Susan Ford UXD
Photography Research Project
A User Experience Research Project that focuses in on How People Share, Organize, and Access Photos.
Photograph by Nicholas Ladino Silva on Upsplash
Deliverbles
-
Interim and Final User Experience Research Report
-
Executive Summary
-
Two User Personas of Target Users
-
Journey Map for Primary User Persona
​
​
Role
-
Lead UX Researcher
Programs
-
Zoom (for remote sessions)
Project Length
7 weeks
The Problem
The ease of taking photographs and videos has increased tremendously in the last 20 years with the advent of cameras on our phones, and taking photos and videos on a regular basis has become a large part of our everyday lives. With the added convenience of having a camera on our smart phones, more and more people are taking digital photos and videos of special events and every day occurances because of the convenience of having cameras easily accessible on their phones.
But with the large number of photos that are taken with our phones, photo organization and sharing can be a Daunting Task for many, whether the photos are in digital or physical format. And many don't have a Straight Forward and Easy way to organize, share, and access photos, so they can easily be found and enjoyed by the owner, family, and friends.
In this class research project, I took a look at how we currently take and share photos, and asked the following three research theme questions:
How do people share photos and videos of memorable events with others?
How do people organize photos and videos so they can easily be shared with others?
How do people access photos and videos from others who are sharing these files?
Research and Discovery
The Solution
To help answer these questions, I embarked on two user experience research sessions with 9 participants total, and collected and analyzed the data to help bring more clarity to these questions. The study focused on three high level research themes, and provided data and information that gave me an understanding on how people organize and share images; how people access images from others; what works well for people as they perform these tasks; and how the process can be improved to make it easier and more intuitive for users.
Goals
The goals of the user experience research that was performed was to:
Research and Discovery
-
Identify who the target users are that share and organize photographs and videos, and how they access other's images.
-
Find out what the needs and the "jobs to be done"are for users who share and organize their photos and videos, as well as when they access other's images.
-
Identify pain points and problems that arise for users when sharing and organizing photos and videos, as well as when they are accessing other's images.
-
Figure out what design features will help users with their "jobs to be done" when sharing and organizing photos as well as accessing others' images.
Research Sessions
Research sessions were conducted using the criteria below. The sessions consisted of interview questions pertaining to the three photography research theme questions and observation of photography activities. Participants represented a wide range of demographics who have cameras and/or video recorders, and who also have experience taking photos and videos.
​
To help confirm and clarify research data and findings for this project, I interviewed 6 participants during research session #1, and after collecting the data from these initial interviews, I then interviewed 3 additional participants during research session #2. This was done to compare data between the two research sessions and to see if the findings remained consistent or if there were significant changes within the data.
Participants
9 Participants Total
6 in research session #1
3 in research session #2
3 Males
6 Females
Environment
Participants were interviewed in their usage environments individually.
Research
Interview questions and observation of specified research activities
Sessions
Research sessions ran 30-45 minutes in length and were video recorded.
Research Session #1 Participants
.png)
What I Discovered from Research Session #1
Participant Characteristics
My first research goal was to find out more information about the participants in the initial research sessions. These findings could then be combined with additional participant data in upcoming follow-up research sessions for this project. With this group of participants, I found that they were:
-
On average in their 40-50s age range.
-
College Educated
-
Worked Full-Time
-
Have partners and/or children at home.
6 out of 6 participants use the cameras on their smart phones to take photos and videos, with use of Android vs. iOS phones being split down the middle.
3 out of 6 participants enjoy taking high quality photos as amateur professional photographers, using Sony digital cameras with additional lenses and filters.
6 out of 6 participants prefer taking photographs vs. videos, but 4 out of 6 participants stated they also take videos occasionally.
6 out of 6 participants take photos for personal reasons vs. professional, with a picture snapping frequency ranging from daily to one every few weeks.
Interesting and Noteworthy Findings
When gathering and analyzing the data about the 1st session participants and how they take photos and videos, there were several findings that that really stood out amongst the data and are interesting to note. These findings are as follows:
1. "Do you prefer digital or analog (film) photos and videos? Why?"
"My favorite photography instructor once said, and I never forgot it:
'A photography is proof we all existed at one time.'
