A Safer Meta Family Center
Building trust and fostering support for families
Role
UI/UX Designer, Contract
Timeline
Oct 2023 - Jan 2024
Team
Cal UMA Team
Sia Partners Project Managers at Meta
Skills
UI Design
UX Design
Visual Design
Prototyping
Tools
Figma
Photoshop
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Meta aims foster safer digital experiences through the Meta Family Center.
PROJECT SCOPE
Empowering families by enhancing trust and safety in the digital world through the Meta Family Center (MFC), we enhanced their website’s UI, branding, and content strategy to create a more reliable and engaging platform for families.
BACKGROUND
The Meta Family Center is a dedicated hub for parents to guide their teens’ online experiences.
Meta Family Center is Meta’s new platform designed to help parents ensure safe and informed online experiences for their teens. It provides supervisory tools, expert resources, and educational content across Meta technologies like Meta Quest and Instagram.
PROBLEM
Meta must address the trust gap between parents and their children to make the MFC more relevant to both parents and teens.
Meta Family Center provides parents with resources and tools to help guide and ensure a safer online experience for their children.
HOWEVER
There is a lack of trust between parents and their teens, which limits the platform's effectiveness and adoption.
To increase user engagement and make the platform more impactful, Meta needs to address this trust gap and make the platform more appealing and relevant to both parents and teens.
THEREFORE, WE ASK
HMW reimagine Meta Family Center to be more inclusive of diverse family dynamics, creating a more supportive platform for all families?
A LITTLE MORE BACKGROUND
Streamline the MFC’s UIUX to increase engagement and reliability.
UX audits: SWOT analyses
To inform our creative strategy for increased engagement with the MFC, we conducted research for 2 SWOT analyses to improve the website’s overall design and offered resources.
USER RESEARCH
What’s the word online?
USER SURVEYS
Meta asked us to gather insights on Gen-Z’s values and feelings toward the Meta Family Center. We conducted 312 user surveys to consider:
VISUAL PREFERENCES
61% of respondents prefer a simple design for websites.
56% respondents ranked content relevance as the most appealing aspect of a website.
CONTENT PREFERENCES
Increase trust by offering clear authorship, credible sources, testimonials, and user reviews.
What factors influence your decision to trust and engage with the content on a website?
META COMPANY VALUES
57% prioritize reliability, with many also valuing trustworthy and consistent business practices.
41% identified privacy and transparency as the most lacking value in tech companies.
META FAMILY CENTER SENTIMENTS
52.8% of the respondents are on the fence or unsure about the authenticity of the MFC. Meta needs to engage in outreach, transparency, and communication to clarify goals and intentions of the MFC.
Meta Family Center feels genuine and authentic?
Fostering greater trust for a more reliable user experience on the MFC site.
USABILITY TESTING + AFFINITY MAPPING
We conducted 30 user interviews with students to explore their user experiences on the MFC website in order to uncover initial impressions, challenges, and the perception of the platform features.
SYNTHESIS
Who are the faces behind the Meta Family Center?
USER PERSONAS
We developed 5 user personas based on the Meta Family Center's key user groups, expanding beyond traditional family dynamics to include younger audiences.
KEY INSIGHT 1
DIGITAL WELL-BEING AND BALANCE
Deliver engaging content on digital well-being with tips to manage screen time, set boundaries, and balance online and offline life.
KEY INSIGHT 2
INCLUSIVE ONLINE SPACES
Create content that emphasizes inclusivity, diversity, and a positive online environment, offering resources for respectful interactions and understanding different perspectives
KEY INSIGHT 3
DIGITAL LITERACY AND ONLINE SAFETY
Develop content on digital literacy, online safety, and privacy with resources on handling cyberbullying, managing privacy settings, and staying aware of online threats
HYPOTHESIS
Meta should prioritize simple, intuitive UIUX to effectively deliver content on safety, inclusivity, and well-being.
SOLUTIONS
Four UI Modules for a safer and more inclusive Meta Family Center.
UI REDESIGN
We redesigned 4 UI modules of the MFC’s website to offer guidance on Meta’s visual simplicity, demo features, and diverse storytelling to ensure a safer and more inclusive Meta Family Center.
PRODUCT: COMMUNITY FORUM
We conceptualized a community building forum to increased social connection with other users, fostering greater trust through online communities.
MODULE 1
Visual Simplicity
Simple Visuals
Utilize illustrations, animations, and icons alongside key messaging to boost user engagement. Maintain consistent visual representation within themes for clear hierarchy.
Inclusive Messaging
Include messaging for a broader audience beyond traditional family dynamics. Ensure consistent phrasing for messages, titles, and descriptions.
MODULE 2
Features / Tools Demo
Clear tool sections
Organize website sections to highlight Meta Family Center tools on Instagram. Explain tools' purposes, benefits, and usage clearly using simple language for better comprehension.
Auto playing Demos
Include auto-playing videos demonstrating tool usage on Instagram. Visually illustrate key features and benefits. Provide practical examples to enhance user understanding.
MODULE 3
Diverse User Stories
Commitment to transparency
Emphasize transparency through authentic user stories. Share real-life scenarios to build trust and understanding.
Address skepticism + uncertainty
Dismiss assumptions by sharing concrete user experiences. Use relatable stories to build confidence and trust.
Beyond traditional narratives
Showcase diverse user interactions with MFC, emphasizing its relevance to a wider audience beyond traditional family dynamics.
Personalized + inclusive experiences
Include diverse user stories to showcase the platform's versatility and appeal to a wider audience. Highlight how individuals from various backgrounds benefit from MFC tools.
PRODUCT
Community Building
Unified Dashboard
The centralized dashboard offers an overview of community activities and events.
Community Forums
Topic-specific forums for diverse interests and initiatives. Threaded discussions, polls, and multimedia to enhance engagement. Easily connect with other MFC members.
Resource Hub
Resource repository for community documents and guides. Organized articles and FAQs on relevant topics. User-contributed tutorials for Meta Family tools.
REFLECTION
Thank you Sia Partners x Meta
Working on the Meta Family Center UI project was a rewarding experience, collaborating with Sia Partners and Meta PMs, and leading the UMA design team. This project was an excellent opportunity to apply design thinking to enhance the community experience through a user-friendly interface.
Reflecting on this journey, I appreciate the flexibility we had in shaping the end products based on our research. The collaboration with a diverse team and the integration of user feedback into our design solutions were invaluable.
However, having more time for user testing would have allowed us to further refine our designs and ensure an even better user experience. Despite this, the project provided a strong foundation for my future design endeavors and deepened my understanding of creating impactful UI solutions.
Our team at Salesforce Tower presenting our final deliverable to Sia Partners & Meta team!