Recently I have spotted a trend in the main apps that I use. It looks like redesigns or beta tests are heading towards ease-of-consumption not ease-of-creation.

This hypothesis is formed by my recent traumatic Instagram update and now, of course, I see Creator UX barriers everywhere. (Blame Baader-Meinhof for that one).

It’s not just change aversion

Firstly, I have to confess that I only just updated to the new Instagram design. And yes, I am neck deep in Change Aversion not just because I dislike the enforced change with no way to revert to previous designs (again, principles of engagement have been written) but because as a content Creator it now takes me twice as long to do anything.

Which leads me to the main thrust of my question.

Are some platforms now designing for Consumers not Creators?

For some apps there is a very different mindset between being a platform content Creator and a content Consumer. And two different mindsets means two different sets of user needs.

Consumer mindset — sometimes people just want to follow other people. They want to hang out, read things, learn things, enjoy videos and maybe buy something.

Creator mindset — sometimes a user is also (or instead) a creator of content. They want to make things, share things, respond to trends or other posts, and maybe… maybe sell something.

Confession: I am generally a Creator not a Consumer

I do not generally consume large amounts of content via apps. Most of my research and writing is done on a laptop, so a social app is just a tool.

Do the task, not hang out for hours.

And yes I know I am not the user.. so this is also based on following the social media Change Aversion drama of other Creators.

So, I use social apps to:

1. Deploy content (Post)
2. Engage with followers (Check engagement)
3. Review how that content is performing (Check stats)

Yes, consumption is involved but it is secondary, and again, I tend to do it via desktop/laptop devices, because that’s where I study, research and work. It’s also where my heavy-lifting design tools live.

• As a Creator, I want to upload and post my content as easily as possible so that I can focus on making more content
• As a Creator, I want to respond quickly to any comments or feedback so that I can stay engaged with followers
• As a Creator, I want to easily monitor my content performance so that I can create more content my followers will like.

Instagram

Here is the first test I encountered…

Ok, so the interface has changed, the top nav looks funky, but my primary action hasn’t changed, I can still post, I can still check engagement, and I’ll worry about where my DMs have gone later.

(Note: yes I only have 42 followers in this image. This is not my main Creator ‘gram account, don’t judge.)

Here is the new test that I am dealing with now and cannot switch off (Instagram have not read the Google Research on Change Aversion)…

Clearly neither of these two tasks are for Creators. Not only that, but they are mental model-contrary tasks in the exact location of the previous tasks, thereby interfering with physical muscle memory as well as cognitive load.

Also the addition of omnipresent eCommerce repeatedly reminds me that I shouldn’t be posting anything for fun or enjoyment or engagement, but I should instead be setting up a time-consuming shopping platform so that Facebook can have some of my income.

And this.

• One-stage task is now two-stage in case you have the urge to post one of the other 8000 types of media format they’ve ripped off other platforms
• Button location is optimum for dropping phone
• Consequent action manifests from the other end of the screen, requiring manual gymnastics.

Medium

Next, (because Baader-Meinhof) I spotted that Medium are trialing a beta of their new app design — which (well done

) the user can control on/off in the settings panel.

As context, again, I read Medium on a laptop, because I study, research, design and write on a laptop. I only use the app to check performance and respond to messages — not to consume articles.

Therefore, keep in mind I am primarily in Creator mindset, not Consumer mindset. So…

• As a Creator, I want to check my stats, so that I can see how posts are performing
• As a Creator, I want to check engagements, so that I can respond to any messages

Here is the current UI:

Here is the beta test for the new app design:

And I still cannot find the “check engagements” tool so I’ve reverted to the current app design until the madness ends.

So next question.. are these apps consciously de-prioritising Creators? Are they looking to create dual apps in future? Or is there something else going on?

I also sell on Etsy as one of my side hustles. Etsy have solved the problem I’m discussing quite neatly — they have two apps; one for sellers and one for consumers.

This works well for me. If I am in Creator mindset, I use one, if I am in Consumer mindset, I use the other.

This probably costs

more money and double the Product Team overhead, but on behalf of users — thanks Etsy!

Tiktok

We all know that Tiktok is Consumer crack. But it is also (currently) a platform driven by Creators.

Unlike Medium, there are no publications looking to collate and curate the most effective or desired content (yet). Unlike Instagram, they are leading the way on doing-one-thing-well, not playing catch up.

And as a reflection of this, they have a single interface where I can jump on, drop content and leave OR melt into the sofa for 3 hours watching an endless feed of dog videos. (again, don’t judge).

One screen, 3x Creator user stories, 1x Consumer user story. Job done.

Perhaps this is because the Creator-Consumer relationship is merged on Tiktok, with a large proportion of content being direct-response to other creators.

So what gives, Instagram?

So what the heck is Instagram’s strategy here? They’ve copied the functionality of 15 second videos from Tiktok which they’ve repackaged as Reels, but without any decent Creator-to-Creator response tools, it’s just more functionality junk stuffed into the already crammed UI.

Gone is the lovely “do one thing” button. Now it’s two taps to upload a basic photo post. Let alone see how it’s performing, because all they seem to want anyone to do is shop.

So what could be going on here…?

Hypothesis 1 — Show me the money

Mature apps need to make money. When the seed money has run out, when the IPO has gone funky (Ahem Deliveroo…), they have to show a viable monetisation model to investors.

For Facebook (and therefore Instagram) the ad revenue model is riddled with legal and PR issues, and has definitely hit the skids from a user perspective. So now Facebook and Instagram are investing in eCommerce functionalities, turning news & ads into shopping opportunities.

Hence my primary Creator CTA which was engagement, is now a shopping cart. The most redundant functionality from this user’s perspective is right where my thumb wants to go. Yay.

Hypothesis 2 — Throttling creators

Maybe there are too many Creators and too much content already. Perhaps some of these apps need to reduce the amount of content on their servers, or at least create a filter so that only the best and most determined creators get a chance to post..?

That’s certainly what it feels like right now — why else put up such enormous barriers to the people feeding your algorithms?

Hypothesis 3 — Two-app future

And here’s what I’m hoping for… if an ageing, bloated app cannot sort out its IA enough to the point that it can support a Creator AND a Consumer interface in the same product (Tiktok), split the darn thing (Etsy).

If your app doesn’t have Creator-Consumer experience dependencies like Tiktok, then providing well-thought-through experiences for both separately will help balance the product as you scale.

This Creator would be more than happy keep out of the way, furiously managing and loading perfectly tagged assets down the content mine of your product, but at least make it easy!

In short, who knows.

Of course I don’t really know what is going on, and only time and iteration will tell — but I really hope they sort it out fast. With Instagram I have no choice, it’s a major platform for one of my hustles. But with

, if the app becomes Consumer-first or Consumer-only, I’ll just uninstall the app and work 100% on desktop.

In which case, their strategy will have worked. 👋