From Chaos to Curation: Redesigning TikTok’s Save Experience

by Troy Corbitt

While I love discovering new videos on TikTok, I often find myself saving content that fits how I’m feeling in the moment — after long days, I save calming routines or cozy food videos, and when I’m with friends, it’s usually chaotic memes or edits I want to share later. The problem is, even though TikTok makes it easy to save content, it does little to help me revisit those moments.

When I’m looking for a specific video I saved weeks ago, I want to find it quickly without scrolling through thousands of others. But I can’t easily do that on TikTok because:

1. My saved videos live in a giant grid with no search, no filters, and no clear way to sort.
2. TikTok’s folders require manual sorting, and even then, they’re ordered by “last updated” — not by what I’m trying to find.

The Current State of Rediscovery

Although TikTok offers a Favorites feature and basic Collections, the problem is that these tools often become cluttered and underused. Saved videos are hard to revisit, and folders require too much manual effort to maintain. As a result, users like me often forget what we’ve saved — or avoid saving altogether.

I wanted to explore features that promote rediscovery, not just endless new content.

Examples of Current Features:

• “Favorites” grid of saved videos
• Manual “Collections” folder system
• Occasional resurfacing via sound reuse or algorithm

Market Research — How Other Platforms Handle Saved Content

Other apps help users store content — but not rediscover it.

Instagram relies on static collections with no real search. YouTube has playlists, but they quickly become cluttered and hard to manage. Pinterest focuses on visual boards, but once something is saved, it rarely resurfaces.

TikTok could stand out by making saved content smarter — with filters, tags, and timely nudges that bring forgotten favorites back to life.

Are Users Satisfied?

Most users I interviewed either avoid organizing saved content or give up after struggling to find an old video. The current system prioritizes saving — but not finding.

“I’ve saved over 2,000 TikToks — but whenever I try to find one, I give up.”

TikTok makes discovering new content effortless. But when it comes to revisiting saved videos, the experience breaks down. Favorites become a black hole — easy to dump into, hard to dig through.

As someone who saves content to laugh at later, share with friends, or revisit for inspiration, I found the lack of organization tools frustrating. This case study walks through how I tackled that hidden pain point using user research, brainstorming, and iterative design.

User Research

To understand how users interact with TikTok’s save system, I interviewed three individuals with varying levels of app usage:

• Casual User: Scrolls occasionally, rarely engages with saved content
• Moderate User: Uses TikTok more regularly, sometimes tries organizing saved videos
• Heavy User: Spends multiple hours daily on the app and actively saves content

“Across the board, users relied on Favorites — but no one felt in control of them.”

What I Learned

From casual users

“I save a few videos here and there, but I never go back to them.”
“I didn’t even know folders existed.”

From moderate users

“I try to organize sometimes, but it’s not worth the effort.”
“Even when I make folders, I can’t find what I’m looking for later.”

From heavy users

“I’ve saved thousands of videos, and it’s a nightmare to scroll through.”
“I wish there was a way to filter or search inside my saved stuff.”

Exploring the Solution Space

“Turning Friction Into Features”

When brainstorming, my friend Jaylin (an architecture and spatial design thinker I came up with three key opportunity areas for improving TikTok’s save system:

Smart Sort & Filter
Make it easier to navigate saved content through search, tags, and filters.

Effortless Organization
Reduce the manual work of sorting saved videos with features like multi-select and drag-and-drop.

Rediscovery Prompts
Encourage users to revisit saved content through personalized recaps and subtle reminders.

From Opportunity to Solutions

identified 3 strong solution directions to improve TikTok’s saving experience:

Enhanced Discovery & Navigation
Make saved content easier to find through search, filters, and intelligent sorting.

Interactive Content Management
Simplify how users organize and manage their saved videos with tools like drag-and-drop, multi-select, and auto-categorization.

Re-engagement & Social Interaction
Encourage users to revisit old favorites through weekly digests, collaborative folders, and resurfaced content feeds.

Final Idea

Out of all the ideas we explored, I decided to move forward with a combined tagging and filtering system to improve how users organize and rediscover their saved TikToks.

This feature allows users to tag videos as they save them (manually or via AI suggestions), and then filter their saved content by creator, keyword, mood, or topic. Collections become smarter, more personalized, and less labor-intensive. Users can also receive weekly recaps based on tags they interact with most, helping surface forgotten favorites.

In short: This solution reduces organizational friction while reconnecting users with content they care about — all through intuitive, tag-driven discovery.

Introducing Retok — Tiktoks new Rediscovery Features

User Flows — Tiktok Rediscovery

Conclusion

Redesigning TikTok’s save experience showed me how small changes — like tags and filters — can solve big usability problems. Features that seem simple on the surface can make a huge difference when they align with real user behavior and emotional intent. Through user testing, I realized that saving is often impulsive, but rediscovery is deeply contextual. People remember how a video made them feel, not necessarily who posted it or when. By designing around that, we can transform Favorites from a forgotten archive into a tool that brings joy, inspiration, and utility back into the user’s experience.

If I had more time, I’d test this feature with a broader range of users and explore integrations like AI-assisted tagging, collaborative folders, and push-based rediscovery prompts. I’d also refine the balance between simplicity and customization — ensuring power users have control without overwhelming casual savers.

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