The VK Look

If I had to think of a few words to describe VK’s user interface and Information Architecture I would have to say it is [extensive and simple]. When researching further into this topic I found some interesting facts about VK that really resonated with me. On first glance VK looks like a fraternal twin to Facebook back in it’s early stages. Now there are a lot more differences because Facebook commonly changes it UI and IA to keep up with other popular social media channels such as Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. VK’s developers pride themselves on the fact that their UI and IA is nearly the same as it always has been. Their immediate audience is happy with the way the infrastructure of the website is set up. They don’t have to worry about innovating all the time because their users aren’t widespread throughout the world so there is no need for constant accommodations.

A huge testament to their website is all the features that users are able to capitalize on. Sharing posts, sharing videos, uploading news, creating communities, uploading music, and even privacy settings that allow certain posts to be shared within the app but blocked off from the internet. All these features are easily accessible as you can see in the [photo displayed below]. There site is to the point but at the same time it still draws the user in. Information wise, VK is among the best social media channels in the world. That may seem like a statement slightly to bold to say but look at the evidence. The users praise how personable the site is and how it is so easy to connect with others. Their search algorithm makes it so easy to find exactly who you’re looking for. On social media sites that I commonly use, I find it very hard sometimes to find certain individuals also using the channel. This is because most social networks are moving away from gathering a lot of personal information from their users and focusing more on visual posts and simple content. VK on the other hand is the complete opposite. A user stated that when she joined she was asked at least 50 questions about herself so that they could gather a extensive profile. She stated that it was beneficial because a lot of the times she can find certain users she wants to connect with without even having to use their name. This is an idea that is unheard of with most social media outlets that we commonly use on a daily basis.