Try Demo Here: Topic-based Group Chat
Findings: Overwhelming group messages with scattered topics
Channels
Pros:
Good for formal big conference to have seperate discussion areas.
Cons:
In each channel, the messages are still excessive.
Seperate Groups
Pros:
Good for event planning, club team work ,etc.
Cons:
Switching between big groups and smaller ones will decrease efficiency for some semi-formal group chats. (no need to create small groups)
Key-Word Search
Pros:
Accurately returns what user want to know.
Cons: Only works when users know what to search. Will fail when user want to browse.
Will not work for info inside image, video or audio files.
Semi-formal group chats (eg. friend trip planning, reading sharing circles, hobby groups) require both casual, spontaneous conversation and structured topic navigation over time—a need not well-served by current tools.
Proposed Solution: A Topic-based Group Chat Filter system.
To explore this opportunity, I focused on a travel planning group as a representative scenario. In such chats, users discuss food, lodging, transportation, and sightseeing—all within a fluid, overlapping conversation, rather than neatly separated threads. This presents a unique design challenge: enabling clarity and organization without disrupting spontaneity.
I tested three interaction models to find the one that best aligns with users’ mental models, aiming to support both casual, spontaneous conversation and structured topic navigation.
Topics are organized as different zones. When selecting one topic, users can send and read messages specific to that.
Pros:
The whole interface is clear with less infomation desity and the send tag is automatically aligned with chosen topic.
Cons:
Low learnability due to poor affordance for topic switching.
Users are confused whether messages are sent globally or to a specific section. If sent globally, sending within a separate section feels disconnected from the conversation context.
Inspired by Chrome. Both reading and sending messages can be filtered using two tab rows located close to each other.
