Facebook stated this week that it is looking to redesign the navigation bar in its app – on both Android and iOS – so that it is more personal to the user. The changes will show shortcuts for products that users use the most. Making it easier for users to use those products, without having to take extra steps to get there. Currently, there are five icons shown at the top, which did vary depending on the country. But in the US, it was the news feed, notifications, menu, Watch and Marketplace. With the redesign, Facebook will show everyone the news feed, notifications and menu icons, but the other two icons will be customized based on the user. This would include things like your profile, friend requests, Marketplace, Groups and Watch.
When this redesign first rolls out, the icons will be based on your usage. However, Facebook has said that it plans to eventually allow users to customize those two tabs to do what they want it to do. Facebook’s product manager, Alexa Andrzejewski stated that “we want the shortcuts available in the navigation bar to reflect how an individual uses Facebook.” So it is looking for ways to make it easier for users to use their favorite Facebook products. Facebook, like most social media platforms, are constantly changing up their apps and services, looking for ways to get users to spend more time on the platform, as well as providing the best experience possible.
By changing up the shortcuts in the navigation bar on the Facebook app, the social media company will likely get people to spend more time on Facebook, as they’ll be able to jump straight into the parts of Facebook that they like the most. And for a company, where its success is based on monthly active users as well as advertising revenue, this is a very important thing for Facebook. It will be interesting to see how this shakes up in the coming earnings report for Facebook.