About 2.0
My role: Lead designer on WhatsApp Growth, a horizontal team with 3 designers
I led design and strategy for WhatsApp’s US Growth initiative, addressing critical user challenges in a market where WhatsApp lagged behind despite 3 billion global users. In 2022, I drove product strategy and created the 2023 execution roadmap, identifying key user pain points, such as users not knowing who was active on the platform. One key issue was the outdated "About" feature, which was buried in menus and underused. By optimizing this, we significantly improved user engagement. By the mid-q1 2024, we achieved our goal of 100 million active US users.
Success Metrics:• 100,000,000 users by end of 2023 in the USIn the News:
Mark Zuckerberg says WhatsApp has 100M monthly active users in the US - TechCrunch
WhatsApp now has 100 million monthly users in the US - The Verge
Mark Zuckerberg Reveals WhatsApp Has Reached 100 Million Active Users in the U.S. - Complex
WhatsApp Gaining Ground in US, now has 100 Million Monthly Users - Bloomberg
Creation Experience
While the US Growth team led this feature in partnership with another team, we designed with WhatsApp's global audience of 3 billion in mind. A common issue is the pressure to respond immediately to messages, coupled with a lack of space for creative self-expression, often limited to profile photos. While our primary goal was US user activation (getting users to send a message within 14 days), we balanced this with global user needs, aiming to reduce response pressure and provide a space for creative expression.
Consumption Experience
The consumption experience focuses on how users interact with a contact’s away message, meticulously placing it in contextually relevant areas throughout the app. This strategic placement ensures the information is delivered where it has the most impact, such as when selecting a contact to message.
For US users, understanding a contact’s availability is crucial in making confident decisions about sending a message, providing clarity on whether the contact is an active WhatsApp user. This approach not only enhances user confidence but also drives engagement by improving the relevance and timing of interactions.