THE WHAT
Change the status quo.
Building a better, healthier messenger.
Post Social, Inc was formed to bring better relevance and connectivity to people amidst a social media environment that was rapidly growing more and more disconnected from reality. Having built a Bluetooth SDK, an obvious platform to build was a better messenger; Other Chat. It would focus on creating spaces to mesh those you are emotionally and physically close with.
THE WHY
What are the problems we hope to solve?
We built a messenger that focused on creating small, ephemeral, and often disposable spaces. We consciously avoided a global framework so we could keep the platform unindexed, unsearchable and more focused on proximal networks. We removed problematic dopamine engagements that inevitably cause unhealthy habits and unhappy people.
WORDMARK & LOGO
Simple, intentionally generic, and evocative of chat.
TYPEFACE
Neutral and extensively battle tested for legibility
COLOR
Basic approach for high contrast clarity, simple accents for core UI elements.
CAROLINA BLUE
#18ACFF
WHITE
#FFFFFF
GUNMETAL
#555555
ASH
#B7B7B7
BLACK
#000000
EUCALYPTUS
#43D39B
APP LAYOUT
Simple drawers handle primary contextual information while the chat space always remains the center of gravity.
MESSAGE PANEL COMMANDS
A primary way to navigate, modify and interact with users and spaces.
SIMPLE & TYPE FOCUSED
Priority was given to textual elements rather than iconographic ones
CHANNELS
Spaces for anything and everything.
USERS
Emphasis given to the ability to be whoever your true self is.
CHATTER
A view of ongoing activity around you compacted into a glanceable UI.
FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE
A fully functional, third party JavaScript plug-in framework was developed to let anyone create and share features within Other Chat.
BASICS
The left drawer provided the typical access to joined channels, direct messages from users, nearby users and account level settings, while the right provided channel detail access.
DARK MODE
Preference is taken into account.
DID WE SUCCEED?
It’s complicated...
Other Chat was ambitious and unique. Some of the decisions we made with hopes to change tough societal issues were the same decisions that perhaps ultimately made Other Chat difficult to market and difficult to communicate.
In a rapidly growing product market where the status quo valued engagement and daily active user metrics above all else, building a messenger that sought to be a tool rather than an addiction was an uphill battle. It would have required a larger scale societal shift in how we think about the platforms we interact with, what we value as consumers and what investors value in the products they support.
Our vision to create a platform based on network-meshing spaces is, in small part, validated by platforms such as Discord that would later emerge as a successful new take on communication.