How TikTok works

What’s the experience of creating your first TikTok like? What have they done really well, and what could be better?

Before starting out on this journey, I had a clear goal: I wanted to create and publish my first video on TikTok.

And, cleverly, throughout the process I was given regular nudges, reminding me that I was making progress towards that goal.

These may feel like obvious aesthetic design decisions—and perhaps that’s why they were chosen—but they also are great for the experience.

The key is understanding exactly what your user’s goal is, and subtly leaving clues that their effort is pushing them closer and closer towards that goal.

Imagine this: you’ve been trying to film yourself throwing a basketball over your house and into a net for 3 hours, and you finally make it.

There—captured on TikTok—is the greatest basketball trick shot you’ve ever made. You click the ‘adjust clips’ icon, but then realise you don’t actually want to edit anything.

You then see this…

Consider your options for a second:

The ‘X’ actually just cancels the ‘trimming process’—taking you back to your trickshot, no harm done.

In these instances—where it’s possible that a user will lose some work—I’d always prefer a text link that says ‘go back’. It’s less ambiguous and in this context would save the user worrying that they’ll lose their video forever.

I’ve filmed, edited and captioned my first TikTok—and now I’m one button away from completing my goal.

You’re so close. You’re already thinking about how you’re going to send this to your friends on WhatsApp. What caption would be funny?

And when you click that ‘Post Now’ button…

Sure, the second time you post a video it doesn’t ask that—so your expectations may live up to reality then—but that’s not the point.