WhatsApp
Simple, Reliable, Private
Team WhatsApp
Location London, UK & Berlin, Germany
Role Product Designer, 2021–2024
In January 2021, I joined WhatsApp, the world’s largest messaging service, used by over 2 billion people daily. I’ve long admired WhatsApp’s simplicity, both in its functionality and its user interface, which is familiar to the platform it runs on.
As part of the business pillar, I worked on developing features that primarily aid businesses in attracting more customers or effectively managing the influx of conversations. Here are some of the projects I worked on:
Business Discovery
I led the design of a new experience that helps people contact a business through WhatsApp.
This discovery experience empowers users to discover businesses near them, browse various business categories, and search for specific businesses. It includes large brands such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Telekom, as well as local businesses like electricians, cleaners, and local coffee shops.
Business Search
After multiple iterations of the Business Discovery experience, my team focused on Business Search as the primary means of contacting businesses on WhatsApp. I had the privilege of co-leading this transition before moving on to the Labels and Lists projects.
Business Search enables anyone on WhatsApp to initiate a search and type in the name or a specific type of business they wish to reach out to. Verified businesses, nearby businesses, and those with comprehensive profiles are prioritized in the search results. For instance, you can refer to the profile completion project below to see some of the work we’ve done in this area.
Complete Your Profile
I led the design of an experience to help businesses easily improve their profile information. On WhatsApp, few businesses see the benefit of having a complete profile. But with business search and more ways for people to find and contact businesses, having a complete profile is the most important way to build trust with their customers.
This experience aimed at helping businesses enter some basic key information about their business. This design also made improvements to how location is entered, as well as a more complete onboarding experience that was worked on as a part of the business app registration. Read more about the Business App Registration on the next project.
At WhatsApp, I learned that executing with excellence is critical, even if it means delaying launches or pursuing more challenging solutions. Quality craftsmanship is crucial—not just for polish, but for reducing frustration and building trust in the product.
This focus on execution excellence often requires tough trade offs, such as a delays and technical complexities. But it’s the key for achieving higher impact.