Prerna Awasthi ✷ Social Media-Tracking App

Tl;Dr:

Project Overview

Background

Media tracking apps aim to provide an organizational foundation for users in an ever-expanding media landscape, but they often introduce more friction than they remove.

The Challenge

A competitive audit of eight apps revealed a consistent pattern across existing solutions: single-format focus, uneven feature depth, and scattered discussion opportunities.

The Goal

Design a media-tracking experience that consolidates multiple formats and community features, without sacrificing effectiveness in either.

Team

Solo

Role

Product Designer

Duration

3 months

Tools & Methods

Figma, Competitive Analysis, User Interviews, Usability Testing

Team

Solo

Role

Product Designer

Duration

3 months

Tools & Methods

Figma, Competitive Analysis, User Interviews, Usability Testing

Solution Preview

Meet Chronicle

A social cataloging platform designed to help users grow their community, stay organized, and discover new media; informed by a competitive analysis, user interviews, and usability testing.

Ideating

Understanding existing media-tracking applications

To better understand the gap in the market, I conducted a competitive audit of eight media-tracking applications; current solutions:

focus on specific media formats

Most apps support only one medium (books, movies, or TV), forcing users to juggle multiple platforms.

focus on specific media formats

Most apps support only one medium (books, movies, or TV), forcing users to juggle multiple platforms.

focus on specific media formats

Most apps support only one medium (books, movies, or TV), forcing users to juggle multiple platforms.

prioritize some features at the expense of others

Tracking and community features are often unevenly developed, leading to inconsistent user experiences.

prioritize some features at the expense of others

Tracking and community features are often unevenly developed, leading to inconsistent user experiences.

prioritize some features at the expense of others

Tracking and community features are often unevenly developed, leading to inconsistent user experiences.

limit discussion to isolated moments

Apps that do have forum sections have them for episodes and chapters, not complete works, impairing community depth.

limit discussion to isolated moments

Apps that do have forum sections have them for episodes and chapters, not complete works, impairing community depth.

limit discussion to isolated moments

Apps that do have forum sections have them for episodes and chapters, not complete works, impairing community depth.

For users who consume media in multiple formats and want to share that experience with others, there is no single app that currently does both well, leaving a clear gap in the market.

Chronicle's key interactions

The gaps from the competitive audit informed four core interaction areas to prioritize in the wireframes:

Community

Media

Discovery

Tracking

Users can participate in public conversations by viewing and making posts, even outside of specific media pages. These posts can be filtered by media-type and/or posts by friends. Post details include attributions, avatars, likes, and comment threads.

Community

Testing

Refining the lo-fi with users

With the market gaps and key interactions to guide the design, I built lo-fi wireframes. I conducted three user interviews focused on participants' media habits and community behaviors before iterating.

finding 01

unclear hierarchy

All participants were confused by the overlapping but separate buttons under Your Progress; one noted that "everything should have a home." The page also lacked contextual information users expected, like tags and aggregate reviews.

finding 01

unclear hierarchy

finding 01

unclear hierarchy

solution 1.1

Consolidated buttons: Clicking any chapter opened all threads, discussions, and reviews directly, keeping everything in one place.

solution 1.1

Consolidated buttons: Clicking any chapter opened all threads, discussions, and reviews directly, keeping everything in one place.

solution 1.2

Added contextual information: Added an easily accessible list of user reviews and user-added tags to give users the full picture on one screen.

solution 1.2

Added contextual information: Added an easily accessible list of user reviews and user-added tags to give users the full picture on one screen.

lo-fi

mid-fi

finding 02

users want control

Two participants wanted a wider range of options for organizing their media; one noted, for example, that "some media can span across content formats." Users also wanted more ways to personalize their profiles.

finding 02

users want control

finding 02

users want control

solution 2.1

Created a buildable foundation: Maintained default tabs, while allowing users to create their own, with sorting and filtering options for further customization.

Up Next specifically supports a use case raised by participants: pre-release discussion threads.

solution 2.1

lo-fi

mid-fi

solution 2.2

Expanded profile features: Added recent user activity and external social media links to profiles, expanding the range of information users can choose to display.

solution 2.2

Expanded profile features: Added recent user activity and external social media links to profiles, expanding the range of information users can choose to display.

solution 2.3

Profile control: Allowed users to reorder and toggle profile sections on and off, so they can display what's relevant to them.

solution 2.3

Profile control: Allowed users to reorder and toggle profile sections on and off, so they can display what's relevant to them.

lo-fi

mid-fi

Designing

Building a hi-fi prototype for collectors and critics alike

Based on research findings, I refined the designs across Chronicle's four core interaction areas. The prototype below covers the complete experience — from onboarding through community, tracking, discovery, and profile.

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Retrospective

Takeaways

Set goals early and check in often

I understand why many existing media-tracking apps are structured the way they are; balancing so many media formats and social features can be overwhelming for users and designers alike; setting goals early and ensuring alignment throughout was essential in keeping the design focused.

Autonomy over prescription

Participants had vastly different organizational priorities that predefined features failed to adequately address; offering flexibility and customization provided a more effective experience.

Next Steps

Explore cross-device consistency

The competitive audit also revealed inconsistent experiences for a single product across devices. As such, developing a web version of this project would be a natural next step; simple consolidation should include reliable cross-device functionality.

Additional testing

Given the project's focus on social features, I prioritized designing and testing those interactions and micro-interactions over a more extensive research process. The current sample size limits generalizability, so conducting more usability tests, especially for the IA, would help in further validating successes and identifying areas for improvement.

Because the goal is to simplify users’ media-tracking experience, I’d also love to conduct a diary study to see how the app fits into their routines over time.

Measuring success

If I launched this product, I would love to evaluate feature adoption rates, conversion and customer retention rates, SUS, and various social interaction KPIs.