Kik is a popular messaging app that allows teens to connect with their friends and favourite brands through chat.
We bought a pile of teen magazines (they still exist!) to get a glimpse into the teen brain for some design inspiration. Browsing magazines and ‘collaging’ was admittedly the fun part, but we also spent a lot of time analyzing the market.
We studied data from emoji focus groups and research about the specific kinds of teens that use Kik. We had to do more than just ask Graeme, our youngest team member to fully understand our audience. Do teens still say things are ‘on fleek’? Is FOMO still a thing?
My role –
User Research
Concept Development
Design Lead
Results –
45k + downloads in first 2 weeks
18.8% conversion rate
919,468 sessions in first month
Additional Kik projects (Kin Ecosystem)
Kik’s initial website:
A product's UI isn't everything.
We studied data from emoji focus groups and research about the specific kinds of teens that use Kik. We had to do more than just ask Graeme, our youngest team member to fully understand our audience. Do teens still say things are ‘on fleek’? Is FOMO still a thing?
Kik selected the concept that would sell their messaging app by evoking emotion (yay! That’s what we were hoping for). Rather than showing the product with boring UI screens in phone mock-ups, our designs expressed the emotion behind the user experience. This demonstrates the value of being able to express your unique self. After all, emotion sells.
First impressions are lasting ones.
The homepage—more so than any other page—needed to convey the emotional appeal of connecting with your friends on Kik; and thereby driving downloads. And what better way to get inspiration than by watching music videos from J Biebs and other teen stars? We wanted to communicate how Kik fits into the energy, colour and lifestyle of teens.
We set to work finding teens to cast for homepage video vignettes that would match Kik’s brand image—authentic and diverse people with interesting hobbies and interests. We found actual teens who were skateboarders, basketball players, breakdancers and even an awesome kid who designs his own bicycles.
These unique teens walk across the homepage in short clips to show how Kik lets you connect with your friends through chat.
A great product. A fantastic client.
