Insta-Meets Feature

Insta-Meets is a feature added to the Instagram platform that prioritizes encouraging in-person engagements and creating lasting connections between users.

Product Type

Mobile First add-on feature

Role

End To End Designer

Mobile phone screen displaying the Insta-Meets app introduction screen with options for connecting via location access, followers access, and sharing profile, with a pink and purple 'Allow Permissions' button.
Mobile phone screen showing a social media app interface with options to meet new people or connect with existing followers, and a pink and purple continue button at the bottom.

Tools Used

Figma, Figjam,

Figmake

Duration

5 Weeks

Prototype Link

Problem

Social Media has become such a platform for marketing, advertisement, selling and building businesses that often people feel like it has lost the social aspect of social media.

Solution

I created a feature that prioritizes in-person engagements between users by connecting each-other based on similar preferences and locations. Users can join groups, create events, and meet like-minded individuals in real-world settings.

Conducting Research

The first step for creating the Insta-Meets feature was to conduct market and user research in order to define the product.

Step 1/4: Competitive Analysis

Key Insights

  • Most social gathering apps include event creation, group creation, and interest based connections

  • Products bring special focus to users who have newly relocated

  • All products take rigorous steps to protect the privacy of their users

  • Special permissions such as location sharing are necessary to accomplish the goals of these apps

Goals:

Understand the market for products similar to the feature that I am proposing and identify the best practices and key functions used by these products.

Comparison of three online dating and social networking platforms: Meetup, Bumble BFF, and Timelept, with descriptions of their target users and purpose provided in text.

Step 2/4: User Interviews

Goals:

  1. Understand expectations and needs of users

  2. Determine user personas

  3. Prioritize key features for this product

Key Insights

  • Both local artists and their listeners are looking to establish strong connections with one another

  • Common sentiment suggests that top streaming services don’t prioritize their artists

  • Listeners sometimes struggle to find the music of the local artists in their communities

Research interview guide document titled 'Interview Guide: Research for adding a feature: Instagram Meets Feature' with the name Dylan Sage, date December 19, 2025, and participants 6, including an introduction section.
Cover page of a report titled 'Instagram Meets Interview Debriefs', listing interview participants, goals, and questions.

Step 3/4: Affinity Map

Goals:

  1. Identify patterns and key themes

  2. Determine pain points and HMW’s

Key Insights

  • There is a desire amongst social media users to create longer lasting and more authentic connections outside of the internet

  • Users are often skeptical about the effectiveness of friend meeting apps though they are open to trying

  • Trust is a key user need when considering engaging with a feature like this

A digital screenshot of a colorful presentation slide with a light green background, titled "Theme groups," divided into four sections: "Desirability of Feature," "Opinions on Social Media," "Preferences on Friends," and "Views on Online Friends." Each section contains several points or bulletins related to social media and online friendships.

Step 4/4: User Personas

Goals:

  1. Define target audience and users needs

  2. Identify the scope of my product

  3. Identify individual pain points of users and how to meet them

User Personas

  1. Users seeking to build a strong community

  2. Users looking to make new friends and maintain relationships

  3. Users who are neutral and would be willing to give a product like this a try

Additional Methods of User Research

  1. Research Plan

  2. Business + User Goals

  3. Problem Statements

Designing The Product

After completing my product research and analyzing the data I began to design the UI for Insta-Meets.

Design Vision

The design vision of this feature was pulled directly from the Instagram UI with small updates to the color scheme to fit my own creative direction.

The goal was to provide a familiar experience that aligned with the Instagram brand identity.

Step 1/7: User Flows

Considering I was adding a feature to an already existing product, I focused directly on creating a user flow that would navigate through the Insta-Meets onboarding and dashboard.

The user flow provided a clear navigation map for the feature that I was proposing, with this complete I set out to create wireframes.

Flowchart diagram titled 'User flow 1' with various decision points and actions related to Instagram 'Insta-Meet' feature, including steps for setting preferences, permissions, and location.

