Morse — UX case study
A new social media platform — Recreation of Twitter
Introduction
Previously on this blog, I told you about my life and how I switched career to become a UX Designer. Today, I am very happy to share my first project with you: Morse.
There are lots of challenges in every aspect of life, yes! After an adventurous life, I would say that building up a new career from scratch is my toughest one. Although there were many people helping me to find my way, it was very difficult to overcome some obstacles. And the time was passing and still.
So, I decided to create mock-up projects to shape my portfolio. My idea was simple enough for the first one; “choose your favorite mobile applications and re-create them.” The advice came from Hannes D`Hulster, who was my coach during osoc20. I said why not, then immediately took an action and decided to combine my favorite apps.
The Idea
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 — April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age, Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system. He was a co-developer of Morse code.
Yavuz Ugurtas (July 29, 1992 — ∞) is a Turkish inventor and UX Designer. After having established his reputation as a journalist, in his young-middle age, Ugurtas contributed to the invention of a new social media app, Morse.
Yes, Samuel Morse inspired me like Nikola Tesla did Elon Musk. When I thought about mobile applications, I have always ended up considering Twitter and Signal. I spent almost two hours of my days on Twitter since 2009. As a long-time user of Twitter, I saw almost every update and new function. Then I realized that I don’t need to focus on the testing part of the project since I`ve already witnessed how a social media app develops over the years.
Signal also has inspired me. Not because of its interface or functions, but its vision! The way the Signal treats the data and privacy gained my respect from the very beginning. I believe security is a very important issue when we talk about social media apps. Especially if the users come from countries like ‘still in the progress in the democracy context’. I have suffered enough to understand how social media platforms can be used as a weapon in the hands of governments and corporates. No sir! Not on my watch…
My social media app needs to be secure and open-source like the Signal and well designed like Twitter. To be able to do that, I asked my friends` opinions (thought them as a user), consulted my wife`s vision (thought of her as my boss!?), and needed my cat`s feedback (he encouraged me every single time). I really enjoyed the first part of the process. The name, the logo, and the wireframe were already on fire. The time has come and I was ready to do magic.
The Problem
- I can not find a job because I don`t have professional experience as a UX Designer and I need a job to have professional experience.
- There are hundreds of people being imprisoned every month because of their social media posts in countries like Turkey.
- All the social media giants are becoming the same. (e.g., Story mode on Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok)
The Goal
- I will act like I have a real job and create a project from scratch. In this way, I would present a portfolio to companies.
- We need a social media app, that designed to never collect or store any sensitive information. Posts and messages cannot be accessed by anyone because they need always end-to-end encrypted, private, and secure.
- There is a need for an app, which does not have all the functions and technologies that exist in the 21st century. Sometimes communication has to be simple as walkie-talkies.
Proposal
Re-creation of Twitter; changing the brand, simplifying the design, and adding new functions while getting inspired by Signal.
Research Topics
- How security and privacy work
- How to avoid from governments
- Habits of social media user
- How ‘DM’ works in several apps
Push-to-talk function
It works like a retro walkie-talkie. Green rings mean you have a new message from a friend. You can answer them while pressing their picture (Blue ring). Be careful! You have only one chance to listen and speak for each message!
- No texts
- No videos
- No photos
- No history
- Maximum 15 seconds
- Only for the people following each other
- Private and secure
Final Prototype
I am genuinely happy to see that the final product is way better than I have imagined at the beginning.
Design sprints, zoom conversations with my friends, and inputs from my dear mentors helped me a lot to reach my goal. Hope you liked it. It would be great to hear some feedback! Maybe one day we will find this mock-up project on App Store. Why not!
