As designers, we pride ourselves with creating products that change the world. We have the skills, the attitude, and sometimes the support, so of course we try to aim for the sky. Sometimes though, it’s also important to take a step back and think about the details – the ones that don’t change the world. This is why the best product designers are detail-oriented, and don’t send anything through to the development team without checking every detail.
I use WhatsApp all the time, and recently they’ve added GIFs into the app. I found this out by reading the release notes in the App Store, because they are impossible to find in the app. I’ve been asked by so many people how come I have so many GIFs on my phone, always ready for each situation. Well, I don’t. WhatsApp does. There are so many people in my peer group who found out from me.
I know WhatsApp’s designers probably have a reason for placing the GIFs button where it is, but I am just wondering what that reason is. Why not bring them forward, like in the image below, since they are such a popular feature?
Adding the GIF link at the top is a much better solution.
Twitter, among other products, puts GIFs at the forefront of the product. You can’t miss them. This surely gets more people to use them, which makes me think: is it because WhatsApp doesn’t want users to find them, for whatever reasons? Anyway, just my thoughts on a first world problem that frustrates me. Fix it, WhatsApp!