Head Snap, the developer of the "ephemeral" instant messenger Snapchat and Spectacles video glasses, Evan Spiegel talked about plans to conduct a large-scale redesign of the application. According to him, the program, which is mainly in demand among adolescents, may be "too complicated to understand". "In this regard, we are changing the design of our application to make it easier for them to use," he said..
Before Snap is the task of attracting a wider audience, as well as the need to convince investors of the viability of the project. In the last quarter, only 4.5 million new users joined the messenger - much less than analysts had expected. Financial indicators of Snap are also disappointing: for the III quarter the company raised $ 208 million - 12% less than expected, and the net loss was $ 443 million.
The company admitted that it overestimated the demand for Spectacles smart glasses, which resulted in a one-time loss of $ 40 million due to "excess inventory and cancellation of supply agreements". After the publication of the report, the company's shares fell by 18%, writes Recode.
Aggravate the situation and staffing problems. This week, Tim Sen, Senior Vice President of Development and one of the highest paid employees, announced the retirement from Snap, which also owns shares of the company at $ 40 million. Sen will be the fourth top manager to leave the firm after Snap was released to the stock exchange in February. Earlier this year, the vice-president of human resources management Robin Thomas, vice president of security Martin Lev and general counsel Chris Handman left the developer Snapchat.
The new design of Snapchat has high hopes. "There is a high probability that the redesign of our application will negatively affect our business in the short term, and we do not yet know how the behavior of our community will change when they start using the updated application," Spiegel warned in a letter to investors.
General Director Snap did not specify when Snapchat will change its design, but hinted at the emergence of algorithms, either on Facebook or Twitter, which will form a tape and give priority to certain posts taking into account their potential "interest". So, according to Spiegel, Snapchat's daily audience of 178 million people will find it easier to find new content.
Changes will affect the very structure of the program, and all the necessary tools will be brought to the forefront. Now, for example, the function of cards is hidden behind the main camera - to open them, users need to "pinch" the display, which may not be so obvious.