Why I Choose This Sticker When Chatting with You: Exploring Design Considerations for Sticker Recommendation Services in Mobile Instant Messengers

Nowadays, many mobile instant messenger (MIM) users employ stickers to express their emotions. Due to the increase in the variety of stickers, many MIM platforms have begun to offer sticker recommendation services, which suggest appropriate stickers based on the context of conversations. Although sticker recommendation services need to consider users' subtle social and psychological needs from the perspective that stickers are an alternative communication language, few attempts have been made to explore this area. Consequently, we investigated sticker usage practices through a qualitative study with 18 KakaoTalk users in South Korea. Based on the results of this study, we revealed user's three common considerations in sticker usage experiences and discussed the design implications for sticker recommendation services in MIM.