Meta · Facebook · 2023–2024
Group Chat Creation in Share Sheet
Enabled seamless group creation directly from the Share Sheet, reducing friction and helping users discover chats with the same people — unlocking the critical Share → Connect transition at the heart of Facebook's Private Sharing flywheel.
The Problem
Users couldn't create groups directly from Facebook's Share Sheet — breaking the critical Share → Connect transition. To share with a new group, they had to exit the flow entirely, navigate to Messenger, create the group, then find and reshare the content. A 7+ step process with heavy context switching, resulting in a 40%+ drop-off rate.
My Role
Part of a pod of senior designers building the foundation for Facebook's Original Private Sharing strategy. I owned a top-level KR end-to-end — from problem framing and strategy through system definition, validation, and rollout — while operating in high ambiguity and aligning partners across multiple teams.
Pod structure — Private Sharing frameworks initiative
Strategic Context
The work sat within Facebook's Original Private Sharing (OPS) flywheel: Inspire → Create → Share → Connect. The Share → Connect transition was underperforming — users were sharing content but not forming new connections around it. Enabling group creation inline was identified as a high-leverage intervention: fix the friction at the moment of intent, and the flywheel could accelerate.
The OPS flywheel — Share → Connect was the broken link
Research & Discovery
I audited group creation flows across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp — mapping terminology, action labels, iconography, and UX patterns across each surface.
Facebook surface audit — Share Sheet and GBF flows
vs.
Cross-platform audit — group creation patterns across 4 apps
Insights & Opportunity
The audit surfaced four key insights that shaped the design direction:
Sharing is spontaneous
Users want to act on impulse. Complex, multi-step flows break the moment of intent before it can convert.
Group creation is context-dependent
People want to form groups around shared moments — not as a separate, deliberate task in a different app.
Every step kills intent
The existing 7+ step flow with context switching was causing a 40%+ drop-off rate at the point of sharing.
Competitors had already solved this
Best-in-class apps allow inline group creation without leaving the sharing flow — we were behind.
The Opportunity
Condense the flow and enable spontaneous connection — let users create a group and share in a single, uninterrupted action.
The Before State
Without inline group creation, the user journey was fragmented and effortful: exit the Share Sheet, open Messenger, create a new group, return to the original content, and reshare — a multi-app, multi-context experience that broke the moment of intent entirely.
Before: 7+ steps, context switching, 40%+ drop-off
The Solution
I designed inline group creation directly within the Share Sheet — so users never have to leave the sharing flow. The final design was built on four principles: inline group creation so the flow is never broken; progressive disclosure to surface only what's needed at each step; familiar patterns borrowed from Messenger's existing group creation UI; and one-tap sending that combines group creation and sharing into a single action.
Final designs — inline group creation within the Share Sheet
Impact & Outcomes
Enabled 11 OPS experiences and drove measurable improvements across the funnel.
- Unlocked 11 OPS experiences for the entire pod
- Created parity with IG, Messenger, and WhatsApp
- Group chats became a core foundation for OPS strategy
- Unblocked additional Private Sharing tests org-wide
- Drop-off reduced from 22% → 15% — 7% improvement
- Steps reduced from 7+ → 3 — 57% less friction
- "Actions within share sheet" framework — adopted by 5+ surfaces
- Documented all impacted scenarios to facilitate eng & product decisions
- 100+ surface audit drove XFN alignment
- Site map of possible paths enabled rapid decision-making
- Blueprint Ambassador: drove adoption from 30% → 80%+
- Delivered comprehensive test plan
- Supported engineering through multiple iterations
- Adopted across Story, Reels, Posts, Gaming, and Marketplace sharing
- "Actions within share sheet" methodology documented in Blueprint
- Enabled designers across Facebook to work more efficiently
- Share Sheet Sticker Sheet published on DesignKit & DimSum
- Mentored designers on flow optimization
- Created reusable components for the design system
Learnings
Prioritize detailed planning for pragmatic execution
A dedicated planning week aligned goals and outcomes early, creating confidence in tasks and focus areas across both teams.
Invest early in understanding who's who
Building a detailed index of people, roles, and org structure helped us form the right connections from day one.
Start at the lowest fidelity when crafting a narrative
Beginning every review with words and boxes — focused on the message — before moving to higher fidelity led to clearer, stronger outcomes.
Write weekly posts to transparently share progress
Weekly summaries created a living timeline that kept stakeholders informed and made artifacts easy to find and reference.
Expedite trust through proactive transparency
Bookending every communication with a clear POV, goal, and next steps increased confidence across the whole team.
Increase efficiency through trust
Once trust was established, aligning on goals, outcomes, and tasks became faster — reducing back-and-forth significantly.
Strengthen ideas by welcoming critique
A safe space for mutual challenge, grounded in respect, resulted in initial POVs evolving into better, more resilient solutions.
Foster inclusivity with frequent gratitude
Genuinely recognizing contributions — large and small — built the confidence and trust that kept the team moving forward.