He was showing us these old silver based photos from way back in the day, and he was saying
'And we have these (photos) now, but how would we have known about these people? Because so many generations go by and things change, but this photo captures this moment in time.' I have never forgot this and it has always stuck with me." J.M.
"I have to say I truly miss a dark room. Dark rooms were therapeutic and they were your own space, your own place where you could just kind of let the world go and you could just become one with this photograph that you took. It was almost kind of magical because you would take a roll of film and you wouldn't know, like you would be like 'This is the roll! On this roll, there's that one picture, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that it came out ok!' And it was such an excitement thing. And if it succeeded, as a photographer, you'd always take more than one picture of a specific thing, because there would always be someone doing something weird, so you'd always have to be able to pick which one was best...It was definitely a magical time. And I definitely have to say I miss that...but as far as preference for ease of use, obviously digital. It's like you can take a picture, you can see it, and cool, you have so many options." J.M.
Photograph by Karen Grigorean on Upsplash
"Sometimes I think it is important to physically hold a picture...It makes it more real." D.H.
4 out of 6 participants stated they preferred digital vs. analog/film images, but 2 out of 6 participants stated they had a preference for both digital and film images.
​
Although these two participants stated digital files are far easier and more convenient to use, in a world where film photos and videos are almost obsolete and unheard of, these two participants still enjoyed and found value taking and sharing film photographs. One participant used a 35mm camera to take high quality photographs, and the other used an instant Polaroid camera at parties and special events.
2. "What kinds of things do you like to take photos/videos of?"
"90% of the time, I use my phone camera as a 'post-it note' for reminders, and then they usually are deleted." C.B.
​
"I take a lot of screenshots, usually every day, of things on the internet that I want to remember or show my husband later on." D.H.
"Sometimes I'll snap a photo of a document for one of my clients and send it to them." R.B.
"Usually I'll take pictures of things I want to remember, like a date on a billboard or books I want to read." Z.K.
5 out of 6 participants stated they used their phone cameras to help them remember things more often than taking photos of people, places, or things.
​
One of the more interesting findings was that phone cameras are often used as a reminder system or "post-it note" to help users remember information.
​
5 out of 6 participants also stated that they used their phone cameras to take photos and videos as well, and that these images usually revolved around taking photos of family, friends, events, animal companions, or something unique or beautiful that caught their eye.
3. A fair number of people enjoy taking high quality photographs
3 out of 6 participants enjoy taking high quality photographs with professional digital cameras and/or 35mm cameras, either currently or in the past, and went out actively and practiced the art of photography.
Photograph by Jakob Owens on Upsplash
These participants used Sony digital cameras with various lenses, filters, and other photographic equipment, and actively went out to practice the art of photography, taking photos of landscapes, people, or "things that caught their eye and seemed interesting." 1 out of the 3 participants even had experience developing her own photographs with 35mm film in a dark room. Although the participants stated they enjoyed taking high quality photographs, none of the participants said they practiced photography professionally.
​
Out of the three participants who used professional digital cameras to take high quality, semi-professional photographs, 2 out of 3 participants stated they wished they had more time or opportunities to take high quality photographs, but that finding time in their busy lives prevented them from taking part in these kinds of activities. It is this reason why both participants stated they had fallen back on using their phone cameras because of ease of use and less set up.
"I love taking pictures but I don't have a lot of reasons to do it...I want to get back into it." D.H.
"I've never stopped taking pictures, I've just stopped doing photography." J.M.
Research Theme Data and Findings for Research Session #1
The following links present the data collected for for each research theme question.
How do people share photos and videos from memorable events with others?
How do people organize photos and videos so they can easily be shared with others?
How do people access photos and videos from others who are sharing these files?
Click on the links above for each research theme to access collected data for each theme.
Preliminary Personas & JTBD from Research Session #1
In analyzing the data from the first group participants and how they go about sharing, organizing, and accessing photographs and videos, I found that there are two specific types of users from the research data.
-
The busy professional who uses their smart phone camera regularly to help them remember specific information as well as snapping and sharing photos and/or videos of family and friends.
​
-
The amateur professional photographer who enjoys taking high quality, artistic photographs with a digital camera and other photographic equipment for pleasure and special occasions.
