A little longer than a few more moments later, an assemblage of product managers told us,
“We have low re-engagement, let’s do rewards?”
“We have low CTR, lets make the tappable area bigger?
“Time spent is too low, lets encourage content discovery.”
said an eminent indian VC. All else were already onboard.
A few moments later, OEMs were promised ad money. Glance’s lock screen wallpapers and ads were shipped to millions of android phones in the country.
Brains were stormed over selling serendipity and discovery. Some of us even went to China to learn about creator-led engagement. Teams restructured, propositions imagined.
“This is an open secret! Lock-screen is under my nose like 200 times a day.."
Several days later,
These videos on youtube were a clear signal
I led design on several tests. Engagement flywheel in live shows, Interactive lock screen content and platform rewards among others.
Choose from gallery; a wallpaper library; glance interactive content, or any combination of these. This was tested on 1 million new devices. Opt-out rate in following weeks shrank.
A) More control on Lock Screen Wallpapers
Customise fonts, widgets and the way glance content shows up. A similar proposition was later released by Apple in your favourite iOS 16 update.
B) More control on other elements of Lock Screen
Keep in control of more jobs the device can perform on the turbo-charged lock screen. Your cab is arriving, It is raining outside, Time to drink water- it responds to every context.
C) Control on other tasks via Lock Screen
People would have their control back, and then some more. We must test all three- solve the unresolved pain, help the unsatisfied job, and create an unrealised gain.
Core Contributors:
Rohan Nayak, Rumit A, Aishwarya Mona, Rajesh D, Rakesh R, Deepak V, Mukesh MD, Aswathi Razak, Apoorva Singh, Anshita Agarwal, Varun J.
Second leg of glance’s journey- A Smart surface allowing unprecedented control.
People noticed our earnestness, and hated us.
Thanks to their clear signals, one turned towards a first principal enquiry.
What is the cause of hate?
Is it irrelevant content? Is it lack of engagement levers? Ads? In general, the root of hate lies in fear. Is it the fear of losing data or battery? or not knowing what will come next?
Root of fear lies in a known coming to a sudden end.
A known must have had come to a sudden end. What was it? Research commenced with this.
“Why is there Sonakshi Sinha on my phone?”
uncle ji from Gonda, UP
looking at his lock screen.
It was found that although their wedding photos, Sandeep Maheshwari quotes, and Lamborghini wallpapers were replaced by prettier-looking and engaging glance lock screen wallpapers; the known that had come to an end was the control on their own device.
Inmobi’s glance has been their bet to win in mobile. Despite winning in distribution, engagement was dismal. I led the design in an ambiguous space. This is the story of glance and of now-global idea of lock-screen control.
From hate to love.
Making and breaking a piece of software that 200 million people love to hate.
