GramCity
How Familiarity Boosts Retention in the Photo Industry
Role: UX/UI Designer
Process: Design Sprint - GV
Duration: 1 week
Design Tools: Figma, FigJam
GramCity is a photo editing app that help users make their photos look awesome before sharing them on Instagram or other social media.
As part of their expansion efforts, GramCity wanted to explore on how they can help their users find great photo-ops near them.
Day 1 - Understanding the Problem
To kick off the design sprint, we mapped out all data and insights provided by the research team.
Below are persona pain points that we’ve uncovered.
Sarah
Disappointment from average looking photos
Lengthy planning
Nick
Fear of missing out
Regret for not having enough photos
So …
How might we design an experience so they can easily find awesome photo-op locations?
Day 2 & 3 - Sketching and Deciding
The next day, we sketched solutions that focused on ease of discovery. Out of the box ideas were avoided to reduce the risk of an experience that’s confusing and frustrating.
Familiar pathways are key for frictionless experience.
Selected solution
Storyboard
Day 4 - Prototyping
After that, a prototype was created but with a minor twist. To be aligned with a familiar pathway, the “Explore Nearby” button was removed and replaced with tags.
Tags are widely used as it makes search and discovery easy.
Let’s try the prototype below.
Day 5 - User Testing
The last day was all about user testing with 5 participants. Of all the insights, April’s feedback struck us the most.
“I thought I would find the address right away. I am concerned about my battery.”
— April
Most of us are dependent on technology that often times we forget about the basics. Unconsciously, mobile phones became an extension of ourselves. Even I as a UX Designer cannot deny this. That’s why, building healthy digital products has always been part of my mission.
The insight from April was very helpful. Revision on that was top priority.
Outcome
All participants find the feature easy to navigate and use. The main reason for this is familiarity. According to Jakob’s Law, user spend most of their time on other sites. And users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.
Familiar patterns not only encourage interaction, but also makes the user focus on their goal and have a pleasant experience.