The data also showed what the needs and "Jobs To Be Done" (JTBD) are for each participant type in this preliminary study. The following lists each participant type and their corresponding JTBD:
Photograph by Priscilla Du Preez on Upsplash
The Busy Professional Who Uses Their Cell Phone Camera
-
Be able to easily text photos to others without having to re-size the photos or have size limitations when sending them.
-
Easily and seamlessly share photos and videos on social media platforms.
-
Be able to organize photos quickly and easily so it doesn't take large amounts of time to do, and be able to find photos and videos easily when people want to share them with others.
-
Having ability to access other people's photos and videos easily without issues of connectivity or inability to download the images.
-
Using cell phone cameras to help users remember things by using the photos as "virtual post-it notes".
The Amateur Professional Photographer
-
Being able to share high quality photographs and videos with others easily and seamlessly without having to worry about the image not going through because the file is too large and/or the internet connectivity is not able to handle the digital file.
-
Organizing and sharing photos on an online photo gallery so groups of people can easily enjoy images from an event or special occasion.
Photograph by Duong Tran Quoc on Upsplash
Using the data and information collected about the user types and their JTBD, I then developed two preliminary personas to represent the target users and what their needs and goals are when sharing, organizing, and accessing photos and videos.
Research Session #2
After collecting and analyzing the research data from session #1, I interviewed three more participants. This was done for several reasons. First, it gave me the opportunity to go back to my original interview questions and data and see if there were any topics that came up that needed more exploration with the second interview group. It also gave me the opportunity to focus-in more on questions or topics that needed additional clarification. To do this, several additional interview questions were added to the interviews (see additional questions button below).
With the preliminary personas and JTBD, I also wanted to find out if these personas and jobs resonated with the second group of participants as well, or if maybe there were other jobs or personality traits that needed to be explored further.
​
As with the first group of participants, the second group of participants covered a wide range of demographics who have cameras and/or video recorders, and who also have experience taking photos and/or video recordings.
Research Session #2 Participants
.png)
.png)
What I Discovered from Research Session #2
After analyzing the data and information collected from research session #2, I found that there was a lot of similarity between the two groups of participants and how they shared, organized, and accessed photos and videos. There were several key findings in the second research session that are interesting to note and worth discussing. They are as follows:
1. The personas Mary and Joshua were further supported as target users.
1 out of 3 participants stated Mary resonated with her
1 out of 3 participants stated Joshua resonated with her
1 out of 3 participants stated different aspects of both Mary and Joshua resonated with her.
​
From the analysis of research data throughout the interview and a targeted question asked at the end of each session, it was found that the second round of participants felt there was one or both personas that described them and their approach to taking photos and videos.
"There are some things that I can connect with on that (Joshua) because I used to enjoy photography a lot more and sharing pictures more but because, you know, life gets in the way, I kinda stepped back from it." T.M.
"It was just more daily life and not as a hobby or a profession." (Mary) A.O.
"There are definitely bits and pieces of each because with (Mary's) busy lifestyle and having the time to do a lot of that stuff, that is me to a tee. But being able to break out and do real photos, but again, it's having the time to do it. Saving up for another lens, that's on my list too" (Mary & Joshua) S.G.
2. Further support that phone cameras are used as a reminder system.
3 out of 3 participants stated they use their phones to document information or take screen shots to help remember something.
​
One of the more interesting findings in the first research session was that participants use their phone cameras as a reminder system or "post-it note" rather than just being used to take pictures. To help gain more information and understanding on this finding, I asked participants in the second session additional questions that delved more into this topic.
-
Which statement best describes your use of phone cameras?
-
To practice the art of photography
-
To take photos of people, places, things, or animals
-
To help me remember things or document something.
-
-
Are there any other tasks you do with your phone camera other than taking photos and/or videos of people, places, things, or animals?
"Sometimes I am just taking my iPhone out to take a picture of something so that I remember it later or to try and identify a plant out on the trail." T.M.
When asked these two additional questions, second session participants supported the initial finding that phone cameras are used to document information or take screen shots.
3. Further support that people enjoy taking high quality photos with professional cameras, and that film is still used for photos.
