Instagram Exchange
Share your algorithm with others.
This feature leverages Instagram’s data-driven personalization to create a new way for users to learn about each other through their content preferences - blending algorithmic insight with authentic social connection.
2
Instagram designers interviewed
2
rounds of user testing
3
redesigned flows
- Timeline
- January 2024 - May 2024
- Focus
- Mobile App Design
- Context
- Senior Capstone
- Team
- Solo
- Tools
- Figma, Illustrator
The Problem
“Instagram used to be about personal sharing, now it has migrated to all interest based content.”
- Content Designer at Instagram
Modern social platforms prioritize algorithmic engagement over meaningful connection. Users spend much more time consuming personalized content versus interacting with the people they know.
Over the course of the project I had the opportunity to talk with two designers at Instagram who shed light on issues which seem obvious, but are overlooked.
Average Daily Time Spent Viewing Friends vs. Non-Friends Content on Instagram (2025)
Interactions with
content from friendsInteractions with
content from non-friends
An Opportunity
What if you could leverage your algorithm to increase socialization?
The research revealed a major opportunity for social media to reconnect personalization with human connection. While platforms like Instagram excel at understanding user preferences, they rarely use this insight to facilitate social interaction.
=
Coworker=
Roommate=
SpouseThe algorithm knows you very well. How much you engage with content affects how well the algorithm knows you.
Less ShareabilityMore ShareabilityHigh PreferenceUnderstandingLow Preference
Understanding
Competitor + Comparator Review: All social platforms curate content for users, but they lack the ability to share this content with others.
Low Fidelity Wireframes + User Testing
The Goal: Ensure familiarity while creating a distinctly new experience.
Early brainstorming focused on how to visually and functionally integrate Exchange into Instagram’s existing ecosystem.
Sending
“Deviates from what Instagram has now”
“Good idea, but crowded.”
Receiving
“Too cluttered”
“Overwhelming”
“Not intuitive to click into.”
Final Wireframes
Starting an Exchange
Sharing your explore page with Exchange is simple and snaps to the pattern of sharing any other piece of content in Instagram.
Search
Exchange CTA is tucked away, yet visible.
Sending dashboard familiar to current sharing flow.
Share duration moved to different overlay to avoid clutter.
Select how long you would like to share your explore page for
15 minutes
1 hour
24 hours
Indefinitely
Receiving an Exchange
Receiving an Exchange brings you to DMs, a flow that users expect to see when something is shared within Instagram.
User notified on home screen.
InstagramNow
Krish shared his explore page!
Received within DMs versus separate dashboard.
Krish Patel
Started an Exchange
Now viewing distinction when in someone’s explore page.
Krish Patel
Now viewing
Accessing Sent/ Received
Users can manage active Exchanges both in their Settings or within DM profiles.
View and end Exchange within DM profile.
View all sent and received Exchanges in your settings.
Discoverability
Subtle onboarding ensures visibility without disrupting the experience.
Tool Tip
Story Post
Description Box.
Impact
Research that shaped three flows.
2
Instagram designers interviewed
2
rounds of user testing
3
redesigned flows
Conversations with two Instagram designers and two rounds of user testing shaped three redesigned flows: starting an Exchange, receiving one, and managing what you have sent and received.
Final Thoughts
Overall I am happy with how the final product turned out. Practicing working within an established design system and following the rules of the brand was a great learning experience. Being such a design forward company, it was a pleasure working with Instagram’s branding and I believe I was able to successful understand and utilize the system.
Looking back I would have liked to have conducted more research with a bigger population. I was good with user testing and talking with a few specific people for feedback, but I never received input from a large group of people. This would have been helpful in proving the usefulness of the concept and in smaller design decisions.
