Airbrush
2017 Freelance Project for Meitu Inc.
UI/UX optimization and usability improvement
OVERVIEW
As a unisex, simple, easy-to-use photo editing app which is developed by a Chinese company named Meitu. However, Airbrush is NOT as POPULAR in the US as it is in China. WHY is it? Our team is required to find the possible improvements and redesign Airbrush V3.3.
MY ROLE
UX Designer
(In a team of 8)
UR METHODS
Semi-Structured Interview
Usability Testing
DESIGN METHODS
Persona
User Flow
Wireframing & Prototyping
DURATION
One Month
Jul - Aug, 2017
USER STUDY
Usability Testing & Persona
To know more about the pain points and identify the problems existing in the user experience. Our team conducted usability testing with a group of 56 participants in total using AirBrush version 3.3. Considering our target users, we mainly concentrate on young females.
User Quotes:
Is the filter the only thing I can do with this app? I didn’t find the “retouch” and “makeup”…
Can I easily access to the photo I just took, instead of going back to the library?
Will my photo be directly posted on social media if I click the “upload” icon?
Is the photo saved or not after I took it? And where to find the photo I just took?
According to the usability testing and semi-structured interview, we made the Persona as follows in order to show the classic characteristics of our target users, as well as the common frustration and needs they have when using this application.
• Persona •
TASK REFINE
Main Problems & Objectives
Considering the time and technique limitation and after discussing with the PM, we narrowed down the most important and urgent problems that we have to focus on the redesign of AirBrush version 3.3.
The test findings illustrate that the most significant problem is the flow of saving and continuing editing after taking a picture as well as sharing photos. In addition, as requested by AirBrush, extending the time stickiness and increasing the exposure are our focuses.
Saving Photos: Users need to easily find the photo they just took. Currently, they are confused about whether the photo is saved or not, where to find it.
Editing Photos: The retouch and makeup features are not visible enough. And users feel confused about how to navigate amongst all the features in the app.
Sharing photos: The feature of sharing photos on the social media platform is hardly recognized by users.
• Main Problems •
To make the thinking of our redesign much clearer, our team refined our final goal and three objectives based on the corresponding three main problems we narrowed down.
• Objectives •
PROPOSALS
Solutions In Terms Of The Three Problems And Three Objectives Above
Considering the complexity of the issue and the difficulty of implementation, for every problem and objective above, we provided multiple solutions from two aspects which are optimizing the interface and improving the user flow.
Objective I — Improve the Transparency of Saving Photo
• Proposal 1 — Optimize the Interface •
• Proposal 2 — Optimize the Flow •
Flow of Proposal 2
Objective II — Increase the Stickiness
• Proposal 1 — Optimize the Interface •
• Proposal 2 — Optimize the Flow •
Objective III — Encourage Sharing Photos
• Proposal 1&2 — Optimize the Interface •
• Proposal 3 — Optimize the Flow •
ITERATIVE DESIGN
Final User Flow & Prototype & Usability Testing
The proposed task flow below is revised based on version 3.3 given to us.
Improving task flow: The editing screen is immediately launched once the photo is taken and saved to the album – eliminating unnecessary steps and confusion.
Increasing stickiness and encouraging sharing: An additional in-app “Multiple Share” option allows sending/sharing more than one photo at a time. This function actually can both facilitate the start of a new flow and encourage sharing.
• Prototype •
b. The task flow of v.3.3.1 forces the launch of the editing screen once the photo is taken
c. Three different versions of the “Save and Share” screen are proposed and will be tested
d. The default settings of all the features should be turned on to better measure outcomes
a. Proposed “Indicator” at the bottom left corner - The saved photo will be immediately displayed here, and also serves as an Album shortcut
• Usability Testing •
• “Share”, which directs him/her to more options
• “Restart”, to edit a new photo. (We suggest to replace “Next” with “Restart,” an action button.)
The Save and Share screen with a full-width background image was well received in the first prototype. A revised layout with the proposed solution from AirBrush is composed of three different arrangements for Edit, Save, and Share, which were further tested. Version 3 is recommended. The user has two choices：
REFLECTION
This is my first UX project completed in cooperation with a company, as a freelancer. And I am very glad that our client accepted some of our suggestions finally. From this project, I know more details about the real process of designing and developing in a company, including how to communicate with the product manager well, how to find the trade-off between the design thinking and technical feasibility. Also, when we are doing this project, our teammates are all from different places (China, Eastern U.S., Western U.S., Canada) and different time zones. But we all overcame the difficulties and worked together online. During this period, I learned a lot of things from my teammates in the group discussion. Most of my teammates had UX related working experience before this project. Their ideas, design thinking, professional skills left me particularly good guidance. And I am very happy to work with them.