Photograph by Pat Whelen on Upsplash
"Film photography is actually kinda cool, because you're actually doing the work. Whereas digital, it just does it for you. I think that's what I appreciate about film at least. I think there is a little bit more art with that ( film photography)" S.G.
2 out of 3 participants enjoy taking high quality photographs with professional digital cameras and/or 35mm cameras
1 out of 2 participants prefer both digital and film photography.
1 out of 2 participants prefers film photography.
2 out of 2 participants state they wish they had more time to devote to taking high quality photographs.
It was really interesting to note how similar this research finding was between the two research groups, with 2 out of 3 participants in research group #2 who enjoy taking high quality photos. One participant used a professional Sony digital camera and the other participant preferred using a professional 35mm film camera made by Canon.
It was also equally interesting to note that these two participants also wished they had more time to devote to photography, like their research group #1 cohorts, and that the business of life seemed to prevent them from taking high quality photographs with their professional cameras. Like group #1, these participants also used their phone cameras instead because of time constraints.
"I used to enjoy photography a lot more and sharing pictures, but, you know, life gets in the way. I kinda stepped back from it. Eventually I may start getting a little more involved with it." T.M..
"...but to be able to break out and do real photos, but again, it's having the time to do it." S.G.
3. There are major issues with sharing, accessing, and the quality of photos between Android and iOS phone platforms.
This finding was not completely evident until I was interviewing T.M. during the second research session. As we talked about the sharing of photos via text messaging, she made this statement that really caught my attention:
​
"(When I share and receive photos via text message from my iPhone), If people have an Android, the photo quality (of the photo I sent from my iPhone) is reduced (on the recipient's Android phone)...if I text something to my husband, who has an Android, it will be a little more pixelated and it won't be as clear quality. And the same thing happens when people with Androids text me, it's kind of grainy as well. If I have a video, those translate way easier through iPhone than Android, and those get really pixelated (on an Android phone)...It shouldn't be that way with the way technology is." T.M.
​
Once she made this comment, I began to think back to other prior interviews in research and found in my notes that group #1 participants brought up these same issues between Android and iOS. As I continued my research with group #2, I began to find that it came up again with other participants in the second group as well. The two main issues between the platforms that came up time and time again with sending and receiving images were the size limitations and incompatibility between the two phone platforms.
Research Theme Data and Findings for Research Session #2
The following links present the data collected for for each research theme question.
How do people share photos and videos from memorable events with others?
How do people organize photos and videos so they can easily be shared with others?
How do people access photos and videos from others who are sharing these files?
Click on the links above for each research theme to access collected data for each theme.
Putting It All Together: Final Results for Project
Research data from both research groups were combined and the following findings, journey map, and recommendations were made:
Participant Characteristics
Participants characteristics stayed pretty consistent between the two research groups. Characteristics showed that the participants were:
-
On average in their 40-50s age range.
-
College Educated
-
Worked Full-Time
-
Have partners and/or children at home.
9 out of 9 participants use the cameras on their smart phones to take photos and videos, with 5 participants using iOS and 4 using Android platforms.
5 out of 9 participants enjoy taking high quality photos as amateur professional photographers, using digital and 35mm cameras with additional equipment.
9 out of 9 participants prefer taking photographs vs. videos, but 7 out of 9 participants stated they also take videos occasionally.
9 out of 9 participants take photos for personal reasons, 3 out of 9 take photos for professional reasons, taking photos daily to one every few weeks.
In analyzing the data about participants and their use of photographic cameras, I found that the research data continued to support the two specific personas of Mary and Joshua, and that this stayed pretty consistent throughout the entire research project.
The persona of Mary seemed to represent the majority of participants and how they share, organize, and access photos and videos: using their smart phone cameras to take photos, screen shots, and images to document reminders and information, and also utilizing text messaging and social media platforms to help them accomplish their tasks and jobs to be done. But the persona of Joshua was also a very prominent persona as well, with several of the participants being involved with professional amateur photography.
Key Findings from the Research Data
1. Text messaging is the #1 way participants share photos and videos with others
Photograph by Getty Images on Upsplash
Texting by far was the most popular way for participants to share photos and videos with others, with 8 out of 9 participants stating that the text messaging platform was their preferred way of sharing images.
