Project Overview
Project duration:
January 2022 to March 2022
The problem:
find the best way to design a user-centered app that offers a streamlined, efficient, and intuitive interface for expert photographers and influencers to edit their photos to semi-professional quality, with the ability to quickly share on social networks.
The goal:
Design a user-centered mobile photo editing application that addresses the needs of expert photographers and influencers, who require a robust interface for quick and efficient photo editing with semi-professional quality, allowing for easy sharing on social networks.
My role:
UX researcher an UI designer an app for Black Bones from conception to delivery.
Responsibilities:
User research to gain insights into social network behavior and develop user hypotheses.
Conducting user interviews and tests to validate hypotheses and identify pain points.
Analyzing results and interpreting the findings to drive design decisions.
Creating low and high-fidelity prototypes to validate the design and iterate on it.
Conducting usability studies to evaluate the design's effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
Accounting for accessibility and designing for responsive experiences
The product:
Black Bones is a mobile photo editing application that allows users to edit their photos in black and white using personalized filters, with a simple and user-friendly interface for quick adjustments, and an easy-to-use sharing window for publishing to social networks.
Understanding the user
User research
Personas
Problem statements
User journey maps
User research: summary
As a UX researcher and UI designer, my goal was to identify the needs of a specific user group through various research methods and create a comprehensive understanding of their requirements for a photo editing application.
Methodology:
To achieve this goal, I employed a user-centered design approach by conducting interviews and creating empathy maps. This approach allowed me to gain insight into the core user group's pain points, goals, and behaviors, as well as their motivation for using a photo-editing app.
Main user group:
My research revealed two distinct user groups: professional photographers and Instagram influencers. The main user group, professional photographers, required an application that could quickly edit black and white photos with a robust interface and semi-professional quality to share on their social networks.
Secondary user group:
The secondary user group, Instagram influencers, needed an app that could generate original and unique black and white filters that were easy to produce and share on their social networks.
The first results of my research showed that there was a clear need for a photo editing app that could meet the specific requirements of both user groups: professional photographers and Instagram influencers. To address these requirements, I used a user-centered design approach in developing the app, taking into account the needs and behaviors of the users, to create a solution that effectively meets their needs.
PAIN POINTS
The lack of a photo editing app offering professional-quality filters as opposed to commercial ones is a pain point for users.
Professional-Grade Filters:
User Efficiency:
Users desire a user-friendly and fast interface to streamline the editing process and enhance the overall user experience.
Seamless Net. Integration:
Integrating the app with social networks seamlessly to allow for easy sharing of edited photos with a single click, as well as the ability to add custom text to the publication, is crucial.
Unique Filter Offerings:
Exclusive filters, specifically tailored to the brand of the app, are sought-after by users.
personas
Based on the research conducted, three user personas were developed to encompass the needs of professional photographers, influencers, and artists. The insights gathered from these user groups were instrumental in shaping the user experience for a sleek and professional black and white photo editing app.
USER JOURNEY MAP
As a UX Researcher and UI Designer, I employ a comprehensive user research methodology that involves creating a detailed User Journey Map to understand the thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and pain points of the target audience. I use this information to develop user personas and identify potential opportunities for improvement in the user experience.
One of the key insights that emerged from my research was that users value exclusivity over quantity when it comes to filters. They prefer a limited set of high-quality filters that are unique to the app, rather than an extensive list that may not be of professional quality. This applies to both influencers looking to make their photos stand out on social media, as well as professional photographers seeking to showcase their work in a distinctive manner. The results further highlight the need for a user-friendly interface that allows for easy and quick photo editing, enabling users to quickly share their results on social media.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Potential people want a black and white photo editing app that meets the sum of the following requirements:
Too simple to manipulate
Few filters, but of excellent quality and totally exclusive.
With a step to be able to share it on social networks from the same app.
These potential people are from two opposite segments that coincide in the main characteristics, the first segment are users who are too active in applications to post images such as influencers and instafans and the other are photography professionals who want a respectable device to capture more informal images.
