Narrative

Historically, we have been asked by PXFN (privacy cross function partners) and integrity teams to provide users insight into the entities they’re engaging with across two axes:
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1. Insight as to the profile type, given that policies/capabilities can differ
2. High level access to critical integrity information about the entities

Strategy and kickoff

First I needed to gather all of the requirements. Initially part of this request came from an exectuive stating the profile surface looking cluttered, which kicked off a redesign effort, but this would have many implications. I wanted to learn all the ins and outs of the intergrity information we would need to keep in tact.

People problem #1- Differentiation

The four types of profile types, you can see how similar they are and how users might be confused at which ones are actual humans vs business or PR teams handling these profiles

Current implementation

Currently we use a “Page” label on a user's profile in the About section to show that this is a Page or professional Profile. Feedback received is that this is really heavy and “clunky” and takes up more space than necessary. However, removing this label would not be allowed under our privacy or integrity policy so it would require several other changes to be made.

1. Need a way for users to access the integrity screen (which is linked from the blue link)

2.Need a place to house the "category" that a user selects when building their profile. This is mandatory on all profile types except for a personal profile.

Brainstorming and initial explorations

For the first pass, I wanted to see if adding an element would be helpful, one, because it wouldn’t require us to remove any valuable information and two because a new element usually catches the eye of the user. I tried a few variations; icon, label or the category alone

Feedback and insights

• Need ability to get to the Page transparency screen (currently “i” icon)
• Would not meet privacy requirements with no "i" icon.
• Keep any elements out of the navigation area
• Cannot have icons near the profile photo as that is reserved for the "online" status dot.
• The category isn't obvious that it's tappable
• Might want something a little more subtle
• How might we reduce the size of the header?

We quickly realized we didn’t want to add additional visual elements due to scale and localization, so we opted for some more subtle variations. Moving the label into the header or just adding it to the details section header. But each one had it’s pros and cons. We also needed a review by the Privacy, Legal and Integrity teams. I worked with these teams to further understand some of the requirements.

Final outcome

Additional / Professional Profile (previously Pages) before and after

Community Profile (previously Groups) before and after

Final Variations

Finally, after combining all of these changes along with the differences between entities already such as various button CTAs, the ability for some profile types to have a visible username, and the verified badge, we made significant progress on differentiating between our four main profile types. Have a look below.

User testing and results

This is currently undergoing more testing but the previous testing had given us lots of insights.

Key insights

• Too much information detracts from the user experience.
• Unless it's a "vital" integrity signal, progressive disclosure is the right method to communicate.
• Patricipants from Brazil felt it was especially important to understand when other profiles can distribute ads.
• Participants wanted to know if a profile was personal or professional, so they could confirm they were following the correct profile.
• Participants were split on the importance of knowing if a profile had admins or not.
• Participants had no idea that Pages and Profiles had different capabilities.