ShareChat is an Indian social media and content-sharing app with over 100M+ downloads on the Google Play Store and more than 250M+ MaU. It caters to users of over 15 vernacular language speakers in India with a strong base in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
First Things First
This review is of ShareChat's iOS app and is dated, and the app may have changed since I first reviewed it last year. However, the review still stands true to what the app was at the time of review.
To test the app, I have selected Gujarati as the preferred choice while onboarding the app, so non-Gujaratis may not understand the text in some screenshots.
Furthermore, the format of this blog is as follows:
What? - The problem I found in the app
Why? - Why the problem is an issue from end-user PoV
How? - How to solve the problem?
What? - The problem I found in the app
Why? - Why the problem is an issue from end-user PoV
How? - How to solve the problem?
Problem #1: Content feed just after signing up
What is the problem?
After the user signs up, the user is presented with a Following Tab. As a new user, the following tab is empty. Furthermore, even though there are suggested pages/accounts user must scroll horizontally whereas all the space below is left unused. Take a look at the following page of Sharechat's app below.
This is the first page the user sees - it feels empty and unorganized. My first impression was thinking if I missed a step while onboarding to select preferred topics or interests.
Secondly, the recommended accounts are shown as a gallery/carrousel accessible via horizontal scrolling.
Though horizontal scrolling for mobile apps and mobile websites is much more accepted than on desktop websites, it may feel inorganic if not used properly. There are many instances where horizontal scrolling fits the bill perfectly, but this is not one of those instances.
Why is this an issue?
It gives the impression that the app is empty. For a content consumption and creation platform, this is not an ideal scenario.
The app should make the user feel welcomed, as if there are all types of content available to me as a user.
The blank space in the above image doesn't convey this, on the other hand, it leaves me thinking if I have signed up for an app that doesn't have enough content.
How to solve this?
The quickest and easiest way to solve this is by re-arranging the recommendation cards vertically, thereby removing the excessive blank space. The solution on the right makes the app feel 'full' of content.
Problem #2: Search Functionality
What is the issue?
After searching for a term in the search box the result is a page with just top headings and ‘see all’ buttons with more than 90% of the page being blank.
Taping on 'see all' buttons just take you to a different tab.
Search results are in English. Even though I have logged in with my preferred language as Gujarati, the search results are in English.
After searching for a term in the search box the result is a page with just top headings and ‘see all’ buttons with more than 90% of the page being blank.
Taping on 'see all' buttons just take you to a different tab.
Search results are in English. Even though I have logged in with my preferred language as Gujarati, the search results are in English.
Why is this an issue?
Why negative space is an issue has been discussed above.
Language inconsistency is a general issue of the app and is discussed later.
The result of the search is two lines “Posts” and “Tags” with "See all" CTA links. Tabs are used to chunk related content and to alternate between views within the same context, not to navigate to different areas. Here, the ‘Top’ tab acts as a step above Posts, Tags and Profiles and is a hierarchical distinction since there are no media results in the Top Tab itself. There are two major issues:
Redundant functionality – ‘See All’ button achieves the same thing as switching tabs
Extra steps – Content discovery should be as simple as possible. Showing blank results and adding extra steps is a hindrance in UX.
Why negative space is an issue has been discussed above.
Language inconsistency is a general issue of the app and is discussed later.
The result of the search is two lines “Posts” and “Tags” with "See all" CTA links. Tabs are used to chunk related content and to alternate between views within the same context, not to navigate to different areas. Here, the ‘Top’ tab acts as a step above Posts, Tags and Profiles and is a hierarchical distinction since there are no media results in the Top Tab itself. There are two major issues:
Redundant functionality – ‘See All’ button achieves the same thing as switching tabs
Extra steps – Content discovery should be as simple as possible. Showing blank results and adding extra steps is a hindrance in UX.
How to solve this?
1. Populate the top results of the search in the Top tab itself.
2. Implementing the 1st step will remove the ‘see all’ button and it will remove redundancy. Furthermore, users can see content in the first step itself. If further filters are required, the user can always switch to the relevant tab.
Problem #3: Explore Functionality
What is the issue?
There are too many choices to choose from across various categories, subcategories, and filters. There are multiple steps to take before the user can see the content.
Why is it an issue?
Hick’s Law in UI/UX implies too many choices will lead to a poor experience because of the longer time it takes to decide. The Jam Study is one of the most famous experiments in consumer psychology and it substantiates this point.
