Record Your Voice And Share It With The World
Redesigning Ense: an audio-only social experience like no other.
Client
Created by the Co-Founder of Venmo, Iqram Magdon-Ismail, Ense is an audio-based social media app that allows users to record and share their personal stories, forging connections and engaging with others through the power of voice.
Overview
The existing version of Ense is outdated, overcrowded, a complex taxonomy that includes clouded user flows, all of which contribute to significant usability issues. My redesign intends to make Ense into an app more individuals will want to sign up and stay for; in essence, transform a faulty user experience into something simultaneously seamless as well as enjoyable.
ROLE
Sole designer responsible for this project. Conducted research, organized data, ideated, and produced wireframes + a high fidelity prototype.
TOOLS
Figma, Getty Images, Google Docs, Illustrator, Noun Project, Zoom
RESEARCH
Collecting feedback from real users is the most important thing any designer can do. I had the opportunity to take Ense's existing platform and place it in the hands of potential users to see how it actually works for them—how they're able to accomplish what they need to do. This data sorting was the jumping-off point, helping me uncover critical nuisances with Ense's design. I found, in organizing, that individuals are mainly hindered by the lack of onboarding and learnability, while also expressing a great deal of dissatisfaction with the app's overall visuals.
Identifying these problem areas allowed me to turn to competitors & find opportunities for inspiration.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor Analysis
INSPIRATION
Starting with MasterClass, the education subscription platform, which uses a benefits-focused onboarding flow and exact, straightforward copy to inspire confidence and build momentum during signup. As individuals interact with Ense for the first time, how they visualize the app, its value, is key.
Secondly, I drew from Instagram's use of logical and concise visual elements such as icons and wayfinding, both of which reduce the learning curve. IG also incorporates hierarchical, friendly UI to add comprehensibility and reduce extraneous cognitive load. My job, as a designer, is to give users a straight path to their goal by clearing out the obstacles beforehand.
IDEATION
IDEATION
I began the ideation process by taking a top-down approach to the redesign's overall structure, concentrating on laying out the new user onboarding. I quickly assembled sketches that encompass Ense's mission, improvements to critical functionalities, and an overall simplification (paring down). Tight time constraints forced me to create and iterate upon high impact screens for early stakeholder sign-off.
STYLE / PROTOTYPING
Obsessing over the logo, typography, and color scheme proved essential in laying the grounds for something lighter, cleaner, cooler, and more graphically cohesive. Full user flows, unique interactions, and animations were prototyped for sharing internally. Below, you'll find a sampling of the overall design.
Underlying rationale
-
Executing the onboarding user flow with persuasive, easy-to-digest copy alongside reinforcing photos was of the essence. First-time users are far more likely to provide personal details if they appreciate Ense's value and respond to its visuals.
-
When restructuring Ense's home screen, minimizing cognitive load was at the forefront of my design thinking. Incorporating a simple visual hierarchy assisted me in drawing attention to the most critical components, such as the act of listening.
-
At the center of the bottom navigation lies another revised feature, the record button (inspired by TikTok). Users are then led to the preview screen with options to share recorded content on their other social media accounts, similar to that of Instagram. By leveraging existing mental models, I aimed to create a superior user experience, helping people focus on the task at hand rather than learning anew.
“Ale’s an outstanding designer with impeccable taste. Her designs, used across facets of Ense, will last in perpetuity!”
— Iqram Magdon-Ismail, Founder, Ense