FYFO (For Your Face Only)
FYFO is all up in yo grill.
FYFO is a social sharing app that allows users to share content with their friends and families and receive reactions to their content picture-in-picture. FYFO users can share public content or share private content protected behind a facial authentication checkpoint.
My Role: Product Manager, Design Lead and Strategist, UX/UI Design
Project Time: Retainer (Current engagement 2.5 years)
Challenge: Incorporate continuous facial authentication (patent pending) into a social content sharing app that gives the users a streamlined and familiar experience. Update FYFO’s user experience to include function updates based on user feedback. Acquire users and improve brand recognition.
The App
I joined the FYFO project team after FYFO had been in the development of an MVP 3 years prior. With the former project team's exit, I audited the design and adjusted the app's flow and appearance to support use by a more extensive user base. The first phase was to access FYFO’s core function and strip away unnecessary complexities. We designed new screens and prototypes to ensure a simple user flow.
We entered into phase 2 that consisted of overhauling the former UI while retaining the original menu structure. At this point in the process, we added a second core function that supported the facial authentication and opened up the app to function in a much more open and collaborative way.
These are the designs I received at the beginning of the engagement to set a baseline for the visuals that follow.
Early Issues
One of the main issues we saw from user feedback was that there were too many checkpoints to authenticate your face, which became annoying. These were especially problematic when the app had a bug, and you could not authenticate your face. We stripped out the duplicative checkpoints and added a “private” content type. This content is blurred and hidden behind an authentication checkpoint.
Adding this new feature enabled users to share content more freely but still feel safe knowing that only their recipients would view the content if they sent sensitive content.
Beginning of the FYFO modern age
Phase 3 began with a round of closed group user testing with a small group of Northeastern University students. We gave them a week to use the app several times a day. This feedback was crucial because it confirmed many of the concerns we had internally, surrounding how to add friends, group messaging, and the menu systems.
We began another round of design and implemented a new tabbed menu familiar to most Instagram and Facebook users, a more direct add friends experience, the ability to comment, and private group messaging. We also gave FYFO a facelift to be more modern and clean.
The payoff
After releasing this latest version, we asked the same group of students to test the app again, and the results were pleasing. They were happy to see we addressed their concerns. They said the app flowed much more smoothly, felt less clunky, and the interactions to get around the app were much more intuitive. While it was great to see the updates met their approval, there were still some issues surrounding the actual purpose of the app.
Branding: Who is this FYFO?
FYFO existed in the minds of the project team. We all knew what it was, but we had not yet put it into writing. I was responsible for putting into words what FYFO was and who FYFO was.
FYFO’s main focus was on creating a safe environment for users to share content with their friends and family. FYFO is not a global sharing app like Tik Tok or Instagram, where a user can access any other user’s content. Our users can only communicate with people whose contact information they have available. This differentiation was the main jumping-off point for the personality of FYFO. It is hard to deny that FYFO’s voice didn’t embody our voices and our experiences growing up in technology's social age. It was blunt and unapologetic but inviting and creative. We believed that it would benefit FYFO to align the opposite of “big” social media and take a stance against the current state of social media. We aimed to callback to many millennials' youth, creating a more simple experience in a complex digital world.
At this time, our primary audience had shifted. We needed the brand messaging to have a broad reach to let the audience tell us what they think FYFO’s purpose is. We used a good deal of tongue-in-cheek to allow users to draw their means to what FYFO was. Was it a meme haven, a place to share silly and funny videos or a place to get intimate?
Banana Man and Brand Content
We created Banana Man to be the face of FYFO. He is corny, silly, and my hero (I’ll tell you a secret, I’m Banana Man). We filmed a few hours of green screen content that would allow us to splice together videos for marketing content whenever needed. This allowed us to record voiceovers without needing to film more content. To support Banana Man, we also created brand content focusing on the basic use of FYFO, drawing inspiration directly from call and response, cause and effect, a kid falls, and parents' reaction.
My Wife did the voice over, she is kind of awesome :)
Marketing: User Acquisition
FYFO is currently in the progress of running through a user acquisition campaign. Results have yet to be delivered. I will add updates to this section as data is received.