Unifying Facebook and Instagram downloads into one streamlined experience.
Meta’s Download your information
My role
Design Lead & Research
End-to-end flow, data structure & user research
Platforms
Mobile & desktop
iOS, Android, mobile web & desktop
Collaboration
Cross-functional
Content Design, Product, Engineering, Legal & Policy
Timeline
5 months
From exploration to launch
AT A GLANCE
Same need.
Different starting points.
The problem
Facebook and Instagram had different ways to download personal data, creating inconsistent experiences and regulatory challenges as Meta moved toward a connected app ecosystem.
My contribution
I led the design and research of a unified download experience, introducing a scalable data structure, simplified workflows, and flexible controls across multiple profiles.
The result
Double-digit improvement in task completion, full regulatory compliance, and three download surfaces consolidated into one, reducing engineering overhead.
THE CHALLENGE
Simple request.
Scattered steps.
“Can I get a copy of my data?” should have a simple answer. Instead, Facebook and Instagram each had their own download tool, and people with multiple profiles had to start over in every app. Only about half finished.
Research surfaced three core problems: separate tools, inconsistent data structures, and unclear options. For the business, that friction undermined trust and created regulatory pressure.
WHO IT’S FOR
The curious
Wants to see what Facebook and Instagram have stored about them.
The departing
Wants to deactivate Facebook, but keep their memories.
The locked out
Has a disabled profile and wants their data in case it isn’t restored.
THE GOAL
Real transparency.
Meaningful control.
One place to download all your Meta data, while meeting privacy regulations in every market.
Key decisions
Decision 01
Co-locate.
Don’t consolidate.
We could merge every profile’s data into one unit, or bring profiles together in one place while keeping their data separate.
I made the case for co-location. Research showed people think about their data profile by profile. It met the project’s needs without a company-wide rewrite or a change to data policy.
A unified experience doesn’t have to mean merged data.
Decision 02
One structure.
Every app.
An audit showed some apps nested data types under categories, while others simply listed them.
I led card sorting and testing to find a structure that worked with each app’s existing data, scaled, and made sense to people. App teams across the company adopted it.
People never have to relearn where things live as they move between apps.
Decision 03
Smart defaults.
Full control.
Regulators required access to all data, but most people only wanted their photos and posts.
I designed three paths: Your media, selected by default; All information, for everything at once; and Select types of information, for granular control per profile.
A line indicator replaced step counts, because each choice changes the length of the flow.
Decision 04
Design for
the wait.
Files can take a few minutes to a few days to prepare — about an hour on average. That was a technical constraint we couldn’t remove.
The flow sets expectations up front and notifies people the moment their file is ready.
Make the wait understandable, even when you can’t make it disappear.
THE FINAL EXPERIENCE
One flow. Every profile.
Downloading your data used to mean separate tools for each app and a lot of guesswork about what you’d get. Now each step explains what’s happening (how long the file lasts, why it’s password-protected, what each option includes), then asks for a single choice. You pick your profiles, the information, and the file options in one flow across Facebook and Instagram. A summary at the end confirms exactly what’s included before you request it.
THE IMPACT
Less friction.
More follow-through.
Full
regulatory compliance, with minimal impact on core metrics
Double-digit
lift in task completion
3 → 1
surfaces to maintain, reducing engineering overhead
Less friction
A major reduction in friction for people with multiple accounts.
Company-wide adoption
One data structure adopted by app teams across the company.
High satisfaction
People consistently rated the experience easy to use in post-launch surveys.
REFLECTION
A download isn’t
the finish line.
After launch, some people requested a download but never returned for it. People on shared devices or in internet cafes, especially in emerging markets, often couldn’t download or store a file at all.
We’d designed around our organization structure. I pushed to integrate an existing transfer tool so people could send their data straight to services like Google Drive. The work was adopted, the products later merged, and completion rose significantly.
Treat limited-access conditions as a starting constraint, not an edge case.