Project
N°006
Name
Threads iOS App
Company
Threads
Date
2021-2022
Role
Product Design, Brand
Availability
Offline
About
When I joined Threads in February 2021, my first task was to own the product design of the iOS app. By November of the same year, we had completed pivoted to an entirely new version of the desktop app — a simpler, more focused one than before.
Pivoting gave me the opportunity to rethink some of the core interactions on mobile (specifically around the Inbox → Triage flow) and allowed me to simplify the experience further.
Threads iOS App
The Threads app icon was modeled entirely in Blender 3D to create the most accurate material and lighting effects for our purple chrome. We chose this surface because a stylized mirror-finish makes sense as a platform for discussion internally amongs a team or company. It's an opinionated reflection of knowledge and values, and I thought it should look bold and... honestly... delicious. So part of making it look the way it does required me to model the geometry of this app icon in the shape of candy. Similar to M&M's, Skittles, or Chiclets, the edges have a rounded taper that make the object feel like a delight to hold in the palm of your hand.
A thread is an asynchronous post made up of blocks. Like tweets strung together to form a document, but published to a private group or a channel. Virtually anything can be attached to a block, including GIFS, images, videos, links, polls, etc... And because it was meant to be this flexible because the primary purpose is to document communications internally within a team or company.
In Threads, we also have chat for individuals, groups, and channels. This allows for information to flow freely between real-time communication (for the quick and urgent) and asynchronous communication (for reading any time)
Threads on iOS features a few mobile-specific interactions such as long-press and swiping left/right on threads to triage the Inbox — allowing someone to dismiss items that are "Done" and queue up others as "Follow Ups" at a later date (snoozing a reminder for 20min, 1hr, or 8hrs from now)
