mobile app, responsive web, product design & research
connecting people to "strangers" they're related to
Ancestry Messaging is Ancestry’s own member-to-member chat system. It was built on dated technology that was due for a much-needed technical and product refresh.
How could the new messaging system support and better yet, upgrades the communication need of our user base?
We went through rounds of audit, outreach, and user testing to understand how Ancestry customers were using the messaging system and what functionalities were priority for the MVP of our Ancestry Messaging re-launch.
A key feature introduced in the re-launched Ancestry Messaging, the inline profile feature gives our members a quick glance at the strangers they're talking to. These strangers are in fact most likely close or distant family members that they discovered through our suite of products as they further their research into their family history. This key insight from our research led us to scope this feature as MVP to encourage replies and meaningful interaction between potential family members.
To help the transition from a decade-old system, we launched animated onboarding sequences to prep our customer base, especially those who have been using the old system for years, of the changes incoming.
As this project was an update to an entire system from the ground up, we ensure this is reflected not only in our responsive, but also in our app environment as well in both iOS and Android devices.
For the full case study of this project, please inquire directly at theresautanto@gmail.com.