Snapchat to be redesigned so dramatically it could affect the company's business, it warns

'We’re willing to take that risk'

The Snapchat app logo is seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken September 15, 2017 (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic)

Snapchat is being redesigned so drastically that it might affect its business, it has said.

The company warned in its latest earnings call that investors should brace themselves for potential disruption as it tries to rescue its app.

Snapchat's app includes a range of different features, and has been hailed as both a triumph and failure of design. But it appears to have admitted that the latter is correct, and that it will launch an attempt to completely redesign the app.

The move is presumably an attempt to win around older users – who frequently complain about the app being too complicated – to the service. Currently, many of its features are hidden away behind strange gestures and other screens that it isn't clear how to use.

"One thing that we have heard over the years is that Snapchat is difficult to understand or hard to use, and our team has been working on responding to this feedback," said Evan Spiegel, Snapchat's CEO, during its earning call. "As a result, we are currently redesigning our application to make it easier to use.

"There is a strong likelihood that the redesign of our application will be disruptive to our business in the short term, and we don’t yet know how the behavior of our community will change when they begin to use our updated application. We’re willing to take that risk for what we believe are substantial longterm benefits to our business."

Mr Spiegel didn't say what the app would look like. But it will presumably make it more obvious how to open up particular features, for instance.

Snapchat has gradually been losing users to competitors like Instagram and its owner Facebook. Though Snapchat has pioneered a range of features – including stories and filters – Facebook has done much better by taking them and integrating it into its own offerings.