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Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and Edward Snowden are just 3 of the influential advocates for Signal—a messaging app that’s like WhatsApp, but with more of a focus on privacy.
And when WhatsApp announced changes to their data-sharing policy, Signal exploded.
But this rapid growth has introduced a UX complexity: the app is now being used by a much broader group of people.
Signal may be more private than WhatsApp, but if they ever want to rival their 2 billion users (yes, you read that correctly), then they’ll need a product that’s just as easy to use.
The golden question is this: when the hype dies, will people be able to convince their lazy friends, who don’t care about internet privacy, to sign up?
The answer to that depends on a number of factors, one being how easy the experience of migrating from WhatsApp to Signal is. So let’s take a look.
🧙
Some Harry Potter UX magic.
🔒
How Signal could improve their PIN creation process.
😍
What a ‘beautiful error’ looks like.
🗺
The art of discovery.
💬
Why friction may be tethering referrals.

A behind the scenes look at how I redesigned the Built for Mars sign-up flow, and iterated from early feedback.
The two "obvious" fixes that did nothing
Why you shouldn't always force an input
Why limiting the user's choices can be beneficial
Hinge built its reputation on a single promise: it's the dating app that wants you to leave. This is a breakdown of how the interface is actually engineered to make sure you don't.
How dating apps keep you engaged (not romantically)
The design equivalent of clickbait headlines
How Hinge leverages social scarcity
The challenge for a navigation app isn't to efficiently show you the best route, it's to make you believe that you've found the best route.
How strategy influences design
Waze is cornered, and slowly shrinking
What Apple's strategy appears to be

From rat mazes to coffee apps: why the motivation to reach a reward increases the closer your users get to their goal.
How to use the Goal Gradient Effect
Spinning the flywheel of purchases
Why your rules need to be clear
Sometimes, the best onboarding is no onboarding, and simple products get bogged down with unnecessary explanations. This case study on Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Asda demonstrates when to just let the user try it for themselves.
Sometimes the best onboarding, is no onboarding
“Show, don’t tell” often beats education
Data can’t always tell you when onboarding is wrong

An analysis of Monzo’s 1p challenge, focusing on the middle slump, where progress slows and motivation quietly fades.
Delight can replace progress, but only temporarily
"The middle" is the real retention problem
Motivation needs contextualised reference points
Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and Edward Snowden are just 3 of the influential advocates for Signal—a messaging app that’s like WhatsApp, but with more of a focus on privacy.
And when WhatsApp announced changes to their data-sharing policy, Signal exploded.
But this rapid growth has introduced a UX complexity: the app is now being used by a much broader group of people.
Signal may be more private than WhatsApp, but if they ever want to rival their 2 billion users (yes, you read that correctly), then they’ll need a product that’s just as easy to use.
The golden question is this: when the hype dies, will people be able to convince their lazy friends, who don’t care about internet privacy, to sign up?
The answer to that depends on a number of factors, one being how easy the experience of migrating from WhatsApp to Signal is. So let’s take a look.
🧙
Some Harry Potter UX magic.
🔒
How Signal could improve their PIN creation process.
😍
What a ‘beautiful error’ looks like.
🗺
The art of discovery.
💬
Why friction may be tethering referrals.

A behind the scenes look at how I redesigned the Built for Mars sign-up flow, and iterated from early feedback.
The two "obvious" fixes that did nothing
Why you shouldn't always force an input
Why limiting the user's choices can be beneficial
Hinge built its reputation on a single promise: it's the dating app that wants you to leave. This is a breakdown of how the interface is actually engineered to make sure you don't.
How dating apps keep you engaged (not romantically)
The design equivalent of clickbait headlines
How Hinge leverages social scarcity
The challenge for a navigation app isn't to efficiently show you the best route, it's to make you believe that you've found the best route.
How strategy influences design
Waze is cornered, and slowly shrinking
What Apple's strategy appears to be

From rat mazes to coffee apps: why the motivation to reach a reward increases the closer your users get to their goal.
How to use the Goal Gradient Effect
Spinning the flywheel of purchases
Why your rules need to be clear
Sometimes, the best onboarding is no onboarding, and simple products get bogged down with unnecessary explanations. This case study on Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Asda demonstrates when to just let the user try it for themselves.
Sometimes the best onboarding, is no onboarding
“Show, don’t tell” often beats education
Data can’t always tell you when onboarding is wrong

An analysis of Monzo’s 1p challenge, focusing on the middle slump, where progress slows and motivation quietly fades.
Delight can replace progress, but only temporarily
"The middle" is the real retention problem
Motivation needs contextualised reference points