BACK
Jul 17, 2025
Making sense of the noise in iMessage
Personal Project
Duration
Winter 2024 - Spring 2025
the introduction
In busy conversations, key details like addresses, passwords, and plans often get buried in endless threads. iMessage excels at personal and group messaging but lacks tools to organize and resurface critical information when users need it most.
the problem
As chats multiple and group threads grow busier, users resort to endless scrolling, screenshots, and external apps to find and store information but this workaround disrupts flow and creates fiction.
iMessage has evolved for rich media and expressive interactions but isn't designed for managing the growing flood of information in today's hyper connected lives.
the strategy
What if iMessage had a smarter, contextual layer for organizing conversations?
Lightweight tools like tags, pins, and categories could help users surface what matters without sacrificing iMessage’s core simplicity.
Create invite cards
Send invites right into your group chat where friends can see key event details at a glance and add them straight to their calendar.
Categorize your chats
Keep conversations organized by creating custom categories like Family, Friends, Work, etc. Create and manage as many as you need.
Pin your messages
Pin key messages for quick access. To avoid clutter, only a handful of messages can be pinned at a time.
Tag your messages
Organize for the long term. Tags let you label and sort messages by context, making it easy to retrieve important information weeks or months later.
With iPhones holding 56.6% of the smartphone market share in the US and 76% of teens relying on iMessage, even subtle enhancements could have an outsized impact. Thoughtful organization features would allow iMessage to support evolving user needs by balancing effortless messaging with smarter ways to engage in high-traffic chats.
The rise of remote work, multi-role users, and information-heavy group chats signals a growing demand for organization within conversations. This would not to replace iMessage’s casual flow but to contextualize it for users navigating increasingly complex digital lives.
To understand how users manage information in iMessage today, I interviewed 7 users about their habits and pain points. I asked them questions like:
How do you usually keep track of important messages or information in a group chat?
Have you ever had trouble finding important details (like dates, locations, or deadlines) because a group chat was too cluttered?
What frustrates you most about group chats when trying to coordinate something or find information?
Below were some of my key insights.
In relation to pinning and tagging, iMessage’s search helps surface specific words or phrases in conversations, but it’s optimized for reactive retrieval rather than proactive organization. Users have to remember exact terms and sift through multiple results.
This insight reinforced my idea towards Tags and Pins that allow users to proactively organize information for faster, more intentional access later.
I initially considered adding a native polls feature to aid with planning and decision-making, but through these conversations, I discovered that users were already satisfied with existing 3rd-party solutions. Through this process, I realized the value of iterating early and letting real user needs shape the direction of the design.
As I analyzed the patterns from my interviews, I began sketching ways iMessage could address users’ pain points
Tags came from observing how users resorted to screenshots and Notes apps. A built-in way to categorize key details like “Addresses” or “Deadlines” would keep everything in context.
Pins emerged as a solution for quick access to 1-5 pieces of information in busy group threads.
Chat Categories drew inspiration from Samsung Messages, which allows users to group conversations. While testing this feature, I noticed how convenient it felt to navigate different contexts like family, work, and friend chats. I realized that this approach felt more intuitive than pinning chats alone.
Finally, Invite Cards drew inspiration from the need for event planning tools but aimed to work natively within iMessage and integrate with Calendar for easy scheduling.
iMessage has a unique opportunity to go beyond messaging by addressing the organizational needs of users navigating increasingly complex digital conversations.
These conceptual features are a first step toward a system for contextualizing information.
Although the need for organization tools is present, there are concerns that need consideration in order for this to be integrated.
Simplicity trade-offs
Adding new organizational layers risks overwhelming casual users if not implemented with care. The challenge lies in keeping tools powerful for heavy users while invisible for those who don’t need them.Behavioral shifts
Features like tagging and categorizing require subtle cues to fit naturally into existing user flows. Too much friction could hinder adoption.Ecosystem alignment
Apple’s ecosystem already includes tools like Notes and Reminders. To succeed, iMessage enhancements should complement these systems rather than compete with them.
This project challenged me to think critically about designing within the constraints of an established ecosystem. Working with iMessage’s existing design system required a level of care and intentionality to ensure that these features felt like a natural extension rather than an intrusive layer.
This exercise taught me that you need to prioritize simplifying and aiding the user experience without disrupting familiar workflows.