Bantr messenger & contextual search results

Bantr Messenger is a powerful Android messaging app, providing you a beautiful experience and incredibly useful features like Contextual Search Results.

In compliance with existing non-disclosure agreements, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study. The information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Bantr Inc.

My role

As the lead designer of Bantr Messenger and Bantr Contextual Search on Android, iOS, and the web, I oversaw the creation of user interfaces and experiences that were intuitive, seamless, and visually captivating. By leveraging my extensive experience and expertise in design, I ensured that the final product was not just aesthetically appealing but also functional and user-friendly.

Customer Insights & Ideation

As a partner to the project manager and senior developer, I uncover insights and translate concepts into features that address customer behaviors and motivations.

Experience Strategy & Vision

We created frameworks and prototypes to share the vision, design principles, and content strategy. This helps to evangelize intentions, gain alignment, and drive decision-making.

Planning & Scope Definition

I collaborated with my project manager to define the product, evangelized customer goals balanced with business goals, and prioritized and negotiated features for launch and beyond.

Oversight & Coordination

I collaborated with a platform architect and their Product Manager to ensure product features were accurately translated to each platform context.

Design Execution & Validation

I produced Android, iOS, mobile, and desktop browser designs and executed user journeys, wireframes, prototypes, and design specs.

Leadership & Mentorship

I presented all levels of finished work to obtain buy‐in from executives and senior stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.

The Challenge

The existing paradigm of communication

Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, the way the world communicates has changed for the better. Gone are the days of push-button keyboard devices and sloppy interfaces. In 2008, Google launched the first Android OS, and since then, it has been a game to see who can build a better communications device and accompanying messaging apps.

Our challenge is to create an Android messaging app and Contextual Search Results API that would support the evolution of how people communicate. Integrating the API into the messaging app would allow users access to information as it is typed into a message, expediting the time to compose and streamlining communications between the parties.

Bantr will provide a simple, intuitive method for relevant communication, eliminating the need to hophop between apps to build the links and data a user wants to share.

The Approach

Go to market

With speed to market a more significant concern, we were tasked with designing and developing Bantr without libraries or prepackaged architecture from scratch. This tactic was perceived to be beneficial and least risky.

The assumption was simple—millions of customers send messages every day. Creating an experience that users find intuitive and friendly while leveraging an array of new features would give us a competitive edge and increase the sticky factor.

This early architectural decision significantly impacted the quality of the user experience we could iterate on rapidly through our agile process.

The Discovery

Customer insights

We conducted several studies with Android users who use their messaging application more than five times a day as a primary means of communication. Applying what we learned about user habits and preferences for particular messaging behaviors, we were able to adjust systems and design to meet actual user expectations.
The Vision

Prove it

Our vision is to put the best full-featured Android messaging application into millions of hands and include a powerful contextual search results API that enhances communication clarity.

We set out to switch a fraction of the 2 billion Android users from their current messenger to Bantr Messenger to gather valuable data points, product design feedback, and partnerships.

The Service

All thumbs

Better communication in a mobile space is more than a superior experience; it’s about improving the speed and intentionality of communications. We have built a service that allows each user to expound on an idea without leaving the messaging space. Clarity and expediency are now a reality in thumb-entry communication.

The Framework

Arrived

The most significant challenge I encountered during this project was balancing the rapid speed of moving through design iterations while collaborating with the teams. Since this project involved every product design and development aspect, I continuously coordinated with various co-located and distributed stakeholders to obtain the necessary buy-off.

Rendering feedback is equally challenging as each viewpoint tracks disparately from the previous. We spend significant time weighing design decisions driven by data points gathered to ensure future product enhancements meet deliverables and stakeholder expectations.

The pain points make for a better product and have improved my ability to lead and distribute workloads across various team structures.

Detailed Design

Communicating design

The things not defined in spoken or written language are the elements we devour visually and explore in our mind’s eye. Although product design may not continuously stir the soul, simplicity, and elegance can often be found in the details intended to enhance an experience. Utilitarian or expressionistically comprised designs culminate in the ability to change and improve the customer’s journey through a product.