It leads to a ‘paradox of choice’ too many choices are not always a good thing, especially when the results of these choices can overlap.
More isn’t always better, either for the customer or for the retailer. Discovering how much assortment is warranted is a considerable empirical challenge. But companies that get the balance right will be amply rewarded.
Refer to the following logical flow of the explore feature of Sharechat app -
The choices on the 2nd screen are very close and overlap with each other. For example, after clicking on the main category - "Laugh and make others laugh" on the first screen, the top-5 sub-categories on the second screen are:
"Funny Cat Videos"
"Laugh and make others laugh"
"Jokes"
"Best Jokes"
"Comedy Video Status"
What is the real difference between "Jokes" and "Best Jokes" sub-categories? Why is "Laugh and make others laugh" a sub-category with the main category "Laugh and make others laugh"? Why confuse the user with unnecessary and complicated choices?
As a new user, I am not sure what is the difference between trending and fresh. Why is Video a different tab? Can I not find videos in trending or fresh categories? If not, then how are the Videos curated in the different tabs?
The user is more confused after using the explore feature, and left with many questions regarding the design choices of the app. Any content consumption app must make it extremely easy for the user to get to the content. Adding extra clicks and steps in this process is a hindrance for the user to getting the content fast.
More isn’t always better, either for the customer or for the retailer. Discovering how much assortment is warranted is a considerable empirical challenge. But companies that get the balance right will be amply rewarded.
"Funny Cat Videos"
"Laugh and make others laugh"
"Jokes"
"Best Jokes"
"Comedy Video Status"
What is the real difference between "Jokes" and "Best Jokes" sub-categories? Why is "Laugh and make others laugh" a sub-category with the main category "Laugh and make others laugh"? Why confuse the user with unnecessary and complicated choices?
How to solve this?
Removing the 2nd screen and directly showing the results of the category selected on the 1st screen. An additional filter feature can be implemented to use when required.
If 2nd screen is required then a better recommendation and clustering of related choices must be done. In the adjacent screenshot, the coloured boxes show related choices. For instance, in the orange boxes, one is “jokes” and the other is “best jokes”, these can be clubbed into one. Similarly, for the topics in the green boxes.
To categorize content further, a filter like Reddit can be used. “Fresh” can be renamed to “new” and “Trending” can be renamed to “Top” to simplify things.
Removing the 2nd screen and directly showing the results of the category selected on the 1st screen. An additional filter feature can be implemented to use when required.
If 2nd screen is required then a better recommendation and clustering of related choices must be done. In the adjacent screenshot, the coloured boxes show related choices. For instance, in the orange boxes, one is “jokes” and the other is “best jokes”, these can be clubbed into one. Similarly, for the topics in the green boxes.
To categorize content further, a filter like Reddit can be used. “Fresh” can be renamed to “new” and “Trending” can be renamed to “Top” to simplify things.
Problem #4: Language Inconsistency
What is the issue?
Across the app, there are several cases of language inconsistencies. New User while onboarding is given a list of vernacular languages to choose from and English is not an option. This is clearly done to target the tier-2 and tier-3 customer segments. However, many options, hashtags, and settings are in English.
Why is this an issue?
The main USP of the app is that it caters for the need for social media platforms and short videos app made in India for Indian languages. Language inconsistency is a problem for tier-2 and tier-3 users who can’t read in English or find it difficult to navigate in English.
Secondly, in my opinion, and to my best estimation of the app works, the AI (NLP) algorithm does a decent job of translating hashtags into the vernacular language of choice. Hence, it is likely that posts with content in Marathi/Hindi/Punjabi etc. show up in a user with Gujarati as the preferred language.
A post tagged with “funny” in Punjabi shows up in a Gujarati user’s feed, the hashtag itself is translated from Punjabi to Gujarati but the content in the video or image is in Punjabi. That is like just translating the title of a French movie in without dubbing the movie in Hindi and expecting Hindi speakers to understand the content of movie.
This defeats the point of targeting languages as the content is not relevant to the user.
A post tagged with “funny” in Punjabi shows up in a Gujarati user’s feed, the hashtag itself is translated from Punjabi to Gujarati but the content in the video or image is in Punjabi. That is like just translating the title of a French movie in without dubbing the movie in Hindi and expecting Hindi speakers to understand the content of movie.