I’m Addicted to Instagram.

But who isn’t?

A good product works. A good product is useful and easy to use. A good product solves your problem/s. A great product does all of those things too, but does it better. A great product provides a positive experience throughout the entire process of use. A great product evokes emotion. And a great product is desirable.

I really appreciate beautifully crafted and aesthetic designs (that work well too). But what really draws me to product design is the psychology behind it. Uncovering user behavior and experiences with a product, determining the problems that arise, and the endless possibilities of solutions waiting to be designed.

Instagram is a great product.

Instagram checks all the boxes of a great product.

• Easy to use — The seamless and consistent social feed that populates immediately after opening the app allows for endless scrolling and user interaction.
• Useful — For me, Instagram solves the problems of social connection and boredom. Whenever I have nothing to do or time to kill, I immediately open Instagram for quick entertainment. I can chat with friends, see what everyone is doing, and discover new things.
• Emotional /Desirable— The instant gratification of receiving likes and comments, feeling happy for your friends’ shared successes, or feeling insecure or jealous that everyone else seems to be having more fun than you. Many of my friends choose Instagram as their primary form of communication, and it is even common for people to exchange Instagram handles instead of phone numbers.

After checking the settings in my phone, I am embarrassed to say that Instagram is my most used app, but I already knew this. I already have a time limit set for my daily usage but begrudgingly ignore the notification after exceeding it every day (Instagram, do you have a better solution to keep users accountable?).

I also appreciate that Instagram has taken steps to solve problems it has helped to create to promote a more positive experience for its users. We all know about the negative effects of social media, so it’s nice to see a big company like Instagram take responsibility by allowing users to track their usage and edit their notifications, as well as removing the visibility of the number of likes a post receives.

This is just a testament as to how successful Instagram is as a product. Instagram started as a good product and evolved into a great product, constantly adding and improving features to solve users’ problems, eventually amassing one billion users worldwide.