Step 2/7: Low-Fidelity Wireframes

I referenced previous design patterns utilized by Instagram as well as other products in the same field to create low-fidelity mockups of Insta-Meets

Sequence of five smartphone app screens for Insta-Meets. The first screen shows welcome and permission options. The second asks who you want to meet, with options to meet strangers, reach followers, or explore both. The third asks about activities you are interested in, with multiple choices. The fourth prompts to set location preferences and search radius, with options to enter city and miles. The fifth displays user stats, event suggestions, upcoming events, with options to join events.

Step 3/7: Mid Fidelity Wireframes

Screenshots of a mobile app onboarding process for Insta-Meet, showing screens for permissions, selecting activity preferences, setting location and search radius, with purple buttons for continuing or skipping.

I began to apply color to my wireframes based on colors pulled from the Instagram theme. I focused on the colors they use for their logo, the purple gradient hues and used that as the foundation for my design direction.

Step 4/7: High-Fidelity Wireframes

Sequence of four screenshots of a mobile app onboarding process for Instagram Meet feature, showing welcome page, selecting meet new people, choosing interests, and setting location preferences.

The next step was to continue applying the color scheme and key information to the wireframes to create a cohesive structure of what the Insta-Meets feature would look like.

Once I was satisfied with the overall look and layout I set out to create a clickable prototype for user testing purposes.

Step 5/7: Prototyping and User Testing

A digital flowchart shows a user journey on Instagram's app, illustrating the process of connecting with other users, including screens for Instagram account, Insta-Meets, and user options to meet new people or connect with followers, with annotations and arrows indicating interactions.

Next I created clickable prototypes to be used for user testing in order to gather useful feedback and insights.

User Testing

Goals:

  1. Understand how users expect to move through a feature like this

  2. Identify any hang-ups or problems in the navigation

  3. Discover any possible updates or improvements to be made

Key Insights

  • Users felt as though the Insta-Meets feature was intuitive and could fit right into the Instagram app

  • Navigation was simple and clear for users and they accomplished all tasks with ease in a timely manner

  • One user suggested to include a bio for the user profile as a way to encourage user engagement

Screenshot of a user testing guide titled 'User Testing Flow' with instructions for onboarding process, including finding icons, permissions, preferences, and setting location.
A presentation slide titled 'Insta-Meets User Testing Results' with bullet points about participants, tasks, testing goals, and research plan.

Step 6/7: Priority Revisions

Comparison of two versions of the Insta-Meets dashboard header showing updates like clearer language and green active icon for users.

User testing provided key insights and data points to improve upon my design. I implemented those design changes then discussed them with peers and my mentor.

Revisions included and were not limited to:

  1. Clarifying the use of the Insta-Meets dashboard header boxes

  2. Adding user profile bios and summaries in the “Connect” with user action

  3. Adjusting the language used in the flow to more clearly represent what users were doing

Step 7/7: Highest Fidelity

Once I completed my user testing and implemented my priority revisions I finalized the current version of Insta-Meets and prepared it for handoff.

Three smartphone screens displaying the Insta-Meets app. The first screen shows a welcome message with options for location access, followers access, share profile, and a button to allow permissions. The second screen presents options to meet new people or connect with followers, with a purple continue button. The third screen displays the app dashboard with active users, nearby events, suggested profiles to connect with, and upcoming events.

Additional Methods used for Product Design

  1. Mood Board

  2. Feature Set

  3. UI Kit

User and mentor feedback was heavily considered and implemented throughout the process of designing each version of the wireframes.

Version Timeline

Screenshots of a mobile app onboarding process showing three different UI screens with the question about meeting new people and options to connect with strangers or followers, with the third screen displayed on an iPhone.

Next Steps and Lessons Learned

Next Steps

  • Continue to conduct user testing and priority revisions as updates are implemented.

  • Experiment with other potential layouts and color schemes

Lessons Learned / Reflections

  • I would have liked to have had more time to interview a larger range of participants to gain an even deeper understanding of how users connect with social media

  • Through user research I discovered even further how important the psychology behind a social media platform is to the users, how they feel using it is everything

This product was created for the DesignLab UX/UI course. It showcases an in-depth understanding of various user research methods as well as proficiency in user interface practices.