Sly messenger is a screenshot proof messenger app. Users can send hidden messages covered by bubbles to preserve privacy.
WEBSITEContributing team members: Designer/Swift Developer, Swift developer, Software Engineer, Intern, Marketer.
I conducted user research and testing. With user flows I created a simple intuitive messenger. I studied material design and created both an android and iOS 8 prototype.
After delivering the design files to our development team. I oversaw the development for iOS, troubleshooting any roadblocks that occur.
I designed a messenger that is as private as a conversation in person.
After the success of Fan 10, Nimbus as a firm decided to invest in a personal project. We believed that text threads should be just as private as a face to face meeting. We wanted to create features that mimicked a whisper within a messenger.
Text threads aren’t always confidential. Messages are often screenshot and shared out of context.
In order to mimic a whisper the team and I brainstormed for hours. I searched through popular messenger apps and social networks to see if any had features that were similar.
We had an idea to block screenshots within the app in general but we had limited power over hardware for the iPhone. A compromise was to block content being said within the app. We achieved this by covering private text with dots.
At the time this concept hadn’t been done. There was a lot of conversation between the JavaScript developers to see if it was even possible.
A list of messenger apps. their daily active users and their unding informatiom, in 2015.
The premise of the app was initially intended for conversations during business networking. We wanted to prevent confidential information from being leaked. We later pivoted to a social audience, after a few insightful interviews of family and friends.
Once we found out that our feature list was more attractive in a social setting, I designed the app with that in mind. Our target audience were millenials aged 18-34. These were the most active and influential people on social networks. Our early adopters and pilot test would be college students in the Tri-State area.
The user experience for a messenger has to be ridiculously intuitive and simple. I started by crafting user stories and interviewing friends. My primary goal was to assist a user in starting a conversation as quickly as possible.
I left room for spacing between text and images. Instead of a bottom navigation, I employed a dashboard for both settings and starting a new conversation. A small toggle next to the input field would let users know that their message would be private. The bomb icon would indicate a fleeting message.
I decided to go with vibrant colors for the alerts and the privacy. The cyan was both trustworthy and exciting to our users. The amber is used when someone is caught trying to screenshot a conversation, amber is known to draw attention. The dark colors were reserved for the backgrounds, they signify comfort and mystery.
Because each letter would be covered we had to choose a Unicode font. These fonts are traditionally unattractive and outdated, reminiscent of times passed. I decided to use Avenir a modern font that would compliment the Unicode font we were forced to use.
Sly messenger was the first personal project that Nimbus invested in.
Our budget allowed for only one platform to be built, we decided to launch an iOS app because it was popular amongst our immediate social circle. It spread amongst our friends and family and their network but our marketing at the time was novice.
