Problem
Users
Internal studies showed that people spent more time on TikTok in a single session than they wanted, which interfered with important areas of life like work, school, family, and sleep
Research
People’s biggest deterrent to TikTok was they thought it was addictive (Project Who)
Opportunity
Improve intentionality
Improve people's awareness and intentionality around their app usage in a single session, and help them better manage their time
Create a healthier and more sustainable experience for people with another well-being feature
Differentiate and demonstrate industry leadership, as none of TikTok’s competitors offered this kind of feature
Meet people's expectations
A study (in which 42 well-being apps were reviewed and 1,120+ user reviews were collected) found that a session duration limit was the most popular screen time management solution (ResearchGate)
TikTok’s EU public policy team commissioned extensive research on user well-being and agency, in which many participants emphasized the importance of this feature
Strategy
Created and presented a user journey map
Collaborated with the product designer to create a user journey map in FigJam, outlining users’ emotional states for different entry points to determine the best path forward with the design and content
Drove a holistic approach
To ensure this feature aligned with other screen time features on TikTok (around enhancing user agency and well-being), I considered the following:
What’s the role of this feature compared to the other screen time features?
Does this feature, in combination with the other screen time features, make sense as a collective?
Keeping these questions at the forefront helped me focus on both the big picture and the small picture. They also helped me resolve deadlock situations when collaborating with the product team and other stakeholders.
Outcome
Increased awareness and adoption
12x increase in unique views of the “Screen time” screen, far exceeding our initial target
3.9x increase in the adoption rate, far exceeding our initial target
5.7 million increase in daily active users post-launch
Decreased screen time
Statistically significant time decrease for users 18–24 years old (0.13%); this age group also had a slightly higher adoption rate
Statistically significant time decrease in medium- and heavy-usage users (0.07%)
High-impact articles
—> Amid growing concerns around app addiction, TikTok rolls out more screen tools (TechCrunch)
“Arguably, TikTok’s screen time tools, including those for minor children, are more robust than those on rival platforms like Instagram and YouTube due to the granularity of TikTok’s controls.”
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