Improving the stories block has provided us with a 32% increase in the number of views.
Stories in the app are one of the points of communication with the app users.
Context
Initially, the stories in the application were implemented in a very simplified manner, as it was necessary to quickly launch the functionality. There was no product design as such — just a basic structure to test the idea. However, over time, it became clear that the current implementation does not meet expectations: view metrics remain low. Now is the time to rework this functionality, focusing on improving user experience and increasing engagement.
Understanding the task
Task
Implement updated story functionality in the app with improved design to increase user engagement and enhance key viewing metrics.
User's Mission Statement
Make stories interesting
Business goal
Increase the number of story views
Target audience
People who actively use the application to pay fines
Criterion of success
The new version should demonstrate an increase in key metrics of at least 20% compared to the current one.
Why is this important?
Stories are one of the most popular formats for interacting with users, which has proven its effectiveness on various platforms. However, the current implementation in the application does not unleash the full potential of this tool: view and engagement metrics remain low, indicating a lack of attractiveness and convenience of the functionality.
Improving stories will allow:
Increase User Engagement
Enhance Communication Effectiveness
Establish a Positive User Experience
By not updating stories, we lose the opportunity to use them as a strong tool for engagement and monetization. Improving this format is an important step towards strengthening the app's position and creating a greater value proposition for users.
Analysis of the current situation
Currently, stories in the app receive an average of 2000–3000 views per day. These figures are significantly lower than expected, considering the total number of active users.
Low metrics indicate the following possible issues: Insufficient visibility.
This data highlights the need for a serious overhaul of the visual aspect of stories to attract more users and increase their engagement. Improving view metrics by 50-100% will be an indicator of the successful resolution of this task.
Benchmarking
As part of the preparation for improving the functionality of stories, applications where this format has already been successfully implemented were analyzed. Best practices and design approaches that ensure high user engagement were studied.
Key takeaway: Visibility and convenience
Stories in successful applications stand out on the main screen and are easily accessible to the user
Visual appeal
Discovery results
After the research phase, I had a few ideas for improving the stories. It was necessary to draw layouts for them that arose during the discovery process in order to facilitate further verification.
Hypotheses
If we increase the size of cards and text in stories, then users will notice and open stories more often, as well as better understand the content, because larger elements attract attention, make information easier to perceive, and improve accessibility for all categories of users.
If we add 3D illustrations to stories, users will engage more and spend more time viewing because 3D elements make the visuals more appealing, create a sense of depth and modernity, which enhances the emotional connection and interest in the content.
Validation
To test the hypotheses, I started UX testing to assess how changes in the size of cards and text affect their visibility and attractiveness.
The tests included:
Visibility Measurement
Compared how often users notice the updated cards compared to the current version.
Attractiveness Assessment
Analyzed how the level of user interest in the cards changed: number of clicks, interaction time, and overall perception.
The results allowed us to identify which changes truly improve UX and increase engagement.
Итоги
At the end of 2024, we conducted an A/B test comparing the updated design of stories with their original version. According to the test results, we were able to increase the conversion rate for opening stories by +32%.
In addition, the improvements positively affected the secondary indicators:
The average time spent interacting with stories has increased
Users are now more likely to watch stories all the way to the end