Foundational research into motivations, needs and behaviours around “sharing”

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Role: Project lead

#Design research, #Behavioural insights, #Strategic design

Background

This project was commissioned by a global social media company seeking to delve deeper into the concept of sharing beyond the confines of social media platforms—both in digital and physical realms, online and offline.

Our initial hypothesis posited that sharing encompasses a myriad of diverse behaviours, motivations, and challenges. The client's existing product development approach primarily focused on designing for a single behaviour: clicking the share button on the interface. However, this approach overlooked the broader spectrum of opportunities inherent in a diverse range of sharing needs.

Objective

The project's overarching goal was to develop solutions that resonate with people's needs and preferences regarding sharing. To achieve this objective, we set out to uncover the fundamental drivers behind sharing—what prompts individuals to share, what do they share, their intended audience, and the motivations behind their sharing behaviours.

Ultimately, our aim was to leverage these insights to inform the design of new experiences that not only increased the volume of sharing per user but also to boost the percentage of users who regularly engage in sharing activities.

The digital diary study, involving 30 participants in each country, was conducted over 9 days. Participants were tasked with uploading images, videos, thoughts, and feelings at moments throughout their day when they engaged in sharing activities.  Starting with digital diaries helped us gain initial insights, inform the ethnographic research design, as well as to select participants for the next phase of the research.

While we successfully utilised a specialised digital research tool for the diaries in the US and Brazil, we adapted our approach in India and Thailand, conducting the diary study through WhatsApp due to local preferences and technological considerations.

Following the digital diaries, we selected five face-to-face participants from each country who had completed the digital diaries, along with an additional four participants who had not, to engage in in-context research using ethnographic methods. These ethnographic sessions involved interactive activities specifically designed to facilitate rich conversations and insights.

Upon completing the research and synthesising the data, we designed and facilitated an activation workshop. This workshop served as a platform to present the research findings and co-create opportunities and strategies with the client to act upon the insights generated from the research.

By providing these tailored insights and deliverables, we aimed to empower the client's design teams to reimagine sharing in ways that resonate with their target audience and drive meaningful engagement.