Evolution of

The Bing Wallpaper

Mini-App.

Microsoft Bing · Inspiring users to discover the world from an amazing Bing wallpaper

 
 

2020.11 - 2021.6

[My responsibility]

Designed the end-to-end experience cross platforms (IOS/Android/tablets)

[Stakeholders]

PMs & developers/Bing leadership team/Bing design system team/Other mini-app teams

[Project Impact]

Had top DAU & positive user feedback/Contributed to the Bing design system

 
 
 

What is a mini-app?

 

In 2020, Bing app was redesigned to be a ‘super app’ that integrated sub-features/services as ‘mini-apps’

The newly redesigned Bing 👇

 
 
 

Why wallpaper mini-app?

 

The daily refreshed wallpaper of Bing search engine is Bing’s distinguish feature, favored by the users

Bing.com (DT) & Bing mobile app homepage 👇

Bing.png

Users like wallpapers so much and even want to set them as device backgrounds

I was responsible for designing the wallpaper ‘mini-app’ in Bing app👇

 
 

1st stage: quickly delivering the MVP

 

I first dived into previous user research to discover that Bing users are curiosity-seekers

· Described Bing app as “beautiful, fun and easy-to-use”
· Loved Bing’s rewards, wallpaper, and reliable search experience most
· Showed strong willingness to seek for the truth

Then, I discussed user & business goals with PM

  • User goals: set Bing images as device wallpapers, access the daily Bing wallpaper, and have access to all the historical Bing wallpapers

  • Business goals: engage Bing users and strengthen Bing’s identify (*Measured by DAU and qualitative user feedback)

 

We wanted to shape an experience that was:

 
 

After conducting competitor analysis and early explorations, I delivered MVP design

 
 

Echoed back to the design goals:

 

Engaging users via daily refreshed wallpaper👇

 

Providing contextual info. that unique to Bing👇

 

Delivering delightful and fun interactions 👇

Stage1_Illustration.png

MVP received positive user feedback

“I love wallpapers, unique and nice designs”

“Love this(the solid color selector)! And I like that I have the option to download solid colored wallpaper!”

“The design of the app(wallpaper mini app) is top👍”

 
 

2nd stage: how did I initiate UX iterations to fulfill unmet user needs ?

 

When browsing the 800+ Bing images in the gallery, users would like to discover different image themes

I read hundreds of user feedback from Bing’s feedback system to uncover unmet needs

 

HMW help users effectively discover images and explore their interests ?

After competitor analysis and brainstorming, I conducted design explorations and ranked them by browsing/searching scenarios and categories’ discoverability👇

 
 
 
 
 
 

I kept refining the design by adding a hero recommendation on the top!

In a dogfood testing, I discovered that some users were not interested in categories but just wanted to browse beautiful images, so I designed a featured collection on top👇

 
Iteration.gif

I also considered the end-to-end user journey and enabled users to explore related images

Users can explore more related images when they opened each image’s detail page👇

 
 

Wallpaper mini-app had top DAU among all mini-apps

Bing mini app DAU (excluded news and rewards)👇

Data.png
 
 

3rd stage: how did I look at a larger picture to support Bing’s eco-system ?

 

Business goal for next step: keeping engaging users to raise the Attach Rate from 2.4% to 3.0%

*Attach Rate = Mini app average DAU per month / Bing average DAU per month

Challenges

  • Changing wallpaper is not a frequent user behavior. How can a wallpaper tool continuously engage Bing users ?

  • How can design help align the business goals with user goals ?

Turnaround: uncovering users’ potential interest —— people are curious to explore more beyond images!

I read hundreds of user comments in Bing’s feedback system and did 3 interviews

Quotes3.png
 

Why not enable users to discover the world through the rich Bing images ?

  • The 800+ Bing images have covered worldwide amazing destinations, animals, and cultures

  • As a search-based service, Bing is able to provide most images with contextual information and knowledge

 
 
 

More than just a wallpaper: from a ‘tool’ to a ‘content + tool’ service that forms rich and in-depth experience

 
 

First tab as ‘discover’👇

 

Main modules👇

 

Wallpaper as an entry point to extend the user journey: Leveraging existing Bing services (Bing travel, rewards, etc.) and connecting the dots

Discover 👉

Explore rich image modules and destinations

Get to know 👉

Gain bite-size knowledge with Bing quiz and earn rewards

7.png

Add to wishlist 👉

Share out interested images with delicate templates

Take actions 😊

Start planning a trip on Bing from an amazing wallpaper

 

My reflection & take-aways

  • Honed design skills & deepened understandings on agile process: by owning the end-to-end experience cross platforms and working within Bing’s eco-system, I learned to effectively utilize/contribute to design systems, and design for edge cases, internationalization, as well as different platforms (Android/IOS/tablet)

  • Led stakeholder alignment: I led the UX iterations and stakeholder pitches, all within a tight timeframe. From this, I learned ‘corporate start-up’ skills and how to leverage existing resources to benefit the company’s vision/strategies

  • What could be done better: I could be more aware of the product roadmap and planned the evolution timeline ahead, so that I wouldn’t have been in such a rush to finish my work before I left the team; and I should be more intentional to learn more about technical respects from developers in the team