The use of Google Talk on Apple devices has always been difficult. For a long time, there was no proprietary app, forcing users to work with the third party interfaces. Most of these interfaces are difficult to use, especially if 2-step authentication is activated on the Google account. While Google has provided support for Hangouts, the app is pretty basic and provides few options for integrating other media quickly into the app – which is one of the most common uses for the platform on the computer.
The persona for the user is Megan, a 27-year old office professional whose friends share similar jobs. Since email is always open at work, she uses Google to contact both friends and coworkers, but sometimes she is away from the computer and needs to send messages from her phone. Her frustrations are the inability to use an iPhone to effectively stay in touch with her friends on their office computers, and her goals include both personal and professional communication. Prior to the start of this narrative, Megan already has a Google account.
Megan downloads the app, signs in using the authentication, and adjusts her visibility status by clicking on “me” to avoid updates from her coworkers. She then uses the insertion settings to quickly share from Instagram to her friend Bob that does not use the platform. Should it be required, she can also share out of Google Talk by selecting a message to share.
