, sketching, and iterative prototyping, multiple approaches were tested and refined based on user feedback and usability testing.
Explores why retrieval breaks down after saving, and how Saved could shift from a browsing experience to a retrieval-focused one. Through interviews, sketching, and iterative prototyping, multiple approaches were tested and refined based on user feedback and usability testing.
✶ PRIMARY RESEARCH
✶ PRIMARY RESEARCH
Understanding Users
Understanding Users
Interviews focused on heavy Instagram savers who save posts 5+ times a week and manage multiple Saved collections, to understand how they organize content and where retrieval breaks down.
Interviews focused on heavy Instagram savers who save posts 5+ times a week and manage multiple Saved collections, to understand how they organize content and where retrieval breaks down.
“I remember the post,
but I don’t remember where I saved it.”
"I end up opening multiple collections and scrolling forever."
“I remember the post,
but I don’t remember where I saved it.”
"I save so many posts thinking I'll come back to them, but I never do because it takes forever to find anything. It's basically useless."
"I end up opening multiple collections and scrolling forever."
"I save so many posts thinking I'll come back to them, but I never do because it takes forever to find anything. It's basically useless."
Information Synthesis
Information Synthesis
Interview insights were mapped into a visual diagram to reveal patterns and key breakdowns before design.
Interview insights were mapped into a visual diagram to reveal patterns and key breakdowns before design.
Found 2 issues: Poor Discoverability and Lost Location
Found 2 issues: Poor Discoverability and Lost Location
✶ TAKEAWAYS
FROM INTERVIEW
✶ TAKEAWAYS FROM INTERVIEW
1. Users save with intent, but they can't remeber where they are.
1. Users save with intent, but they can't remeber where they are.
2. Retrieval relies on visual scanning, not search
2. Retrieval relies on visual scanning, not search
3. Endless scrolling makes retrieval exhausting
3. Endless scrolling makes retrieval exhausting
✶ EARLY EXPLORATION
✶ EARLY EXPLORATION
Sketch Stage
Sketch Stage
Interview insights were translated into quick sketches and notes on paper to explore different ways the experience could work.
Interview insights were translated into quick sketches and notes on paper to explore different ways the experience could work.
Wire-frame prototype
Wire-frame prototype
3 initial wireframe concepts were created and validated through feedback from the same 6 interview participants.
3 initial wireframe concepts were created and validated through feedback from the same 6 interview participants.
Refining Collections
Refining Collections
Deeper hierarchies helped slightly, but retrieval still failed when users couldn’t remember where or how content was saved.
Deeper hierarchies helped slightly, but retrieval still failed when users couldn’t remember where or how content was saved.
Manual Tagging
Manual Tagging
Tag-based filtering improved retrieval, but required extra effort when saving, making it less accessible.
Tag-based filtering improved retrieval, but required extra effort when saving, making it less accessible.
Visual Browsing
Visual Browsing
Visual browsing felt familiar, but relied on scrolling and didn’t support fast, intentional retrieval.
Visual browsing felt familiar, but relied on scrolling and didn’t support fast, intentional retrieval.
Iteration Direction
Iteration Direction
User feedback pointed to search. Applying keyword-based search, similar to Apple Photos, enabled faster and more accurate retrieval of saved content.
User feedback pointed to search. Applying keyword-based search, similar to Apple Photos, enabled faster and more accurate retrieval of saved content.
✶ PROTOTYPING & DESIGN USABILITY TESTING
✶ PROTOTYPING & DESIGN USABILITY TESTING
Usability Testing Setup
Usability Testing Setup
A usability test was conducted in Maze to compare three retrieval experiences under the same conditions.
A usability test was conducted in Maze to compare three retrieval experiences under the same conditions.
Tested conditions
Tested conditions
AS-IS: Current browsing-based Saved experience
AS-IS: Current browsing-based Saved experience
TO-BE A: Search bar only
TO-BE A: Search bar only
TO-BE B: Search with suggested keywords
TO-BE B: Search with suggested keywords
To measure how much each approach improved retrieval, the current Saved experience (AS-IS) was recreated as a baseline. Participants completed the same task using three different methods, enabling a fair comparison.
To measure how much each approach improved retrieval, the current Saved experience (AS-IS) was recreated as a baseline. Participants completed the same task using three different methods, enabling a fair comparison.
Participants
Participants
Ages 18-40 | United States | 30 Instagram Users
• Ages 18-40
• United States
• 30 Instagram Users
Task
You saved a pizza post before, but you can’t remember where it is. Find a saved post related to ‘pizza’.
Metrics Tracked
• Task success rate
• Completion time
• NPS (Net promoter Score)
• Qualitative Feedback
Task
You saved a pizza post before, but you can’t remember where it is. Find a saved post related to ‘pizza’.
Metrics Tracked
Task success rate | Completion time | NPS (Net promoter Score) | Qualitative Feedback
✶ VALIDATION
✶ VALIDATION
Results
Results
Search only improved completion, but users still felt uncertain. Guided keywords reduced cognitive load and increased confidence, which drove the highest NPS.
Search only improved completion, but users still felt uncertain. Guided keywords reduced cognitive load and increased confidence, which drove the highest NPS.
