Creating a new feature for Pinterest that spotlights content creators in a new way while providing more information on Pins.
Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual discovery platform where people can find and save ideas for projects, recipes, and more.
As people browse Pinterest content called ‘Pins’ they can save them and tune their feed to generate the perfect idea.
The Discovery Dilemma
Discovering new content on Pinterest is easy. With every refresh, Pinners see a new batch of Pins to explore.
But what about discovering the creators behind the Pins you love?
There's no easy way to see who created them. This can be frustrating if you find a Pin that you really like and there’s no information whatsoever.
Depth over Breadth
How might we provide more information on Pinterest pins and promote deeper discovery on content creators?
Research
I conducted user interviews and contextual inquiries with Pinterest users to uncover any themes that would help me better understand the problem space.
Theme 01
Pinterest is great at rapid generic browsing but does poorly when trying to tune one’s feed to a specific creator or style.
Theme 02
Pinterest browsers leave the platform when they find an engaging pin but can’t find any information on the creator or contents.
Competitive Analysis
I also took a look at other content discovery platforms for points of inspiration.
Tumblr users can follow a specific topic that will display in their home feed alongside their other content.
Are.na has a feature that allows users to reverse image search an image to find it’s source.
Offline inspiration
I was stuck on my artist discovery problem, so I decided to take a break and browse a local museum. That’s where I noticed how museums curate their rooms and provide information about the artists.
What if we created a similar info card for Pins so Pinterest browsers would always know who created the content?
Anatomy of a Pin label
If every Pin came with this standardized label filled out, then there would never be a content discovery and attribution problem on Pinterest.
Putting things together.
We solved the problem of crediting creators, but what if a Pinterest user wants to see more of the creator's work?
We could integrate with Pinterest's Interest feature, so instead of following a generic Interest like "Photography," you can now follow a specific creator like ‘Van Gogh’.
Information Architecture
I had multiple task flows in mind so the next steps were to map out a user flow and see where everything would fit into the current Pinterest ecosystem.
Mid Fidelity
To test my solution, I decided to do a mid-fidelity test before putting a lot of time into a high-fidelity prototype.
Making things easier
Given the prominence of large language models and artificial intelligence, I decided to use AI as a tool to shorten the process of filling out information for Insight Pins.
Insight Pins
A new way to follow and learn more about the creators you love on Pinterest.
Create information rich Insight Pins
Insight Pins provide extensive information on the content so viewers will always have context.
Tune your Pinterest feed with specific creators
Add specific content creators as an Interest and your home feed will make sure you’re always up to date on their work.
Edit Insight Pins
Insight Pins are open source so you can always edit any information that might be incorrect.
Learnings
I had a lot of fun working on this project. Content attribution is very important to me as a fellow content creator. There’s been too many times I’ve stumbled upon amazing content but fail to find out who made it.
My biggest challenge was figuring out where my solution fit into the Pinterest platform. Pinterest has a very simple and easy to understand user experience and I wanted to stay committed to that ethos.
