An Operations Manager specializing in project management and creative production, based in Los Angeles, California.
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About
Elevating Pinterest’s search response.
Pinterest is a popular social media platform, designed to help users discover new ideas and be a leading source of inspiration. A comprehensive search feature was designed to create a more robust and accurate search experience for Pinterest's users.
Tool Box: Figma, Miro, Optimal Workshop, Maze
This is a self-directed project that is not affiliated with Pinterest.
Problem Discovery
As a designer, I am constantly looking for inspiration to fuel my work and creative projects. Among many tools and platforms in my design arsenal, Pinterest has become my go-to, especially in the early ideation phase. Recently, while curating a mood board for a design project, I turned to Pinterest for its extensive image library; I looked up keywords and colors that best described what I was looking for in Pinterest’s search bar. Despite spending several hours scrolling through the endless feed and scouring through their hit-or-miss related pins, I couldn’t find content that I was satisfied with.
I found Pinterest’s search capabilities to be limiting and identified variability in the quality of search results.
Research - Navigating the Problem
I came up with a few research questions to guide me through this problem:
• How does digital image processing (DIP) and machine learning (ML) play a role in populating search results on Pinterest?
• What factors drive Pinterest’s algorithm?
• How successful is Pinterest’s current algorithm in helping users find what they are looking for?
Defining User Needs and The Problem Statement
After analyzing the three three main research findings, I came up with a "How might we" question to frame the design challenge at stake.
How might we improve Pinterest's search flow for more accurate search results?
Turning Insights Into Design Ideas
Ideation
I sketched three features I wanted to explore.Low and High Fidelity Wireframes
Once I completed the sketches, I refined them into low-fidelity wireframes on Figma. While designing the low-fidelity screens, I picked up on a few instances of flow errors that resulted from the quick sketch exercise. I made sure to tweak and develop the design further to fix these errors and allow for a smooth experience of each flow. Additionally, I focused on utilizing Pinterest’s existing design system and patterns to ensure that the newly designed feature was seamlessly incorporated into Pinterest’s platform.