Building Platforms People Want to Use: Weixin

As someone with a background in both marketing and UX design, I always love seeing platforms that truly get their users, where the experience feels intuitive, tailored, and seamlessly woven into daily life. That’s exactly why Weixin (WeChat) is such a standout.

Weixin has succeeded in becoming China’s go-to app by designing for everyday life and building around how people actually live and interact with technology.

Convenience Over Everything

At its core Weixin is technically a messaging app, but really, that barely scratches the surface. It’s also a digital wallet, a news feed, a shopping app, and a way to get a ride. That might sound like way too much all crammed into one place…but because it works, it feels less like an app and more like a natural extension of your day.

Weixin knew thier audience, urban smartphone users, craved fewer apps and more convenience. So they built one platform that could do basically everything. Less bouncing around, less effort. You scroll, pay, share, shop, all without leaving the app.

From a UX perspective, it’s kind of a dream setup. But it’s also a good reminder for marketers, especially in social media, that it’s not just about pushing people toward what we want them to do but about paying attention to what they’re already doing and finding ways to make that easier. Mahoney and Tang (2016) emphasize that social media strategies should be built on understanding “why and how people use social media,” and that effective campaigns should “make your social media product a part of your audiences’ everyday routine and habit”.

In social media marketing especially, if you're not meeting people where they already are, they’re probably just going to scroll right past you. As Mahoney and Tang (2016) put it, “Audiences are doing whatever they can to reduce ‘search costs.’ If they can get everything from one platform, why bother to look elsewhere?” (Mahoney & Tang, 2016).

Ease of Use Builds Confidence and Habit

Weixin makes things really simple. You’re not stuck trying to figure out where to tap or how something works. Whether you’re messaging someone, paying for something, or sharing a post, it just works, and when something feels that easy, people use it without thinking twice.

This same idea also applies for social media. If your campaign or content makes people pause and ask, “What am I supposed to do here?”, you’ve already lost them. It doesn’t matter how cool or creative it is. If it’s not easy to engage with, they’ll scroll right past.

Mahoney and Tang (2016) explain this through the idea of self-efficacy, people are more likely to engage when they feel confident they can use something without getting stuck or frustrated. It’s not about skill but about how easy it feels. That’s why strong social media marketing isn’t just about the message but also about making sure the experience is smooth and intuitive. If your post or platform feels clunky or unclear, people won’t engage, even if the content itself is good. It has to be easy to use, easy to find, and built around how people actually use social media (Mahoney & Tang, 2016).

Emotional Design Matters Too

Emotional design is about creating experiences that go beyond function, it’s not just about how something works, but how it makes people feel while using it. When something sparks a positive reaction, people are more likely to engage, remember it, and share it. In social media marketing, tapping into that emotional connection is what can make a campaign stick with someone.

A great example of this is Weixin’s “Red Envelope” campaign. Around Chinese New Year, Weixin introduced a digital version of the traditional hongbao, red envelopes filled with money typically given to friends and family. But instead of sending a set amount, the app let people drop in a total sum and then randomly split it among a group of friends. That surprise element turned a familiar tradition into something fun, social, and kind of exciting. It wasn’t just a transaction, it created a shared moment that felt personal and joyful.

Mahoney and Tang (2016) highlight how Weixin used this campaign to tap into users’ moods and cultural context. They explain that when marketers align content with the audience’s emotional state, especially during holidays or meaningful events, it helps users feel seen and builds connection with the brand. Emotional design is about taking what people already care about and finding a way to be part of it, not by interrupting, but by enhancing the moment (Mahoney & Tang, 2016).

Good Content Can’t Save a Bad Experience

UX and marketing a lot of the time get treated like two separate things when really, they have the same goal to meet people where they are and guide them toward something that matters. If your content is solid but the experience of finding or using it is frustrating, people bounce. But also, if your design is seamless but the message doesn’t land, that’s a missed opportunity too.

Weixin stands out to me, and obviously to others as well because they don’t separate the two. Messaging and experience work together. The app feels easy to use and meaningful to use. It’s useful, intuitive, and actually relevant to what people care about. That combination is what keeps people coming back.

Mahoney and Tang (2016) back this up by emphasizing that strategy, design, and content all have to align for social media to be effective. It’s not just about putting the right message in front of people but about doing it in a way that fits naturally into how they already behave online. They argue that when marketers consider the user’s journey and emotional context alongside the content itself, it increases both engagement and impact (Mahoney & Tang, 2016).

So instead of thinking about UX and marketing as two different checkboxes, we should be thinking about how they can support each other. When you combine strong messaging with a user experience that feels effortless, you create something that people actually want to use.

Where Weixin Is Now (2025 Update)

Even in 2025, Weixin is still the one to beat with around 1.38 billion monthly active users. Every day, users send 45 billion messages and make over 410 million calls. On the commerce side, it’s just as massive with over 900 million people using Weixin Pay, and nearly a billion engage with its built-in Mini Programs (Singh, 2025).

But what’s keeping it relevant isn’t just scale, the app keeps evolving to stay useful. Weixin focuses on what actually helps people in their day-to-day. Whether it’s making payments smoother, adding new ways to connect with businesses, or improving how Mini Programs work, it’s all about keeping things simple, familiar, and convenient while staying up to date and making continuous improvements.

Resources:

Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (2016). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change. Wiley Global Research (STMS). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781118556900

Singh, S. (2025, June 16). 18 WeChat statistics 2025 (usage & revenue). DemandSage. Retrieved from https://www.demandsage.com/wechat-statistics/