Elevating User Experience: Feature Implementation in Bitly's Link-in-Bio
Overview
Bitly is known as one of the industry's leading URL-shortening services and link management platforms. I worked with Bitly's product team and played a pivotal role in the research and Beta testing of their new Link-in-Bio (LIB) feature.
This product has become a key component of Bitly's new services, catering to millions of users, including high-profile clients like Disney, Nike, and The Wall Street Journal. My contributions centered on refining the user experience and optimizing the LIB feature to meet the evolving needs of Bitly's user base.
MY ROLEI helped to successfully launch the Link-in-Bio (LIB) feature to the general public. I led the discovery and ideation phase for multiple LIB aspects, working closely with engineering and product teams to actualize the social icons feature. Additionally, I made significant contributions to building and managing design system components, ensuring alignment with Bitly's rebranding endeavors.
PROBLEM STATEMENTBitly aims to enhance its Link-In-Bio (LIB) feature to attract a broader user base and strengthen its position in the competitive LIB space. To achieve this, the product team seeks a deeper understanding of user behaviors, preferences, and goals related to LIB usage. The challenge is to identify key insights and design solutions that will improve user engagement and differentiate Bitly's LIB from competitors.
The Process
The Findings
USER PERSONASThree main user personas were identified - Content Creators, Organizations, and Jack of All Trades. Each group had distinct preferences and needs regarding LIB usage and design.
USER PREFERENCESContent Creators preferred hyper-customization options for their LIB pages, while Organizational users focused more on simplicity and streamlined layouts.
DESIGN FOCUSDriven by our user feedback and insights, we decided to focus on three crucial design principles to enrich Bitly's Link-in-Bio (LIB) feature:
Recommendations
1. IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL ICONS BUTTON CUSTOMIZATIONTo address users' concerns about space limitations, we proposed customizable social icon buttons in various mockups. This solution allowed users to personalize their presentation while ensuring accessibility.
2. ABILITY TO ORGANIZE LINKS THROUGH ACCORDIAN FOLDERSFor users with numerous links (e.g. organization participants), we suggested the use of accordion folders to present content in a more organized and user-friendly manner.
3. INTEGRATION OF EMBEDDED MEDIA ONTO PROFILESTo cater to Content Creators' desire for increased customization, we recommended allowing embedded media as previews on their LIB pages, enhancing the contextual information of shared links.
Reflections
The successful implementation of the social media icon feature within Bitly's Link-in-Bio (LIB) platform, was driven by valuable user feedback and insights. Although the implementation of the embedded media and accordion folders recommendations was postponed due to time constraints and competing priorities, the successful integration of the social media icon feature reflects the team's responsiveness and agility in addressing user needs. The valuable insights obtained from this research have established a strong foundation for future iterations, ensuring a user-centric approach that will continue to enhance the LIB feature and drive its evolution in a direction that aligns with user preferences.
I’m super grateful for the opportunity to work and learn from the talented product and engineering members during my time at Bitly. If I were to conduct this project again, I would consider gathering more participants from diverse perspectives, further developing the platform view of LIB customization, and conducting formal tests of the accordion folder prototypes to refine the product based on user preferences.
