Pinterest Case Study

ILLUSTRATION AND OVER DESIGN 

My Role: UX/UI Design & Research

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Objective:

To design the cover and illustrations for my best friends’s debut poetry book in a way that visually captured her voice, emotion and personality.

Why? :

This project meant a lot to me—both personally and creatively. I offered my design and illustration skillls to help bring her poems to life, making sure the visuals felt just as intentional and expressive as her writing. It was a chance to support someone I care about while pushing myself to create work that felt honest, emotional and aligned with her vision.

RESEARCH : From Vision to Sketch

We kicked off the project by talking through her vision for the cover. She shared a rough sketch and gave me the freedom to bring her concepts to life while keeping the tone personal and diary-like.

Survey Results

  • 1) How often do you use the Pinterest app?

    2) What are the primary reasons you use Pinterest? (e.g., inspiration, DIY projects, recipes, fashion, home decor)

    3) Which social media platforms do you use for creative self-expression or networking purposes? (Select all that apply: TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook)

    4) Do you use Pinterest to discover new content, or do you mainly save and organize content you already know you like?

    5) How do you feel about the frequency and relevance of ads shown on Pinterest?

    6) How likely are you to recommend Pinterest to others? (Scale: Very Likely, Likely, Neutral, Unlikely, Very Unlikely)

    7) What specific themes or boards do you think the "Shuffle" feature would be most useful for (e.g., outfit inspirations, home decor ideas, travel destinations)?

    8) Do you believe the "Shuffle" feature enhances your user inspiration and creativity on Pinterest? (Choose one: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree)

    9) How often do you think you would use the "Shuffle" feature on Pinterest? (Choose one: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely, Never)

    10) Would you prefer to have the option to shuffle pins within all your boards or only specific boards? (Choose one: All boards, Specific boards)

    11) Type in answer: Would you like to see any new features added to the app? If yes, what are they?

    What, if any, improvements would you suggest to make Pinterest more enjoyable or useful for you?

How Often Do you use the Pinterest App?

What are the primary reasons you use Pinterest? Select all that Apply.

Do you use Pinterest to discover new content, or do you mainly save & organize content you already know you like?

Do you believe the “Shuffle” button feature would enhance your user inspiration and creativity on Pinterest?

In Depth Interview

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.

  • 1) What do you like about Pinterest?

    2) What are some Inconveniences?

    3) What do you use Pinterest for?

    4) How do you currently organize the pins in your boards, and do you find this process convenient or cumbersome?

    5) When seeking inspiration or fresh ideas on Pinterest, do you often find yourself revisiting the same pins within specific boards, or do you prefer discovering new content?

    6) How do you envision the shuffle feature enhancing your experience on Pinterest? Are there specific scenarios or themes where you see the shuffle option being particularly valuable?

    7) Would you be interested in exploring new content beyond your existing saved pins without having to manually curate or reorganize your boards?

“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

“Pinterest has helped with my writing and with finding my personal aesthetic. I like that I can find pictures/pins that mimic or have the same vibe as my current pin collections. It. makes it super easy to build large Pinterest boards to have a large selection of inspiration to look through.”

- Anonymous Pinterest User

“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 Pain Points & Insights

Insights

  • Pinterest users mainly use the app for inspiration.

  • Users want the ability to keep their pins organized and be able to create boards in a convenient way

  • Users with large Pinterest boards wish for a quick and easy way to find inspiration based off of their boards.

User Persona

Main User Flow

Lo-Fi Wire Frames

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.

Shuffle Button Prototype 

I opted to position the new shuffle button between the "More Ideas” and “Organize” buttons. This choice seemed logical to me because the shuffle button serves a dual purpose—it provides users with “More Ideas” and offers a simple way to effortlessly reorganize their Pinterest boards.

Now, all three buttons are arranged in the order of the most frequently used main function (The Main Ideas Button) to the least used function (Organize Button). The objective is for the shuffle button to become a highly utilized function as well. The usability ranking of the three buttons was determined by the user interviews and surveys I conducted.