Participants stated they liked the ease and convenience of being able to quickly and seamlessly share photos via text messaging.
2. When accessing others' photos and videos, texting is the preferred method, with social media being a close second.
Photograph by Julian Christ on Upsplash
Texting was the preferred way to access others' images, with 6 out of 9 participants stating that they preferred to access others' photos and videos via text messaging platform.
​
Social media came in as a close second with 5 out of 9 participants stating they utilized social media to access others' photos and videos.
3. Users want their photos to be organized for easy access, but don't like the amount of time it takes to organize them properly.
"Organizing my photos is automatic for me because I like things neat and tidy." R.B.
​
"It's easy to go back in and easily access them. There are thousands of photos on my phone, so if I had to scroll down, it would take forever." S.G.
"The biggest challenge is making time. It is just too time consuming." T.M.
"It's just time consuming...competing priorities...it's like 'organize photos" or "do laundry'." A.O.
The topic around the organization of photos and videos was an interesting one, as it seemed like people really wanted their photos to be organized so they could easily find them, with 6 out of 9 participants stating this was their main reason for organizing their photos and videos.
But participants who organize their photos equally stated that they really disliked the time it took to organize their photos, with 2 out of 6 stating their biggest challenge was finding the time to organize, and 2 out of 6 participants stating procrastination prevented organization.
2 out of 9 participants did not organize their photos at all, stating that it took too much time to organize the images.
4. Phone cameras are used frequently for "virtual post-it notes" and screenshots to help participants remember and document
information.
One of the most interesting things I found in the research data was that participants often use their phone cameras as a reminder system or "post-it note" rather than just being used to take pictures. Although 8 out of 9 participants stated they used their phone cameras to take photos, 8 out of 9 also stated that they used their phone cameras to take photos of things as a way to remember information, sometimes more often than taking photographs of people, places, or things.
Screen shots, photos of documents, written information, or billboards were some of the many things participants stated they used their phones for when using it as a reminder.
Photograph by Priscilla Du Preez on Upsplash
5. There are major issues with sharing, accessing, and the quality of photos and videos between Android and iOS phone platforms.
"If they are larger file formats, one is very limited on what one can send via text or email, and when
you compress the file, the quality of the photo goes down...it would be nice if
the companies didn't put restrictions on how big
of a file one can send
to others." C.B.
"One of the things I noticed between Android and Apple phones is when my friend tried to send me an iOS video and I couldn't watch it because I have a different phone. So having Apple and Android phones be more seamless in sharing I think would be a big thing." A.O.
"The size. 'The photo is too big' is my biggest challenge with sharing photos with text messaging...I think within the app if they could automatically resize it (the photo) so that it will be sent as a text would be nice so it would always go through as a deliverable size." R.B.
"If I want to send multiple photos, it will either say it can't do it, or if I have multiple photos, it will just allow however many photos and the others I'll have to send in a separate message. This is annoying. I guess in a perfect world, there would be no size limitations." A.O.
Participants love to share and access photos via text messages, but it became abundantly clear that participants with Android platform phones are at a major disadvantage when sharing and accessing photos and videos via text.
3 out of 4 participants who use an Android platform stated they had issues sharing and accessing photos and videos via text messaging because of size limitations.
0 out of 5 participants who use iPhones stated they had any issues with sharing, accessing, or quality of photos or videos via text messages.
Photograph by Thomas Chan on Upsplash
6. Film photography is not dead.
Photographs by Sarandy Westfall on Upsplash
Photograph by Brigitta Schnieter on Upsplash
"Film photography is actually kinda cool, because you're actually doing the work. Whereas digital, it just does it for you. I think that's what I appreciate about film at least. I think there is a little bit more art with that ( film photography)" S.G.
Another really interesting finding amongst the participants was several of them were still very much into film photography.
​
5 out of 9 participants stated they preferred digital vs. film images, but...
3 out of 9 participants stated that they had a preference for both digital and film images and...
​
1 out of 9 participants stated she preferred film photography.
Taking film photographs was accomplished by participants using a Polaroid Instant Film camera and professional Canon 35mm cameras.
