Meta, 2023
Message
Editing
[Edit already-sent messages]
TL;DR
Impact
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Led end-to-end design process, introducing new components and guidance to Messenger’s design systems.
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Conducted industry benchmark audit and shared key insights with the team.
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Facilitated brainstorming sessions to identify optimal design solutions.
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Collaborated with Instagram’s design team to ensure cohesive cross-app experiences.
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Partnered with UXR to uncover user needs through research sessions.
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Designed visual mocks and prototypes for marketing bundles featured across Messenger’s social channels and Newsroom.
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Worked closely with engineering to deliver high-quality, spec-accurate experiences.
Learning highlights
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This project was my first major design lead, teaching me to trust the process and value every iteration. I also learned that user trust is never worth compromising—it's the most important trade-off to avoid.
The problem
People need the ability to correct their messages.
Before this update, people did mental gymnastics to correct their typos; some of the hacks people use are:
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Unsending and resending messages
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Using an asterisk
The Research
Research showed that out of all unsent messages, 9% are unsent within 30 seconds, which gave us the hypothesis those are due to typos. Looking at this statistic made us realize that there's already a use case for this feature
I took a look at how competitors were solving this problem and how their editing feature worked, if available.
Slack
iMessage
I noticed all of them defined certain parameters, and Messenger needed to do the same
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Time limit
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Max # of edits
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Edit history
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Allow context of conversation while editing
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Allow text formatting as an edit
The Solution
Implement editing feature to messaging
Editing is a key communication tool, especially as online messaging dominates how we connect. It offers users control, supports freedom of expression, and builds trust through safer interactions.
Parameters:
After research sessions and looking at privacy tradeoffs, Messenger's parameters for editing are:
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15 minute time window for editing
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5 max number of edits
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Edit history available
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Display context of conversation while editing
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No text formatting as an edit
The Creation
Design principles
In defining what "edit" meant for Messenger, privacy was a top priority. Keeping this in mind, "edit" focuses on low-risk grammatical mistakes. Therefore, Messenger:
💬 Only allows to edit text messages.
5️⃣ Max of 5 edits
🫥 Clear labeling that a message is edited
📝 Including edits in reports
One of the biggest design decision was the editing mode display. After many rounds of iterations, I kept in mind that the context of the conversation is needed to properly edit. The rest of the designs were iterated on that foundation.
Entry-point
To edit a message, long-press it and tap "edit"—just like other message-specific actions such as "pin," "copy," or "unsend."
Long messages
When the message exceeds 5 lines, the composer enables vertical scroll. It anchors to the bottom of the message.
Edited eyebrow
The eyebrow is at the top of the message bubble
The Final Product
💪 MVP
After launch, the team iterated to provide the most transparency and avoid mis-use of the feature. Messenger makes edit history visible.
*During my 3 years at Meta, including my 2 internships, I've worked on numerous projects regarding GenAI, chat expressions, utility, group-chat-based features, and more. Please reach out directly if you want to learn more about other projects.
