Roles
Product Design
UI/UX Design
Design Research

Tools
Figma/Sketch
Adobe Illustrator

Timeframe
Jun - May 2022
Product Designer @ Facebook

Inbox is a true omni-channel, multi-agent, communications tool for businesses that provides a single view of the customer across all touch points.

Automation is one of the most used tools in Inbox that helps businesses prioritize. An automation is defined as an action that’s completed automatically when a message or prompt event meets a set of conditions in Inbox. Current automations in Inbox include automated responses such as instant replies, away messages, and more.

IFTTT stands for If This, Then That and is the creation logic for automations in Inbox. This means when a prompt event occurs, such as receiving a message, an action is completed based on that prompt and conditions.

Many partner teams are building new automation features into Inbox, increasing the complexity and difficulty of the current automated responses user experience.

We propose evolving the information architecture of automation to create an extensible framework that will enable us to scale the experience while still meeting the needs of our business users.

Automations are confusing

🤔 

Automations are confusing

People problem

“I’m worried I’ll send incorrect messages to my customers because I don’t understand the difference between all of the automations.”

How do we know this is a problem?

Businesses struggle to tell the difference between admin facing “workflow” automations and customer-facing “messaging” automations.

Some automations seem redundant- like instant reply & away message.

🔍 

Automations aren’t discoverable

People problem

“I’m frustrated that I’m wasting valuable time trying to find and manage the automations I need.”

How do we know this is a problem?

There’s concern about the overhead required for setting up automations with no guaranteed outcome. The easier we can make it to get started (e.g. by providing suggested automations), the more likely businesses will start seeing value.

Low adoption rate suggests difficult setup- only about 10% of businesses use 2+ automations.

📈 

Current IA isn’t scalable

Meta problem

“It’s difficult to accommodate new automation use cases being developed by teams across Business Messaging with the current IA.”

How do we know this is a problem?

Proposed use cases from partner teams don’t fit the current automated responses model.

Automations are evolving beyond responses to include more complex workflow and combination use cases.

👩‍🎨

For businesses

Help businesses save time with easy-to-use automations that streamline their workflows and efficiently respond to their incoming messages, increasing the overall business adoption and retention of automation features. 

🏆

For Meta

Supercharge new automation use cases and features across Business Messaging by creating an extensible IA for teams building onto the Inbox automation platform.

Intuitive

Everything is where it’s expected to be. 

IA respects the mental model of both businesses new to automations and those familiar with the current automated responses. 

Scalable

IA is extensible and can easily accommodate new automation features.

Utilizes repeatable design and content patterns for automation templates and navigation.

Guiding

Draws attention to valuable use cases via the “Suggested for you” section, engaging illustrations, and jobs to be done represented as “Goals.”

Clearly communicates the difference between automation use cases with simple, straightforward and human language. 

Efficient

Quick access to creating new automations or filtering automations that’re already set up saves people time. 

Scannable layout with collapsible sections allows businesses to focus on what’s most relevant for their workflow.

Page vs. Modal

We decided to use page instead of modals for the creation flow because it is less disruptive and provide more space to accommodate all the steps while creating a new automation use case.

Suggested section @ top vs. bottom

We decided to place template at the top for the following reasons: 1. upsell new automation use cases to users to get people excited; 2. for people who have many automations set up already, it is a churn for them to scroll down to see the template; 3. the section will only take up one row of space.

What does success look like?

Neutral or greater top-line metrics (primarily automation tool adoption), with increased adoption and click through rates for individual automation use cases.

Include engineers early in the design process

By working in a cross functional team with engineers, product managers and researchers, I learnt that including engineers early in the design process provides a fresh perspective to the problem, helps the team understand all the technical constraints, and leads to an efficient design process.

Trust yourself

One thing I learn is that I need to trust myself to make the right decision when it comes to making the design decision. Team’s feedback is definitely helpful and important, but it is also important that I think deeply about what I think is the right decision for the product to go in before asking others’ feedback.