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD)
In analyzing the research data from both research groups, I was able to find out what the needs and the "jobs to be done" are for the participants in this study. Even though there were two different persona types that represented the target users, I found that when all the data was analyzed together, there were many JTBD that overlapped between both personas and that these jobs were pretty universal amongst the participants.
​
The following lists out the JTBD that people are looking to accomplish when sharing, organizing, and accessing photos and videos:
The Busy Professional Who Uses Their Cell Phone Camera and The Amateur Professional Photographer
​
-
Be able to easily text and/or email high quality photos to others between Android and iOS platforms without without having to re-size the photos or having size limitations when sending them.
​
-
Be able to organize photos quickly and easily so it doesn't take large amounts of time to do, and be able to find photos and videos easily when people want to share them with others.
​
-
Having ability to access other people's photos and videos easily without issues with Android/iOS incompatibility, problems with connectivity, image quality issues, or inability to download the images.
​
-
Using cell phone cameras to help users remember things by using the photos as "virtual post-it notes".
From these JTBD, I then constructed a Journey Map using the persona Mary, to show what the target users go through when they have issues being able to share photos with family and friends via text messaging.
Click on image to see full size Journey Map.
Recommendations
Photograph by Noah Buscher on Upsplash
From my analysis of the research data, the following is a list of recommendations on how to make sharing, organizing, and accessing of photos and videos easier for people who use cameras on a regular basis, and also how their JTBD can be completed in a straight-forward, seamless fashion:
1. Make it easy for people to share and access images through text messaging.
Texting is the #1 way people share photos and access others' images. Therefore...
-
Keep the texting platform in mind when designing photo and video apps and programs for patrons.
-
Incorporate features in apps and programs that make it easy and intuitive for patrons to share and access images.
-
Be aware of incompatibility issues between Android and iOS platforms when designing these apps and programs.
2. Find ways to address compatibility issues between Android and iOS platforms, and don't allow size limitations to prevent patrons from successfully completing their tasks at hand.
The compatibility issues between Android and iOS platforms became quite evident in the research data, and is a source of frustration for patrons with both types of phones. This is a larger issue that involves the inner workings of two, very different phone platforms, and recognizable changes to help with the compatibility between these two phones will take time. In the mean time, design products that will compensate for these current differences. Some ideas from participants include:
-
An app or program that can automatically re-size photos and videos for text messages on Android phones.
-
Software or an app that will enhance or keep the high resolution and quality of photos and videos that are shared between Android and iOS platforms so images are not pixelated.
-
Advocate for similar and/or compatible platforms between the two major phone designs so communication on all levels, not only photos and videos, can be accomplished easily and seamlessly.
3. Design features in photograph programs that allow users to organize and find photos quickly or automatically.
The time it takes to organize photos was a major pain point for participants and one that prevented some from even attempting to organize their images. Being able to easily find photo and videos was also another finding in the research data amongst participants. To help with these tasks, design features in photograph programs and apps that allow users to organize and find their photos and videos quickly and easily. Some features that participants stated that would help them organize and find images faster include:
-
Automatic uploading and filing.
-
Drag and drop options.
-
Quick click menus for album organization.
-
Ability to move easily between screens with finger swipes.
-
Checking off multiple check boxes for one command.
-
Automatic day/month/year categorization.
-
Search bars and clearly marked files/albums to easily find photos and videos.
4. Design features in photograph apps and programs that make it easier to use phone cameras for virtual post-it notes and documenting information.
People not only use their phone cameras for photos and videos of people, places, and things, but also as a "virtual post-it note" to remember or document information. When designing apps or programs, incorporate features that will make the task easier for patrons to find their information and reminders. Some design ideas include:
-
Have a quick and intuitive way to mark photos as reminders or information.
-
Include filing systems specifically for reminder images for ease in finding at a later date.
-
Incorporate easy and intuitive customization for information and reminder images that can set specific parameters for each photo.
5. Keep in mind that film photography is still utilized by many.
Although the majority of people who take photos and videos prefer and use digital formats and their JTBD don't revolve around film, there still is a small population of people who take photos with film. Keep this in mind when designing products that may carry over to those who use film as well.
ReminderX To-Do App
A pre-existing to-do mobile app focuses in on who it's target user is and how it can help solve their problems.
