AI Photography Assistant
Background
PixIt is a mobile app, featuring an AI camera assistant powered by reference photos that help users recreate similar photos. Guided commands help users take photos the way that other people expect them to turn out. The app assures photo lovers that the process to capture their "perfect" photo will be effortless, convenient, and enjoyable for people on both ends of the phone camera.
The Problem
People are tired of this:
Because of varying skill levels in photography, some find it difficult to trust others - family, friends, and strangers - to take their photos. When the situation occurs, people grow anxious because they lose control of how their photos may turn out. When the photos don’t meet their standards, they are left disappointed.
Explaining how they want the photos to be taken every time is even more exhausting. It’s a tiresome process that often ends up with hundreds of photos, a frustrated model, and a disheartened photographer.
Why does this happen?
Not everyone has the knowledge of the basic photography principles, such as good lighting
Everyone has different preferences and definitions of a “good photo”
It’s hard to explain in words what you want in a photo
Market Validation
88% of millennial Instagram users say getting the perfect shot of someone else (like a significant other) makes them feel happier.
Pew Research Center found that within the age group 18-49, around 60% of smartphone users use the “take picture/video” feature at least once a week
Female iPhone users under 25 take 250 photos every month
Most apps in the marketplace focus on the editing process AFTER a photo is taken (i.e. filters). We could not find any apps targeting the issue of the actual photo-taking process on phones
Survey and Interview
Goals
Understand both perspectives of the frustrated model and unconfident photographer
Identify the pain points that contribute to a negative photoshoot experience
Survey
We surveyed a total of 20 people. Our survey first identified which scenario they related to more.
Based on their answers to this first question, they were sectioned off into answering questions related to the specific scenario. In doing so, we were able to get a holistic understanding of the pain points from each persona type.
We discovered that on a scale of 1-10, the average rating was a 5 out of 10 for how much people trusted others to take their photos and how satisfied they were with the photos.
Interviews: Key Takeaways
Scenario 1: Your friends can't take good pictures of you.
“I am my friends’ go-to photographer, but no one is mine.”
People were annoyed and disappointed by their friends’ photo taking skills, usually giving up in frustration.
People trust others who are familiar with their best angles and already know what they like.
“Some people are hopeless.”
Scenario 2: You don't know how to take good pictures of your friends.
“Hopefully, I can take a photo that they won’t be too upset about.”
Lack of confidence that some feel when they take photos for other people.
“What I think is good, others might think differently.”
Different preferences make it hard for people to take photos that meet everyone’s standards
User Persona
Secondary Persona
Tertiary Persona
Journey Map
To identify where pain points crossed opportunity, we created a journey map. In doing so, we discovered the greatest points of opportunity occurred after Lauren (primary persona) handed the phone to her boyfriend (secondary persona).
Brainstorm and Sketch
Sitemap
User Flow
With the user’s goals in mind, I came up with 4 main use cases that our user would ideally take in our app.
Wireframes
Based on our sketches, we created a set of wireframes. I was mainly responsible for designing the Onboarding process, Camera page, and Profile page. We made several iterations to the wireframes (shown below with annotations) after user feedback.
User Testing
At this stage, I wanted to conduct some quick user testing. As the lead researcher, I created 4 task scenarios and the ideal user flows for each. We were able to pinpoint which stages the user detracted from the flow or got stuck trying to complete a task.
Goals
Navigation: Are users able to navigate and use the PixIt camera page's features (photo album, preset collection, grid, reference photo, save preset) efficiently?
Search: Are users able to locate specific types of presets they are looking for (search page, categories, trending)?
Main Findings
Confused about what a preset was (later renamed to PixIt), which skewed their understanding of the app’s purpose
Unfamiliar placement the save button - users either were confused or didn’t even notice it
Users liked the organization of categories in the Search page
We organized the user feedback by identifying common issues and points of confusion that we noticed during the interviews. For each issue, we came up with a solution and iterated our designs to reflect those changes.
Branding
Final Product
We made many iterations, redesigning the PixIt, messaging process, app’s empty states, and much more. The final design includes a total of 86 screens, including overlays. It focuses on four screens that summarize and shape the overall key experience: home, search, camera, and profile. The goals we established at the beginning served as the foundation for our design:
Creating a clear, seamless, and enjoyable mobile photoshoot experience
Reducing the number of photo attempts that clutters user's camera roll
Pioneering a "how-to" aspect into the photo-sharing community
This mobile application is powered by reference photos and a personal AI camera assistant that redefines photo taking with clear direction, ensuring people get their ‘perfect’ photo.
Key Features
Onboarding Screens: I designed a walkthrough tutorial to help our users grasp the concept of a PixIt - as well as the general functionalities of our app. During an interview, our user mentioned that she "didn’t want to have to dig for the treasure.” I decided to use small chat boxes to highlight certain features with short explanations.
Favorite Photos to Reference: Users can import and easily access their previously taken photos from their phone’s camera roll in the app. These are photos that capture the user’s personal preferences. Photographers now have context (a photo to reference) and guidance during the photoshoot.
Real-Time Guided Feedback: The PixIt app is powered by AI technology. Tips from an internal camera assistant will help photographers understand exactly how the model envisions their photo to turn out. Removing ambiguity from the experience, the PixIt and AI combination allow people on both ends of the phone camera to feel trust and joy from a successful photoshoot.
Discover New Ways to Take Photos: Through the Explore, Following, and Search pages, users are able to access all different types of PixIts shared by their friends and other users all over the world.
The creation of PixIt was fueled by a desire to understand the design process. I enjoyed the hands-on experience of growing an idea into an interactive prototype. I was particularly passionate about this problem because it’s an issue I personally encounter in my everyday life and hope to grow and learn more as a designer.