Conversation Redesign

Samsung

Overview

Samsung Messages struggled with complicated attachment flows and poor previews for photos and videos. I redesigned the interface to reduce the number of steps needed to send multimedia, allowing users to preview messages in context and see clearer thumbnails. This streamlined approach doubled the attachment rate and laid a solid foundation for future features.

Role

Lead Designer

Platform

Android

Team

1 PM, 8 Engineers

Year

2018

Responsibility

Over time, the ways people communicate through messaging have evolved from simple text to richer media, yet Samsung Messages has remained relatively conservative. Recognizing an opportunity to modernize the messaging experience, my PM and I decided to revamp it in line with emerging trends—laying a strong foundation for future scalability and delivering a more tailored user experience for sharing rich content. Our goal was twofold:

1. Build a scalable foundation for future multimedia features.
2.Create a tailored user experience that embraces modern messaging trends and user expectations.

Identifying problem

So what’s holding us back?

We began by analyzing Samsung Messages’ user flow around multimedia sharing. While our researcher conducted interviews and surveys to understand user expectations of a “delightful” messaging experience, I performed extensive data and competitor analyses (focusing on Apple, Google, Huawei, and Xiaomi). These efforts highlighted critical friction points that hinder a seamless messaging experience:

Non-Seamless User Flow

The user flow is lengthy and inefficient, requiring at least three steps to attach any item. The attachment menu is cluttered with unused or rarely used options.

Lack of Context

When users attempted to attach media, the attachment screen took over the entire interface, preventing them from referencing the ongoing conversation or the text they were typing.

Limited Media Visibility

Sending and receiving multimedia content lacked previews, requiring users to tap to view in full screen. This caused abrupt context switching and disrupted the conversation flow.

Goal

Enable near real-time messaging

Through research and alignment with the PM and researcher, we confirmed that rich content sharing is a growing trend, particularly among Millennials who view messaging as a real-time communication method bridging the gap between calling and email. Workshops were conducted to define the scope of the revamp and establish success criteria.In these workshops, we identified three key experience blockers and set corresponding objectives.

Excessive Early Demand

Justify Necessary Tasks

Certain steps, often mandated by regulations or leadership requirements, cannot be removed. We aimed to clearly communicate why these tasks are crucial, ensuring users understand and accept their importance.

Fragmented Flow

Streamline the Flow

We reorganized all onboarding tasks by relevance and complexity, guiding users from lighter information to heavier details in a more seamless progression.

Misleading Plan Selector

Clarify the Benefits

We refocused the plan selector to highlight Curve’s value proposition and unique benefits, helping users make informed decisions and reducing the misconception that Curve is merely a bank.

Process and Iteration

I started by sketching various wireframe concepts aimed at addressing these core goals. Given the strict performance requirements for a lightweight, fast-processing app, we had to consider existing Android components and Samsung’s native functionalities. I collaborated closely with the PM to avoid policy pitfalls (e.g., permission requests, system UI constraints) and worked with engineers to confirm technical feasibility.

Usability test

Narrowing down solution, and iterate

Once we had high-fidelity prototypes, the researcher and I partnered with a user research firm to conduct usability tests. We recruited participants ranging from ages 10 to 60 and across diverse smartphone brands. Tasks included attaching photos, sending videos, and receiving various media types.Key Insights from Testing:Some participants were confused about changing camera ratios or switching between portrait and landscape views.Most appreciated the streamlined attachment approach, but wanted clearer confirmation that content had been attached successfully.Larger preview thumbnails helped participants remember which files they had selected before sending.

Key Insights from Testing:

Some participants were confused about changing camera ratios or switching between portrait and landscape views.
Most appreciated the streamlined attachment approach, but wanted clearer confirmation that content had been attached successfully.
Larger preview thumbnails helped participants remember which files they had selected before sending.

The final outcome

After addressing the usability feedback, I collaborated with developers to implement the refined design. Here are some of the key improvements.

I reduced attachment steps for camera and gallery from six to four, which is the most frequent used options, ensuring a smoother process. Users can now view their conversation while selecting media, maintaining context and flow.

The attachment thumbnail area was moved above the text field for better organization. Users can now quickly swap camera ratios with a simple swipe, avoiding deeper settings.

Text and media bubbles were merged into a cleaner layout, reducing unused space. Sent and received items are now visually distinct yet cohesive, minimizing cognitive effort.

Videos now appear directly within message bubbles, streamlining the process by removing extra steps.

Redesigned bubbles according to media type for easier, faster comprehension.

Impact & Result

The revamped interface significantly enhanced user engagement, with the attachment rate more than doubling, demonstrating the improved intuitiveness of the new design. A standardized messaging design system was established, seamlessly unifying Enhanced Messages (similar to iMessage) and traditional SMS/MMS for a cohesive user experience. Additionally, the future scalability of the new attachment sheet and refined UI allows for easy integration of features like stickers and voice notes, ensuring minimal rework and adaptability for evolving user needs. This approach was adopted by many industry players, and several of the defined elements became the standard for messaging experiences.

1.3 Billion

Users Impacted

+2X

Attachment Rate

Industry Standard

Recognition