Murals
Module Vision & Roadmap
Murals Overview
TL;DR
Murals are customisable visual boards for images and videos. Creators design the look (layouts), set interaction rules (reactions & comments), and choose who can see or contribute (Private / Friends / Public). Users browse via curated grids or a vertical, TikTok‑style feed of items they’re allowed to access. Next phase introduces Community Murals with roles and lightweight moderation for collaborative boards.
1) What is a Mural?
A Mural is a board of media items with a cover, title, description, layout, and audience controls.
Items inherit mural settings but can override reactions/comments.
Visibility: Private, Friends, or Public.
Two browsing modes:
Grid: owner’s curated composition.
Vertical feed: infinite stream of items across accessible murals.
Why it matters: Creators control the space; viewers get a fast, clean consumption experience.
2) Value Proposition
Creative control: Design the board—layout, reactions, and comments—rather than posting into a fixed template.
Dual browsing: Intentional grid for storytelling + familiar vertical feed for discovery and habit.
Granular social: Turn reactions/comments on/off at mural or item level.
Privacy-first: Clear visibility controls; “Friends” unlocked via accepted requests.
3) Who it’s for (Personas)
Curator/Creator: Crafts themed boards; wants control over look & access.
Close‑circle sharer: Shares trips/events with friends; wants lightweight privacy.
Viewer/Collector: Browses and reacts quickly; wants a clean feed.
Community host (Phase 2): Invites contributions with approvals and roles.
Jobs-to-be-done
“Create a board that looks how I want.”
“Share to friends, with my rules for comments/reactions.”
“Scroll a clean feed of the best items from people I care about.”
“Let others contribute without chaos.”
4) v1 Scope (Owner‑Controlled Murals)
Create & Publish
Cover, title, description; layout presets.
Add media items; per‑item overrides for reactions/comments.
Feeds & Interactions
Murals feed: cards with cover, title, actions.
Content feed: vertical items across accessible murals.
Reactions: custom emoji; counts; snappy/optimistic.
Comments: half‑height sheet that never hides media.
Social Graph & Notifications
Friend requests and accepted pairs enable “Friends” visibility.
Alerts for friend status, new reactions, and comments.
Polish & Quality (v1.1)
Faster loads via prefetching and caching.
Offline reaction queue with retry.
Creator Tools (v1.2)
Shareable links/deep links.
Lightweight hashtags/labels.
Basic insights (views, reactions, comments).
Out of Scope (v1)
Open contributions from strangers, heavy moderation, search/advanced analytics.
5) Community Murals (Phase 2)
Why: Themes and events benefit from community contributions with guardrails.
Roles
Owner: Full control; sets visibility; assigns roles.
Moderator: Approves contributions, manages emojis, hides comments.
Contributor: Adds items; interacts within limits.
Viewer: Views and reacts as allowed.
Contribution Models
Open (within visibility), Request to contribute (approval queue), Invite‑only (allowlist).
Moderation & Social
Approval queues with bulk actions and reason codes.
Hide/remove items/comments; mute users; rate limits.
Co‑covers/carousels; pin/promote items; clear attribution.
6) UX Principles
Media first: Edge‑to‑edge; chrome stays minimal.
Two modes, one model: Grid for curation; Feed for consumption.
Comments as half‑sheet: Adjustable, never hides media.
Responsive reactions: Clear counts; instant feel.
Ownership clarity: “From: [Mural] by [Creator].”
Predictable taps:
Your mural title → editor grid
Others’ mural title → that mural’s feed
Media tap → per‑mural feed
7) Trust, Safety & Performance (High‑Level)
Visibility & access: Private/Friends/Public are explicit; “Friends” require accepted requests.
User control: Owners set defaults; items can override.
Safety for community mode: Approvals by default, rate limits, moderator tools.
Performance focus: Prefetch covers and top items; debounce network calls; warm critical paths after publish.
Detailed data schemas and index configurations are intentionally omitted here; they’ll live in internal technical docs.
8) Notifications & Deep Links
Friend requests (pending/accepted).
New reactions/comments on murals or items.
Deep links open directly to the relevant mural, item, or comment sheet.
9) Roadmap (Illustrative)
Q1 — v1 GA: Owner‑controlled murals, feeds, reactions, comment sheet, notifications; quality pass.
Q2 — Community Murals (alpha): Roles, contribution requests, approval queues, basic moderation, owner insights.
Q3 — Discovery & growth: Hashtags/labels, featured murals, follows, share cards, search.
Q4 — Rich media & collaboration: Carousels, light edits, suggestions, history, advanced analytics.
10) Success Metrics
Activation
% of new users publishing ≥1 mural in week 1; time‑to‑first‑post.
Engagement
Items viewed/session in Content feed.
Reactions/comments per 100 views.
Comment sheet open rate & dwell.
Retention & Creation Quality
D1/D7 for creators vs. viewers.
% returning to edit/customize murals.
% murals with custom layouts/reactions; avg items per mural; cover set rate.
11) Risks & Mitigations (Snapshot)
Rules/complexity: Keep user‑facing settings simple; advanced logic stays internal.
Listener cost/latency: On‑demand sync, pagination, prefetch top N items.
Abuse in community mode: Approvals by default; rate limits; mod tools; clear reporting.
Cold start: Shareable links, featured public murals, optimistic UI.
12) Go‑to‑Market (v1)
Target creators: Photographers, travelers, designers.
Seed templates: Trip board, inspo board, event recap.
Easy sharing: Share links; “view as feed” preview.
Social proof: Curated public murals on landing.
13) Optional Appendices
Contribution workflow (Phase 2): Tap Contribute → request → approve/deny → contribute with limits; owners can pin/promote.
Comment sheet behavior: Opens half‑height; draggable to full; emoji autocomplete later; name resolution via friend cache.
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