88%
88%
Faster Retrieval
Faster Retrieval
147s → 18s (88% faster vs current)
147s → 18s (88% faster vs current)
96%
96%
Task Success
Task Success
33% → 96% success
33% → 96% success
8.3
8.3
Confidence Rating
Confidence Rating
4.4/10 → 8.3/10
4.4/10 → 8.3/10
"To-Be B" (Selected)
"To-Be B" (Selected)
Because
1. Improved task success
2. reduced time-to-find
3. delivering the highest user confidence.
Because
1. Improved task success
2. reduced time-to-find
3. delivering the highest user confidence.
✶ REFINING THE DESIGN
✶ REFINING DESIGN
Iterating based on user testing
Iterating based on user testing
After identifying the winning concept, key UI details were refined based on the most frequent friction points reported by users during testing.
After identifying the winning concept, key UI details were refined based on the most frequent friction points reported by users during testing.
Before
Before
After
After
Keyword Visibility
Keyword Visibility
Keywords blended into the base UI and felt like search history rather than a new feature.
Keywords blended into the base UI and felt like search history rather than a new feature.
Added a “Suggested for you” label and a blue accent to improve visual affordance and make the feature feel intentional.
Added a “Suggested for you” label and a blue accent to improve visual affordance and make the feature feel intentional.
Keyword Personalization
Keyword Personalization
Showing search history keywords was not necessarily relevant to what users were trying to find.
Showing search history keywords was not necessarily relevant to what users were trying to find.
Changed to "Suggested for you" with recently saved items based on the user's search history and saved content.
Changed to "Suggested for you" with recently saved items based on the user's search history and saved content.
✶ Users ignored keywords as "not useful"
✶ Users ignored keywords as "not useful"
✶ Keywords felt relevant and useful
✶ Keywords felt relevant and useful
✶ FEATURE EXPLORATION
✶ FEATURE EXPLORATION
Exploring additional opportunities
Exploring additional opportunities
With the core retrieval flow refined through user testing, explored a few additional feature ideas as open questions rather than finalized solutions.
With the core retrieval flow refined through user testing, explored a few additional feature ideas as open questions rather than finalized solutions.
Key Feature 01
Key Feature 01
Smart Filtering
Smart Filtering
Users can quickly narrow down saved content by type (posts, reels, products), topic (automatically detected), or time period. Filters are always visible and easy to combine for precise results.
Users can quickly narrow down saved content by type (posts, reels, products), topic (automatically detected), or time period. Filters are always visible and easy to combine for precise results.
Auto-detected categories
Auto-detected categories
No manual tagging required
No manual tagging required
Combinable filters
Combinable filters
Mix and match for precise results
Mix and match for precise results
Clear active states
Clear active states
Always know what's filtered
Always know what's filtered
Key Feature 02
Key Feature 02
Smart Collections
Smart Collections
AI automatically groups saved content into collections based on topic and content type. Users can also create manual collections for custom organization.
AI automatically groups saved content into collections based on topic and content type. Users can also create manual collections for custom organization.
Auto-generated collections
Auto-generated collections
Zero effort organization
Zero effort organization
Manual collections
Manual collections
For custom groupings
For custom groupings
Visual previews
Visual previews
See what's inside at a glance
See what's inside at a glance
Key Feature 03
Key Feature 03
Rich Context Preview
Rich Context Preview
Long-press on any saved item to see caption, author, and save date without opening the post. Find what you need faster with contextual information right at your fingertips.
Long-press on any saved item to see caption, author, and save date without opening the post. Find what you need faster with contextual information right at your fingertips.
Caption preview
Caption preview
Remember why you saved it
Remember why you saved it
Author & date
Author & date
Find by when or who
Find by when or who
Quick actions
Quick actions
Share, unsave, or add to collection
Share, unsave, or add to collection
✶ WHAT I LEARNED
✶ TAKEAWAYS
Start with the right problem
What began as a personal frustration turned out to be a shared pain point. Through Reddit discussions, 6 in-depth interviews with heavy Instagram users, and a usability test with 30 participants, I learned that retrieval breakdown was a common experience, not just my assumption.
Let research challenge your assumptions
User feedback pushed the project in a better direction than I initially imagined. Instead of focusing only on organization, interviews and testing revealed that users needed clearer search support and confidence cues during retrieval.
Better decisions come from evidence
Comparative usability testing and qualitative feedback helped me move forward with the most effective concept. This project reinforced that strong product direction comes from listening, measuring, and refining with real users.
Start with the right problem
What began as a personal frustration turned out to be a shared pain point. Through Reddit discussions, 6 in-depth interviews with heavy Instagram users, and a usability test with 30 participants, I learned that retrieval breakdown was a common experience, not just my assumption.
Let research challenge your assumptions
User feedback pushed the project in a better direction than I initially imagined. Instead of focusing only on organization, interviews and testing revealed that users needed clearer search support and confidence cues during retrieval.
Better decisions come from evidence
Comparative usability testing and qualitative feedback helped me move forward with the most effective concept. This project reinforced that strong product direction comes from listening, measuring, and refining with real users.
✶ NEXT STEPS
✶ NEXT STEPS
Explore AI-powered recommendations
Use machine learning to surface saved content when it becomes relevant (e.g., suggesting saved recipes during dinner time).
Validate keyword personalization feasibility
Consult with engineers to explore the technical feasibility of generating “Suggested for you” keywords based on search history, saved content, and available metadata, and understand potential system limitations.