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02nd May 2018

Definitive proof that Snapchat screwed up

Alan Loughnane

Snapchat

The redesign was a great idea, but it wasn’t well done…

Snapchat was once the go-to app for young people, but over the past year or so, slower then expected user growth prompted the top brass in Snapchat to introduce a radical redesign.

The new design was rolled out for some users back in November but reached the entire platform of users in the first quarter of 2018 prompting a massive backlash from users.

Rather than boost user growth, user additions and sales slowed even further amid a public outcry over the new layout of the app.

In a sign of their users’ dissatisfaction, reality show star Kylie Jenner tweeted about her disapproval with the change in February, causing Snap’s stock to fall sharply.

Just over four million users were added to the app in the first quarter of 2018, less than half than projected.

Now, revenue gains in the current quarter will be even smaller, the company announced this week, sending share price plummeting as much as 20%, however it rebounded somewhat since.

Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel said that while the change is disruptive in the short-term, it’s necessary for the future vision of the company.

Although in recent days and weeks, Snapchat have hinted at tweaking the redesign of their app back to their more traditional layout, while still maintaining some of the features of their big update.

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Topics:

Snapchat