How was the QQ red envelope social network, which is used by over 100 million people, designed?

The latest version of QQ has launched a variety of red envelope games and red envelope covers that have become popular on the Internet... The chain red envelopes once created the hot word "one is worth two" and entered Baidu Encyclopedia, and ranked first on the Zhihu hot list; drawing red envelopes, red envelope covers, etc. have also attracted a large number of netizens to participate in discussions... So how does QQ red envelopes, as an OG product, maintain its vitality? How is such an interesting red envelope social network designed?

Preface

As we all know, QQ's user base is younger; compared to Alipay and WeChat red envelopes, which are more like wallets, QQ red envelopes are more like an important social tool in the mobile QQ ecosystem. However, data in recent years show that users' sense of novelty about red envelopes has declined.

We analyzed the existing operation and found problems. The current cover is only launched for festivals, and the image is mainly QQfamily, which is relatively simple. The existing gameplay has not been updated for a long time, and the password red envelope has become a special red envelope for replying in the group, and the usage scenarios are also limited. After sorting out the competitors and existing obstacles, we found that compared with competitors, users have stronger social and personalized demands; and most young users do not have large amounts of money, so they need stronger content appeal.

According to the above problems, the design direction is sorted out:

• Be expandable: It is necessary to expand the user's social scenarios and meet personalized demands;
• Form a sense of series: enrich social usage scenarios;

And add highlights to enhance attractiveness.

Red Envelope Cover丨Exploration Restrictions

First, we started with the red envelope cover, set aside the original restrictions, and explored the social scenes of young people. We found "zodiac signs" as a breakthrough among many scenes, because zodiac signs face a wide range of groups and use a wide range of scenarios, and are easier to establish connections with users themselves.

After choosing a theme, the color matching is also expanded accordingly. After research, young users prefer more customized styles, so bold attempts are made to use colorful designs other than red. According to the theme of the constellation, the color matching is selected, rules are formulated, and a sense of series is formed.

Because users prefer personalized content expression and to facilitate subsequent business expansion, the original QQ image has been extended to more selective content.

Based on the above thinking, how do we start designing the "Zodiac" red envelope cover?

First of all, the painting style refers to Western magic + epic plots, the style is more novel and light, suitable for the overall texture of QQ red envelopes, more in line with the style young people like, and also meets the perceptions of most people; the composition uses size, light and dark contrast to form the impact of the picture; and a story is set for each picture.

Then we started to bring them together. In addition to maintaining a consistent painting style, some elements such as clouds and mountains also needed to be painted in a unified way, and the series was constructed in a large worldview, so that a good sense of the series could be formed.

Finally, the characters and elements need to interact with each other to make the picture lively; the characters' movements should also be enhanced to increase the fun. At the same time, each picture is given a story: when drawing Pisces, I happened to see the Fuxi and Nuwa picture in the national treasure, and I thought it was very suitable for this tail-gluing plot; when drawing Libra, it happened that Typhoon Mangkhut hit, and I thought Libra could be unbalanced; when drawing Capricorn, I thought it was so cool to have a scepter like Neptune that could stir the ocean...

After the completion, it is necessary to conduct another experience verification to ensure the normal experience of reading the amount. With such an expandable design, while each piece has a sense of series as a whole, it can also ensure the personalization of each piece; adding dynamic effects afterwards can effectively enhance the fun of the content.

The data also verifies that after expanding the original framework limitations, user acceptance is very high, which lays the foundation for cultivating users to use personalized covers in the future, and also creates more emotional space for the expansion of red envelope covers.

Then we planned to strike while the iron was hot during the World Cup. We had to produce 32 sets of covers in 9 days, and we needed a systematic design. How could we ensure the quality and produce the pictures quickly?

First, select the style and color scheme, find "fans" who feel involved and expand on them, and then perform componentized illustrations and highlight enhancements; based on the componentized illustrations, fix the national flag, characters, and scene components, and replace the corresponding skins, cheering uniforms, decorations, etc.

In this way, multiple designs can be completed in a short time with high efficiency and high quality, ensuring fast output and a sense of series. The complete set can help the gameplay, and users can support their favorite teams by sending red envelopes.

In order to give users a better experience, during the World Cup period, we also specially produced a limited-edition championship cover, added motion effects and gold cards to enhance the sense of dignity, convey sincerity, and increase user engagement.

