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Mobile App Critique

 One of my favorite apps that I spend way too much time on is TikTok. It is almost scary how I can be on it, and then boom, suddenly it’s two hours later. 

 

The beauty of TikTok is how vast it is in terms of content. For those who are not familiar, TikTok is an app that is full of short video clips that users create and post for all to see. There is also a “live streaming” feature available as well where users can “go live” and record what is actively happening in their life. 

 

Usability for this app is very straight-forward. As soon as an account is created you are asked about your interests and are immediately inundated with random posts from users across the globe in what is called the ‘home’ or ‘For You’ section. This is basically a never-ending chain of videos where you just scroll down from one video to the next. The more time you spend watching and liking videos allows the app to create a personalized algorithm for you. For example: if I ‘like’ lots of cooking tutorials the app will start playing more cooking videos. This is legitimately one of my favorite ways to find new recipes, here is an example:

 

A plate of food Description automatically generated with medium confidenceA screenshot of a bus Description automatically generated with medium confidence

 

 

The app’s design is very minimalist I would say. The controls are at the bottom and on the right side of the page in terms of how to navigate through the app. The screen shots above are a great summation for why I created an account: for new recipes and to find new things to do around town. The app has something for everyone. There are videos that encompass tips for budgeting, art tutorials, dog training guidance, and of course funny videos. The ‘Discover” section of the app is where we can search by subject. This is where the hashtag symbol is helpful “#”. You can use the hashtag to focus the search and find certain types of videos. This is an example of what it looks like:

 

Graphical user interface, application Description automatically generated

 

Functionality is very easy to grasp. This app is the definition of user-friendly. All that is needed is to know how to scroll, which is swiping a finger up vertically on the screen which takes you to another video. I mostly just consume videos and do not post any of my own, but if I did want to post my own videos it is a simple process. The plus sign in the center is where users can upload video clips of their own directly from their smartphones or computers. On the right-hand side are editing tools built within the app that allow users to not only record videos but enhance and alter them as well with ease. Here is a screen shot of what this looks like:

A group of dogs sitting on the ground Description automatically generated with low confidence

 

Overall, the app is very much built around entertainment. In terms of potential improvements, I would probably say the ability to sort/organize videos I have liked into different folders. Right now, anytime you ‘like’ a video it merely goes to the ‘liked videos’ section of our profile in the order that they are added, which is great but having the option of sorting out these videos would be nice. Sometimes I ‘like’ videos as a way to bookmark them for later. For example: I ‘like’ it so that I can refer to it later when I am cooking. Other videos I ‘like’ to show my partner so that they get a good laugh. Being able to create a folder of “funny vids” and “recipe ideas” would be ideal because right now it feels very unorganized. 

 

Another way to improve the app is to have the ability to tag products. This would be huge for small business owners I am sure, but even from a customer perspective, I often happen upon videos where they are using a product I want to buy, but in order to find it I have search for it outside of the app. Being able to tag the product so I can simply click a link that instantly takes me to the website to buy said product would be amazing. Another improvement would be a forward/rewind feature. As of now, once a video starts playing I can tap the screen to pause it and that is all. Being able to maybe drag my finger horizontally across the page to fast forward would be neat.

 

- Michael Streat 

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