TikTok

TikTok

TikTok

Refresh your For You feed
Helping people be more in control of their For You feed

Refresh your For You feed
Helping people be more in control of their For You feed

Screenshot of the Refresh your For You feed feature on TikTok
Screenshot of the Refresh your For You feed feature on TikTok

Problem

Users

  • Internal studies showed that many people had concerns about their algorithm. This included content quality, repetition, echo chambers, and rabbit holes.


Regulators

  • Regulators claimed that TikTok's algorithm supported an attention-seeking business model and could lead to harm by amplifying sensational content


Research

  • 72% of people felt they had a lack of control when using technology (Pew Research Center)

Opportunity

Increase transparency

  • Gain positive media coverage and public trust through algorithm transparency

  • Improve content diversity in the For You feed


Improve user agency

  • Put more control in people's hands

  • Let people refresh their For You feed as if they had just onboarded

  • Minimize repetitive recommendations in the For You feed

Strategy

Navigating stakeholder concerns

  • Negotiated numerous rounds of stakeholder feedback across the product, government relations, privacy, legal, communications, and algorithm teams, due to the feature's technical complexity, sensitivity, regulatory risk, and public perception risk

  • Stayed agile and rejected complacency, balancing user needs with pressures from internal stakeholders by leading and negotiating from a content design lens


Balancing business goals and user needs

  • Created and presented dozens of content iterations to gather feedback from different sources

    • Example: Highlighted the differences between "reset" and "refresh", the pros and cons of each, and which one is more technically accurate

  • Took feedback gracefully, while still keeping the user forefront and center to iterate multiple times until the content was accurate, helpful, and clear


Outcome

Improved user sentiment and For You feed diversity

  • Designed an innovative feature that satisfied business goals, user needs, and technical challenges

  • 85% conversion rate after users entered the “refreshed” For You feed

  • 60% response rate to the feature survey

  • Diversity metrics after the refresh increased, with statistically significant results

  • Secured 100+ media articles after the feature launch


Improved media coverage

  • 100% neutral or 81% positive

    • 100% of mentions referenced the ability to “refresh” the feed

    • 30% of mentions included references of TikTok addressing repetitive patterns in the For You feed


High-impact articles

—> TikTok’s new feature lets you refresh your For You feed and retrain your algorithm (TechCrunch)

—> TikTok’s refresh feature is for when you’re sick of your For You page (The Verge)

Screenshot of Settings and privacy on TikTok
Screenshot of Settings and privacy on TikTok
Screenshot of Settings and privacy on TikTok

Settings

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Screenshot of Content preferences on TikTok
Screenshot of Content preferences on TikTok
Screenshot of Content preferences on TikTok

Settings

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Screenshot of the Refresh your For You feed feature on TikTok
Screenshot of the Refresh your For You feed feature on TikTok
Screenshot of the Refresh your For You feed feature on TikTok

Feature

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Modal

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Toast

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Survey (default)

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Survey (selected)

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Toast

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Sheet