FB Reels Universal CTA UXR Study

Background

Team: 30 internal stakeholders

role: lead researcher

Timeline: 4 weeks

product: facebook app reels

Methodology: moderated usability study

User focus: FaceBook Reels Consumers

Background / objective

The Facebook Reels team wanted to test different iterations of the Universal CTA on FB Reels (i.e., like, comment, share button). The like, comment, and share button has historically always been vertical on short form video (SFV), we see this on TikTok, IG Reels, and even in Facebook Reels’ MVP launch. However, everywhere else on Facebook the like, comment, and share buttons are horizontal, so the team wanted to test iterations of a horizontal like, comment, share buttons on Facebook Reels.

research questions

  1. What do users think of a horizontal universal CTA like, comment, and share buttons?

  2. What are some components of the universal CTA that the team should consider as they continue to iterate on designs?

  3. Any blockers or low hanging fruit that should be raised to the team?

Facebook Reels Player

Facebook Reels Player with vertical universal CTA like, comment, and share buttons

Methodology

Participants

  • 50 minute interview sessions

  • (10) FB Reel consumers in the US

    • Half young adults*

    • Half older adults*

  • Consume FB Reels 3-5 times a week

  • Uses a mobile phone to watch videos on FB

  • Have watched a video on FB within the last 2 weeks

  • Consumes SFV on other apps (e.g., IG Reels, TikTok, etc)

  • A mix of age ranges, >18 years old

  • A mix of female, male, and/or non-binary gender

  • A mix of demographics

*Specific ages not shared for confidentiality reasons

Procedure

I worked with stakeholders to narrow design concepts down to six (n=5 for each concept). Each participant were assigned three different design concepts, each one was shown individually and counterbalanced so different designs were shown first, second, and third. After initial feedback and reactions were captured, follow up questions were asked to help stakeholders infer how each design might impact their likelihood to engage on FB Reels. At the end of the session, participants compared the three designs and provided qualitative feedback.

Key insights

  1. Users were familiar with the horizontal like, comment, share buttons, but were concerned it would block a large portion of real estate

  2. Count count and like count reportedly encouraged users to watch a video all the way through and actively participate/engage

  3. Reactions (e.g., love, laugh, shock, etc) had mixed responses but overall can be deprioritized in the reels player design

Results

impact

Recommendations

I worked with data scientists and engineers on the FB Reels team to put the top two design concepts from this study into experiments. Experiments ran for 2 weeks as a time and continued analysis prevented the horizontal universal CTA from officially launching.

1. Work with Data Scientists and Engineers to put horizontal like, comment, and share buttons into experiments to see how it will impact engagement on FB Reels.

 

The team moved forward with iterating on the top two design concepts I recommended where comment and like count were clear and easy to engage with.

2. Prioritize designs where comment count and like count are upfront and easy to access for users (e.g., close to where their thumbs would be at the bottom right of the player)

 

Future design iterations included reaction count within the comment sheet, however this was lower on the roadmap and was often pushed off for more impactful feature launches.

3. Remove reaction count on the initial Facebook Reels Player, but consider showing a breakdown of reaction count when users tap on the like or comment sheet.