Picme

I created an app design that simplifies the management of photos and videos. It makes sharing high-quality content with friends or business partners effortless.

ROLE

UX Designer

UX Researcher

DURATION

6 weeks

ACTIVITIES

User interviews

Wireframing

Prototyping

Usability study

Visual Design

TOOLS

Figma

The problem

The goal

Individuals who have a keen interest in both traveling and photography and wish to share those memories with others often encounter the issue where they are unable to share high-quality photos without utilizing apps that have a complex and unintuitive process for connecting, uploading, and sharing content.

Create an app that combines two vital functions: organizing and sharing photos and videos in high-quality. The app is created for individuals of all ages who appreciate capturing, categorizing, and distributing their cherished memories effortlessly and in high-quality with others.

Understanding the problem

I launched the design process by interviewing people with a general interest in taking photos and videos. I used a rough guideline of questions and interviewed 4 people. My goal was to find out if there is a need for such an app overall, to investigate how users take, manage and share photos and videos currently, and if pain points occur during those processes.

RESEARCH FINDINGS:

Users use the in-built camera app to take photos
Users are not very engaged in editing photos and videos, except for trimming video content
Users use Whatsapp to share photos and videos with friends when the quality doesn't matter
To share high-quality content in a more professional context Google photos, email or Weransfer is used
Users wish to share content in high-quality with friends but haven't found a convenient way to do so yet

Tanisha is a 23-year-old interior designer based in Cape Town. She founded her own business just two years ago and has since been thriving. Alongside her work, she has a passion for photography, taking pictures for both personal and professional purposes. Tanisha frequently uses Instagram to curate and store her photo albums without taking up space on her phone. When it comes to sharing high-quality photos with her clients, she relies on Google Photos or WeTransfer. However, she prefers not to use these apps when sharing with friends.

Based on the research findings I created the following two personas:

"If I could WhatsApp high-quality images, that would be ideal"

Goals

Curate albums in a separate app, without using space on her phone.

Share high-quality photos as quickly as sending a Whatsapp message.

Pain points

Not being able to Whatsapp or email photos in high-quality.

Devon is a 35-year-old software developer residing in Frankfurt. He has a keen interest in technology and loves to stay active during his leisure time. His two favorite hobbies are snowboarding and surfing, and he often plans trips with his friends to indulge in these activities. They capture numerous videos of their adventures to monitor their progress. However, they struggle to share high-quality videos due to lack of a convenient platform.

Goals

Sharing high-quality videos with friends.

Basic video editing (trimming the ends).

Pain points

Not being able to share high-resolution videos in a quick and convenient way.

"We always say we're going to share the high quality version sometime and then we never get to it because it's just not easy enough"

Digital wireframes

Based on the user interviews I started sketching different ways to design the homepage of the app on paper.

As WhatsApp was central in the interviews, I decided to design the page for sharing content in the shape of a messenger app. I then created digital wireframes for the app, using Figma.

The homepage has a list of contacts for sharing content quickly, and the navigation bar gives access to photo, sharing, and manage pages (Wireframe 1). Users can view shared content in a chat history format (Wireframe 2) and share content with contacts through the camera roll (Wireframe 4) by using the "plus" button. The "3 dots" button allows users to download, forward or comment on the content (Wireframe 3). The manage page allows users to curate albums and create new ones (Wireframe 5), while the photo icon opens a camera screen for quick use (Wireframe 6).

Wireframe 1

Wireframe 4

Wireframe 2

Wireframe 5

Wireframe 3

Wireframe 6

The entire set of wireframes as well as the low-fidelity prototype can be accessed here.

Usability study

To gather feedback on usability and general thoughts about the structure and user flow, I showed my low-fidelity prototype to two people. The feedback was generally positive, but some issues needed attention:

One person mentioned that the plus button on the bottom right could be overlooked and should be more central.
Both persons found the in-app camera function redundant as they would always use the in-built camera app on their phone when taking a photo and not open the Picme app to do so.
One person suggested adding a confirmation screen before ultimately sharing selected content with their contacts.
One person considered the upload button on Wireframe 4 to be too small.

Final results

After analyzing the usability study's results, I made some minor adjustments to the app's structure before incorporating visual elements. As a result, the app now boasts a sleek and straightforward design that prioritizes content sharing.

The main page features a feed of shared content, alongside the user's contacts and groups.

The navigation bar has three essential functions: Manage, Add, and Share.

To enhance the user experience, I removed redundant features and placed the call-to-action button in the navigation bar.

The sharing screen is designed to help users find contacts and manage chats.

When a contact is selected, the sharing history is displayed, making content distribution smooth and effortless.

Users can view and share content, with options to save, forward, or delete it as needed.

Clicking on the add button in the navigation bar opens the camera roll showing photos and videos taken most recently.

After selecting the pictures and videos that want to share, users confirm their selection by clicking on the upload button in the top right.

This opens an overlay, where users can add a comment to describe the content they are about to share and switch from high to low resolution.

Clicking on proceed completes the process of photo sharing.

When users click on the "manage" button in the navigation bar, they will be directed to the manage screen where their curated albums are displayed.

The top section showcases the three most recently created albums, while the lower section displays all the albums alphabetically.

New albums are created using the add button.

This will open their camera roll.

From there, they can select photos and videos to add to the new album, and then click on the "create" button to proceed.

An overlay will appear where users can choose a title and confirm the process by clicking on "proceed"

Once completed, users will be directed back to the overview of albums

The newly created album will appear in the top left and be highlighted in blue to indicate it is a freshly added album.

To experience the high-fidelity prototype in action please click here.

Final thoughts

I gained a valuable understanding of the importance of user research through this project. Conducting research with users before starting the project helped me to identify the key features to focus on and gave me direction. Furthermore, the feedback I received on usability highlighted that even with a simple design, users may struggle to locate call-to-action buttons or experience redundant features. Looking ahead, I plan to explore whether potential users would prefer using my app, Picme, or if integrating high-quality content sharing into popular apps such as Whatsapp or Instagram would be more preferable.