Then we organized the framework, formulated the link rules and output specifications, and refined the design formula based on experience; first we need to explore the social scenarios, then expand them in a personalized way, enrich the scenarios with a series, and then verify the experience and enhance the highlights, so that we can make a fresh red envelope cover.

According to the rules, we also designed red envelopes for game nobility. Subsequent games and other IP cooperation are also gradually unfolding...

The red envelope cover expands the original limitations and explores more possibilities. Use freshness to relieve negative emotions and use content to warm up the serious red envelope.

Red Envelope Gameplay丨Continuous Expansion

The expansion of the cover has received good user feedback and data results. The subsequent red envelope gameplay operation has continued to be fresh, and the expansion of the red envelope gameplay has also been fresh. We continue to find inspiration from young people's social scenes, create more gameplay, and meet users' demands for various social scenes.

Create "emoticon red envelopes" to find the "picture battle" and "self-expression" in the social scene of young people. Users can choose emoticons when sending red envelopes, and take photos of corresponding emoticons when receiving red envelopes to receive the corresponding red envelopes. The chat page will generate GIFs of friends' emoticons. The design combines ease of use, experience and fun expansion to ensure that the gameplay is combined with the basic experience of red envelopes.

We continue to create "chain red envelopes" to join the social scene of combining traditional culture with games, and use red envelopes to combine entertaining and educational idiom chain games. The use of chain red envelopes for teaching in the classroom has won praise from teachers and students. We also created the hot word "one is worth two" and included it in the encyclopedia, and it also ranked first on the Zhihu hot list.

The "Drawing Red Packet" also uses the social scene of self-expression combined with games, which has attracted a large number of netizens to participate and discuss.

Recently, "Kuakua Red Packet" and "One-stroke Red Packet" have just been launched, and the red packet gameplay is continuously expanding...

From the original red envelopes that existed for mobile payments to the current red envelope covers and expanded gameplay, QQ red envelopes have further enhanced the sense of freshness and gradually become a catalyst for social interaction. The meaning of red envelopes is changing...

Experience Optimization丨Container Upgrade

As the gameplay continues to expand, the types of covers are also increasing, and red envelopes will have corresponding experience problems. In addition, with the QQ mobile version upgrade, red envelopes need to be fully adapted, so we decided to optimize the red envelope experience.

Sort out the design direction

• Consistency: Optimize and unify gameplay operations for its new specifications;
• Expandability: compatible with new gameplay, cover classification;
• Fun: Increase the sense of surprise when sending and receiving red envelopes.
• And come up with the key points of the design that I want to do: efficient, simple, fun and interesting.

In terms of color selection, we aligned with the gradient colors of QQ and found a coral red that is more popular and vibrant and suitable for the user group and red envelopes; and made a unified plan for the originally complex and diverse icons.

The core of red envelopes still needs to prioritize efficiency experience. If every link wants to highlight the fun, it will lead to interference in the information level. Sometimes we need a motorcycle that focuses on power and reduces other factors, rather than a car that covers all aspects.

First of all, the style of the red envelope page is reduced as much as possible to avoid increasing the user's understanding cost. Based on the core point of sending red envelopes, the amount is highlighted and the hierarchy is simplified to ensure the experience. And the expansibility is brought into play to accommodate more gameplay and cover summary. Compared with the previous version, the module hierarchy is organized and the expansibility is enhanced. The main operation area is fixed and the secondary operation area is extended to facilitate the introduction of more new gameplay.

The red envelope aio and pop-up styles are also processed with subtraction and unified design techniques, without blind packaging, to prevent information interference that affects efficiency. Based on the core point of the amount of the red envelope, a small easter egg with scrolling + sound effects is made to enhance the prompt.

Restrained design is to better expand the possibility of subsequent operations. Including new styles of pop-up boxes, sound effects, or the atmosphere of the red envelope page during major festivals, and many other new ideas...

Some thoughts on the red envelope project

• When discovering design problems, it is necessary to find relevant solutions based on real demands and actual experiences, and to break through the bottlenecks of one's own limitations.
• Explore available scenarios, complete content operations, and refine experience links for continuous expansion;
• We also need to improve design drive, continuously output ideas, maximize value, and add points to the product;
• Then get rid of the "ego", control the core to prevent putting the cart before the horse, think in multiple dimensions, and make the most appropriate design in the right place.

Red envelopes are currently being introduced with more gameplay and covers. Everyone is welcome to experience QQ red envelopes on Mobile QQ and try out this new way of socializing.