Reimagining Communications Beyond BBM
BlackBerry, once globally recognized for its leadership in secure messaging and email through BBM, was looking to double down on its communications strengths. With growing industry speculation that “email is dead,” the business saw an opportunity to explore what the future of communication could look like. As a UX researcher and designer, I was brought in to investigate emerging user needs and uncover meaningful opportunities for innovation in this shifting landscape.
Year
2013
Topics
UX Research, Strategy, Exploration, UX Design
Company
BlackBerry
/ Role
I led the exploration of the communication space from a user-centered perspective. This included conducting research, identifying key opportunity areas, and generating early design concepts. I later collaborated closely with UI developers to bring these ideas to life through interactive prototypes.
/ Bee Keepers for User Research?
This was not your typical user research task. This needed something different and it turned out to be special.
I decided we should talk to psychologists to understand the theory of communication. I also talked to "extreme" users that were from out there disciplines - including beekeepers. This allowed me to workshop with the organization some out there ideas, and to ensure we didn't stick with what we knew.
9
Specialists interviewed
15
Social Theories
4
"extreme" users interviewed
6
Co-creation workshops
15
Global scans
45
Insight Cards
/ Insight Cards for Long-Term Knowledge
We created insight cards that represented the theory and key foundational insights around communication. The intent that this could be used by teams in the future that wanted to spin-up products. By focusing on the foundations instead of application research, it opened up the possibilities.
/ Concept 1: Organic Group Communications
This research led to a new initiative focused on addressing a clear business challenge: revitalizing group communication. While BlackBerry already offered BBM Teams, adoption was low and the experience didn’t reflect how people actually collaborate.
We discovered collaboration happens organically and doesn't have formal processes. Therefore we needed to stray away from designing an experience that forces strict rules but encourages spontaneous actions.
For example, a group is formed automatically from an email thread. It leads to an impromptu video call. Later meetings are created, and documents are shared within that group.
This is why we moved to an approach where groups would be created throughout the platform instead of within one application. We wanted to create an integrated experience because teams are everywhere.
Reimagining Communications Beyond BBM
BlackBerry, once globally recognized for its leadership in secure messaging and email through BBM, was looking to double down on its communications strengths. With growing industry speculation that “email is dead,” the business saw an opportunity to explore what the future of communication could look like. As a UX researcher and designer, I was brought in to investigate emerging user needs and uncover meaningful opportunities for innovation in this shifting landscape.
Year
2013
Topics
UX Research, Strategy, Exploration, UX Design
Company
BlackBerry
/ Role
I led the exploration of the communication space from a user-centered perspective. This included conducting research, identifying key opportunity areas, and generating early design concepts. I later collaborated closely with UI developers to bring these ideas to life through interactive prototypes.
/ Bee Keepers for User Research?
This was not your typical user research task. This needed something different and it turned out to be special.
I decided we should talk to psychologists to understand the theory of communication. I also talked to "extreme" users that were from out there disciplines - including beekeepers. This allowed me to workshop with the organization some out there ideas, and to ensure we didn't stick with what we knew.
9
Specialists interviewed
15
Social Theories
4
"extreme" users interviewed
6
Co-creation workshops
15
Global scans
45
Insight Cards
/ Insight Cards for Long-Term Knowledge
We created insight cards that represented the theory and key foundational insights around communication. The intent that this could be used by teams in the future that wanted to spin-up products. By focusing on the foundations instead of application research, it opened up the possibilities.
/ Concept 1: Organic Group Communications
This research led to a new initiative focused on addressing a clear business challenge: revitalizing group communication. While BlackBerry already offered BBM Teams, adoption was low and the experience didn’t reflect how people actually collaborate.
We discovered collaboration happens organically and doesn't have formal processes. Therefore we needed to stray away from designing an experience that forces strict rules but encourages spontaneous actions.
For example, a group is formed automatically from an email thread. It leads to an impromptu video call. Later meetings are created, and documents are shared within that group.
This is why we moved to an approach where groups would be created throughout the platform instead of within one application. We wanted to create an integrated experience because teams are everywhere.
Reimagining Communications Beyond BBM
BlackBerry, once globally recognized for its leadership in secure messaging and email through BBM, was looking to double down on its communications strengths. With growing industry speculation that “email is dead,” the business saw an opportunity to explore what the future of communication could look like. As a UX researcher and designer, I was brought in to investigate emerging user needs and uncover meaningful opportunities for innovation in this shifting landscape.
Year
2013
Topics
UX Research, Strategy, Exploration, UX Design
Company
BlackBerry
/ Role
I led the exploration of the communication space from a user-centered perspective. This included conducting research, identifying key opportunity areas, and generating early design concepts. I later collaborated closely with UI developers to bring these ideas to life through interactive prototypes.
/ Bee Keepers for User Research?
This was not your typical user research task. This needed something different and it turned out to be special.
I decided we should talk to psychologists to understand the theory of communication. I also talked to "extreme" users that were from out there disciplines - including beekeepers. This allowed me to workshop with the organization some out there ideas, and to ensure we didn't stick with what we knew.
9
Specialists interviewed
15
Social Theories
4
"extreme" users interviewed
6
Co-creation workshops
15
Global scans
45
Insight Cards
/ Insight Cards for Long-Term Knowledge
We created insight cards that represented the theory and key foundational insights around communication. The intent that this could be used by teams in the future that wanted to spin-up products. By focusing on the foundations instead of application research, it opened up the possibilities.
/ Concept 1: Organic Group Communications
This research led to a new initiative focused on addressing a clear business challenge: revitalizing group communication. While BlackBerry already offered BBM Teams, adoption was low and the experience didn’t reflect how people actually collaborate.
We discovered collaboration happens organically and doesn't have formal processes. Therefore we needed to stray away from designing an experience that forces strict rules but encourages spontaneous actions.
For example, a group is formed automatically from an email thread. It leads to an impromptu video call. Later meetings are created, and documents are shared within that group.
This is why we moved to an approach where groups would be created throughout the platform instead of within one application. We wanted to create an integrated experience because teams are everywhere.