I led the polls and forms feature in chat extensions; working alongside a principal designer to horizontally and vertically expand its capabilities.
GroupMe is a staple messaging app used by universities and local sports clubs to support communication in student organizations, clubs & sports, study groups, and Greek life; loved for its simplicity, big group privacy, and work-life separation.
Business Challenge
GroupMe's next chapter - resonating with the Gen-Z audience
GroupMe has long been a favorite among students, but since its acquisition by Microsoft in 2011, it’s been overdue for a refresh to better connect with Gen Z. To help make GroupMe the go-to communication app for college campuses, I worked on enhancing the polls and forms feature in chat extensions, partnering with a principal designer to expand its capabilities and meet the evolving needs of today’s students.
Problem
A gap in GroupMe's polling story
We've identified a broad spectrum of polling experiences. At one end, there's a vision for richer, more fun and expressive polling capabilities. On the other, there is a desire for more functionality to fulfill common sign up form scenarios. Currently, GM’s polling system is limited to a basic text format. While users can ask a question and offer a set of options, this functionality is quite restricted.
Research & findings
Identifying what resonates with users via competitor trends, and understanding user sentiments via community requests and behavior from X.com
Ephemeral, playful and personalizableAnalyzing popular social apps among college students, I found that the most engaging polls are in story-centric apps. The authenticity of ephemeral content fosters relatability and urgency, driving participation. Key elements like emojis, bold colors, and personal images enhance these interactions.
Community requests for in-app sign-up formsGiven the various scenarios in student life, such as limited volunteering slots for a campus event, this feature would be highly compelling. Users in our community have already expressed interest and offered suggestions for expanding it within the app.
X.com shows a consistent pairing of GroupMe + a Google FormGroupMe lacks a dedicated sign-up feature leading users to rely on external tools like Google Forms and Signup Genius for event registrations - highlighting a clear need for integrated functionality.
Opportunity
How might we make participating in group chats (via poll variations) and organizing events (via sign up forms) through GroupMe effortless, engaging, and accessible for users?
ActionWhat can we do?
Form a hypothesisGroupMe’s chat polls feel outdated compared to the engaging, dynamic polls popular with our core demographic. By refreshing chat polls and adding a sign-up feature, we can boost fun, utility, and engagement, reducing reliance on third-party apps.
Align on the scopeOur goal isn’t to recreate a full forms feature but to address the 80% use case within GroupMe. While Sign Up Genius targets event organization & task sign-ups, and Google Forms excels at data collection & analysis, we’ll focus on a simpler, more integrated solution.
Map goals to business OKRsA core GroupMe OKR is to grow NPS to 40 across all platforms. Thus, we can measure success by determining whether these new polls and forms contribute to an increase or decrease to the NPS.
Current state
Before: The classic editing view
Initially, the editing flow followed GroupMe's old design language (ex: toggle and calendar component). However, it wasn't in line with the revamp efforts that GroupMe was going through.
Future state
After: A vibey editor flow
Feedback from my design mentor and comparing with apps in the competitive landscape led me to explore different interactions for each editing component. With more poll types, we also put an emphasis on consistency and clarity in order to create a seamless and enjoyable experience regardless of the poll type.
Closing the gap
Introducing more expressive, dynamic poll types
Feedback from my design mentor and comparing with apps in the competitive landscape led me to explore different interactions for each editing component. With more poll types, we also put an emphasis on consistency and clarity in order to create a seamless and enjoyable experience regardless of the poll type.
Closing the gapIntroducing functional sign up forms
Outcome
Gained approval to be placed in the backlog from design and PM leadership team
This iteration culminated in a pitch presentation to the GroupMe PM team. Everyone was excited about the direction of polls and forms in the app and the potential for further improvements. I was able to bring my vision to life and receive approval to be placed in the backlog for the next iteration.
Next Steps
Looking to the future
Sign up forms required more in-depth exploration. How would it fit in with the GroupMe Events feature? The current iteration only has slots and the associated quantity. Would sign up creators want more functionality? These are all questions to explore and test with our user research community in the next iteration.
Reflection
In this project, I learned the importance of developing business literacy. Learning to speak the language of other departments allows us to present our work in a way that non-designers can understand, appreciate, and fully support.
