Research Plan

Recruit

• N = 9 Gen Z participants (5 teens, 4 young adults)
  
• 60 min sessions, remote across the U.S.
  
• Must be Instagram DM users.
  
• Little to no experience with creating AI images. Must not be AI content creators.
  
• Habit of using expressive media in their daily chat conversations (e.g. emojis, GIFs, memes, etc.). This is important, because Imagine in DMs is meant to be a creative expression tool.
  

Methodology

• Remote user interviews due to limited time: I screen-shared concepts via desktop (clickable Figma prototype). Participants were asked to imagine seeing this in the context of their Instagram chat and were given the ability to click through the prototype.  
  
  *At this stage, the team already had strong quantitative data that revealed user behaviors at scale. To understand the why behind these observed behaviors, we needed qualitative research to understand user stories, attitudes, and use cases. User interviews allow for in-depth insights into a participant’s expectations, first impressions, and reactions as they navigate a new tool. I can probe into nuance with real-time follow-up questions to explore insights as they emerge.
  
  ‍(Limitations: Participants did not directly experience the prototype on mobile devices, limiting natural interactions and behaviors.)
• Usability Testing: I conducted light usability tests with users on the experience of discovering and navigating to Imagine from Instagram DMs to understand initial perceptions of the tool and usability experience.
• Concept Testing: I tested three concepts (Spotlight, Capabilities, Formats) in two clickable prototypes. Both prototypes had the same three concepts, with one prototype featuring full personalization via Imagine Me (user likeness) and relation to hobbies.
• *We wanted to understand whether Imagine Me integration (AI generated images of a user's face, after they onboard to Imagine Me) in the new concepts would increase a user's interest in the Imagine landing page and perception of certain use cases. This was meant to simulate how personalized the Imagine landing page would be in the live product.
  
  We hypothesized that the full personalization experience would be more eye-catching and feel immediately relevant for users. I worked with design and engineering to pre-generate images of each participant's face and integrate them into the designs.

Timeline

With four weeks, I worked with my Research Lead to design a research strategy to deliver insights in a timely manner for product development and launch.