Voki Messenger
Design for an iPhone Messaging App
Connecting Voki users via a beautiful, delicate UX design that lets them send and receive video messages in the future
Project Overview
Value Propositions
Conduct an industry audit of video messaging apps to evaluate Voki’s brand principles and define its value propositions
High Fidelity Prototypes
Establish high-level information architecture and prioritize task flows; create wireframes and clickable prototypes
Visual Design
Use bokeh photography as a motif throughout the app to signify passage of time; flat line icons with large buttons for a modern look and feel
QA + Launch
Test the native iPhone app across various devices and coordinate with development partner until launch
How Can Voki Stand Out From the Rest?
Scheduling Messages for Future Delivery
Voki needed a key differentiator that is both unique and valuable to users to enter the market with an existing plethora of messaging apps. MRD conducted an extensive audit of multimedia apps that were dominant in the messaging space, noting the pros and cons of each. With observations gained from performing the audit, we selected the best details from each app and considered whether adding a similar feature would be beneficial to the overall Voki user experience.
Working with the Voki team, we identified 2 key differentiators: the ability to schedule messages (especially video messages) to be automatically sent in the future, and the ability to store messages in the cloud so that valuable videos are not gone if the device is lost. At the time, most of the messaging apps didn’t support video messaging nor cloud storage, so Voki would offer these unique features.
Video Messaging for the Future
Creating a UI for Grandparents & Millennials
Voki’s mission is to create a messaging app for users to intimately connect to their inner circle of family and friends, rather than an urgent broadcast to the world stating their status updates. To support this vision, MRD focused on the implications of scheduling messages for future delivery, which allows users to send timely video greetings on special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.
An example use case is grandparents receiving a video greeting from their adult children, showing off the grandkids – this means that Voki’s UI has to be understandable by older grandparents as well as tech-savvy youngsters. In addition, we needed to let users quickly save messages and large video files to their personal cloud storage, as well as a way for new users to download and join the app.
Visual Design Reflects
Passage of Time
A Bokeh Background that Changes Throughout the Day
Time is a vital element of what makes Voki distinct: celebrating special occasions with best wishes, saving sentimental moments to cloud storage, and preparing for future events by crafting and scheduling a greeting to send in the future. We wanted our visual design to symbolize capturing fleeting moments and the passage of time.
Background images featuring bokeh – a beautiful artifact when shadows or reflected light is out of focus – would subtly shift in the background from dark greens in the middle of the night to the bright oranges in the early morning. Flat, white outlined icons and large buttons keep the app user-friendly with a contemporary look and feel.
Reflections
Emotional Connection Drives Light,
Ethereal UX Design
Voki approached us with a desire to have the UX design elevate their app. MRD created an effervescent, subtly transient interface to reflect the touching yet evanescent quality of human connection that is at the core of Voki’s brand, fused with an intuitive information architecture that makes keeping in touch much more intimate and meaningful in our current fast-paced digital age.
