Facebook Messenger Rooms

Surfacing Stories on Messenger

Facebook Stories was recently launched on the Messenger App in a tabbed experience for launch which allowed us to get a baseline on consumption metrics, but we knew we needed to surface Stories content to really add any value to Messenger. We interviewed Facebook users to understand their preferences with Stories content, which devices they used to interact, and their general thoughts on the Messenger App as a potential addition to their daily Stories consumption cycle. The feedback validated and aligned with our design goals, so by partnering with Facebook’s team of User Researchers we ran additional interviews, conducted surveys, and reviewed data reports to further confirm our hypothesis. It quickly became clear to the product team: there was a need to surface Facebook Stories in Messenger.

We identified a potential stop-gap that would allow users to consume Stories content higher upstream by combining the active and stories tabs.

Enhanced Ecosystem by Increased Consumption

With this adjustment we knew that we had to hit the ground running by changing the core experience of the product which now consisted of creating a more central place within Messenger that would allow people to browse Stories.

During this initial design phase, I was able to collaborate with other designers from the Facebook Stories team to leverage their expertise as well as get insightful feedback on the work that helped us provide more value to the team.

Maintaining a close working relationship with the Facebook developers on the team was also crucial to bringing this core experience to life. We were able to involve them in each step of the process from ideation to design delivery. We were also heavily involved in implementation, communicating with the development team daily to answer questions, work through problems and ensure quality. This helped us move more quickly and build an experience that we are proud of.