New “shuffle” button feature

My Role: UX/UI Design & Research

Project Start Date: 03/2024

Duration: 1 Month

Objective:

To design and validate a shuffle feature that helps users rediscover saved pins, spark fresh inspiration, and engage with their boards in a new way—based on real user behavior and needs.

Why? :

Users often save pins for inspiration, but over time, boards can become static and predictable, limiting their creative potential. By exploring how users interact with saved content, this project aimed to identify new ways to help them re-engage with their boards in a way that feels fresh, intuitive, and creatively stimulating. This study was an opportunity to investigate user behavior, validate the value of randomness in creative workflows, and design a lightweight feature that sparks unexpected connections and renewed engagement.

RESEARCH

Learning how Pinterest users actually use their boards — and when they feel stuck.

Methodology:
To understand how a shuffle feature might enhance user creativity and experience, I used:

• A public survey (40+ responses)

• 5 user interviews (ages 18–30)

• Research into Pinterest’s core demographics and behaviors

Survey Focus Areas:

• How often users revisit their boards

• What types of boards they use most

• Whether they ever feel “uninspired” by their saved content

• How often they reorganize pins (or avoid it entirely)

Survey Results

Users love collecting — but often forget what they’ve saved. They want Pinterest to feel like a spark, not a scrapbook.

How Often Do you use the Pinterest App?

Focus:

To study what Pinterest users like and gain more in-depth insight into their experience using Pinterest, I conducted interviews with five Pinterest users and had them answer seven interview questions.

“The shuffle feature would be amazing! I can see it being particularly valuable when I want a fresh burst of inspiration without specifically searching for something. It could help me rediscover gems in my existing boards, inspiring pins that I may have forgotten about.”

- Anonymous Pinterest User

Users crave quick, refreshing ways to re-engage with their saved content—especially on large boards—without needing to manually search or scroll. The shuffle feature offers a low-effort way to surface forgotten inspiration and spark creativity.

“The Pinterest board I revisit the most is my ‘Fit Inspo’ board, but it has over 400 pins in it so the shuffle feature would honestly help look through my pins until I get inspired in a more convenient way.”

- Anonymous Pinterest User

Pain Points

• 27.8% of users are dissatisfied with the frequency and relevance of ads shown on Pinterest

• Users want the ability to click on hashtags to find more relevant pins.

• Users want a more convenient way to find pins that will inspire them.

Key research Pain Points & Insights

User Persona

Wire frame sketches

I sketched out two different options on where the shuffle button feature could be located on users Pinterest boards.

I leaned toward choosing placement #1 because it makes the new feature easy to find and use. Placing it right next to the existing main functions, "More ideas" and "Organize," makes logical sense. This is effective as it consolidates the primary actions on a Pinterest board, with the shuffle button being an additional key function.

This was my first time conducting both surveys and interviews for a design concept, and it taught me a lot about how to gather and synthesize user feedback. I realized how important it is to diversify participants — all of my interviewees were women, so in the future, I’d aim for a broader range of users to get a more complete picture.

I also learned the value of good organization. Next time, I’d save and label all of my interview notes more clearly, and back everything up to avoid losing key insights. I’d also like to improve how I visually present survey data, like creating cleaner, more professional graphs to showcase results more effectively.

Even though this was a small project, it gave me hands-on experience with real research methods and helped me better understand how to connect design ideas to user needs.

I placed the new “Shuffle” button between the “More Ideas” and “Organize” buttons to reflect its dual purpose—it introduces fresh inspiration while also reordering content for easier discovery.

This layout follows a logical flow, with the most frequently used function (“More Ideas”) on the left and the least used (“Organize”) on the right, based on insights from user interviews and surveys. My goal was to position the Shuffle button where it feels natural to tap and to encourage it to become a regularly used feature over time.

Reflections