Starting the design
Sitemap
Paper wireframes
Digital wireframes
Low-fidelity prototype
Usability studies
site map
version 3.a
Texas, USA
I need to design a site map with an intuitive user flow for the black-and-white photo editing app. The primary objective was to enable users to quickly and easily edit and share their photos on their social networks. To achieve this, I aimed to eliminate any built-in processes that would impede the main goal. Additionally, I wanted to ensure that the flow of the app supported users in creating professional-quality edits by utilizing exclusive filters. The integration of seasonal filters was also considered to enhance user engagement and increase retention.
paper wireframes
A
I aimed to create a wireframe design that combined elements of exclusivity and elegance, based on the results of my preference data analysis. At the same time, the design needed to prioritize cleanliness and modernity to give the client a perception of a new and innovative app.
B
During the design process, I evaluated an alternative editor dimmer that separated contrast, grain, detail, and saturation mechanisms. However, this design was eventually discarded as it took up too much space and did not align with the insights from the user research.
digital wireframes
The design of these digital wireframes was informed by user research and aimed to provide an intuitive and professional user experience for editing black-and-white photos. The wireframes utilized neutral-colored masks and utilized a combination of vertical windows and whitespace to enhance the visual hierarchy and clarity of the interface.
These wireframes served as a starting point for future iterations informed by customer feedback and testing. The inclusion of a dimmer feature aimed to enhance the photo composition, but was later discarded due to its negative impact on the perimeter space available for displaying the photo itself.
Low Fidelity prototype
The complexity of the prototype was trying to mimic the editing process of a photo filter, in order to do that we needed several threads in the stream for each precoded filter. The challenge was to create a real feel for the flow to add a filter and then configure the settings of the filter itself.
Usability study
PARAMETERS
Study type:
Moderated usability study
Location:
United States, Remote
Participants:
10 persons
Length:
10-20 minutes
FINDINGS
Small Preview Screen
Participants expressed frustration with the small size of the preview screen, making it difficult to complete editing tasks.
Limited Basic Features
A lack of basic editing features, such as a crop tool, was a common theme among participants.
Inadequate Sharing Flow
The sharing flow did not include a text input module for writing photo titles or descriptions
Setting Module Tradeoff
70% of participants preferred to sacrifice the circular setting module to increase the size of the photo preview screen.
Refining the design
Mockups
High-fidelity prototype
Accessibility
mockups
The design of the mockups underwent extensive testing through 6 case studies with 5 variants, to identify key design elements impacting user satisfaction. The initial moderate testing resulted in low satisfaction scores, leading to a reformulation of the design based on insights from usability studies.
Resize the principal element.
u.study 002b4
The screen took up 1/3 of the active screen space, but that wasn't enough.
u.study 003c6
Modified the space to occupy 1/2 of the active space and add icons instead of titles
Sharing process, Active share screen.
u.study 002c8
the annotations with a red marker are the accumulation of the corrections that stood out from the usability study.
u.study 004a1
A second window had to be created with greater prominence, to include a text box.
Adjustments editor
u.study 002c1
It was thought of an editing module that could be ergonomic with the basic movements of the thumb, the circular mode is usually intuitive and comfortable.
u.study 005d4
The circular design had to be sacrificed to give the preview window width, as the results demanded.
RESULTS CASE STUDIES
R1
R 2
R 3
R 4
R 5
r 6
Proto flow
promts screen variations
brand promts
prototype
The high-fidelity prototype was optimized to streamline slow or outdated parts of the process.
Accessibility considerations
1
High-contrast color palette was utilized to enhance visual accessibility.
2
Iconography was enlarged to simplify interaction and ease of use.
3
Minimal text usage was adopted and largely replaced with iconography to facilitate comprehension across languages.
Going forward
Takeaways
Next steps
takeaways
IMPACT:
Our objective was to collaborate with the marketing team to create a distinctive product in the market and deviate from traditional photo editing app expectations from concept to design.
WHAT I LEARNED:
The target audience values uniqueness and originality over quantity, seeking exclusive photo filters that are difficult to acquire elsewhere.
exclusivity signature
Filter exclusivity can be compromised by duplicates in other apps, an exclusive digital signature can differentiate and add value to the photos.
NEXT STEPS
Luxury Fashion Niche :
The research reveals a potential opportunity in the luxury fashion market, where the product quality and exclusivity make it a high-end and sought-after app.
Unmoderated ext test:
Unmoderated testing is crucial to provide accurate results on components, workflows, and the style of the filters.
