Goal

The objective was to enhance the decision-making experience of photo sharers as they prepare to communicate the stories that are connected to their photo collection. We targeted specifically non-experts triaging photos as a leisure activity.

Role

I was the Project Manager of the Research phase, and supported the Design phase Project Manager.

Besides managing, I also recruited for, conducted, analyzed and modeled user studies. I was particularly involved in planning and running the Think Aloud studies.

I generated design ideas and developed insights based on our findings, such as the need for a temporary work space in order for users to be uninhibited. Or the concept of creating and previewing an email or other photo sharing experience, directly in Pixaura, in order to bridge the gap between organizing and sharing photos.

I scripted and directed the demonstration video, and was involved in writing the research paper.

Results

Pixaura prototype

See the flash video demo [.swf 76MB] of our Pixaura prototype.

Targeted at recreational photographers, Pixaura is dynamic, playful and risk-free, making it well suited to leisure-time use. Pixaura covers all the steps leading up to sharing photos, from organizing them to editing them, while taking into account the complexities of social relationships. The steps in this process can be carried out at the same time or in any order, and it is easy to leave and come back without losing one’s place.

Published paper

Based on our extensive research, we published a paper in BCS-HCI, 2008:
Pixaura: supporting tentative decision making when selecting and sharing digital photos

Process

See the Pixaura project Website for more project documents and details.

Research

We conducted extensive user research to familiarize ourselves with the users, their needs, and their environment. We also read dozens of research papers and reviewed products in the photo organization and sharing domain in order to understand what needs were already being met, look for inspiration, and spot gaps where needs were not being covered.

Insights

As we conducted research, we collected themes and insights and modeled key details about the problem space.

Concept validation

Before diving into design, we took our key findings and used scenarios to test their validity with our target population.

Ideation & prototyping

We used a variety of techniques, such as scharettes and simple sketching, to generate a few rounds of paper prototypes, before defining and building a flash Pixaura prototype.

Evaluation

We conducted Think-Aloud studies on our prototype and iterated based on findings before finalizing and presenting Pixaura to our client.