Choosing Credz
Project Vision
In this generation, everyone is a photographer. We are constantly taking pictures while traveling, spending time with friends, eating aesthetically-pleasing Sunday brunches, or walking our dogs. Choosing Credz is an app designed to streamline the pre-publishing process for avid social media users and professional photographers.
Duration
Aug 2015-Aug 2016
Role
CEO & UX/UI Designer
I performed user research and designed the mobile app throughout the product life cycle. I was also responsible for leading the multidisciplinary team and managing the developers.
Tools
Finding The Perfect Photo
At age 15, as a photographer and social media user, I noticed that many users were facing a common struggle. I was receiving messages from friends asking for advice on what image to share from the many they had taken. People felt indecisive and conflicted on which photo was their best one.
Whether they were selecting a photo to share on social media for their followers, choosing the best photograph for their portfolio website, or picking out a picture to send for their Christmas card, it was a frustrating process.
Who Does This Apply To?
I began by channeling my curiosity to research more into the problem and connect with potential users. I explored existing solutions and the pros and cons of each to figure out where my solution could fit in. Through my research, I identified two customer segments:
1.
Professional Photographers and Influencers
2.
Everyday Social Media Users
Talking To Users
To conduct user interviews in the established customer segments, I attended networking events with renowned social media influencers and professional photographers and reached out to everyday social media users in my network. Through these user interviews, I asked questions that allowed me to gain a better understanding of the struggles that users faced when trying to select one photo from the many that have been taken. I wanted to understand the current approach they were taking to select their photos and if they faced any challenges along the way. I also wanted to challenge my assumptions and understand what a “successful” post means to them and what their criteria is for a photo before they post it. Here are some of the questions that I asked during my user interviews:
"When you go to an event, how many photos do you typically take?"
"What does the process of posting a photo on social media look like for you?"
"How much time do you typically spend deciding on a picture to post?"
"What are some challenges associated with the decision process right now?"
"Do you use a certain approach to help you choose the best photo? What don't you like about the approach that you are currently using?"
"Did you decide to post the photo independently? If not, who plays a role in your decision process?"
"What makes a post 'successful' to you?"
"After you posted, how did you feel about the photo?"
Pain Points
Since I had faced the problem myself as a photographer, these user research interviews allowed me to validate any assumptions. By connecting with my users, I was able to highlight the following pain points:
98% of users stated that selecting 1-2 photos from a collection of many photos is challenging
Votes from others can be unhelpful when there is a “tie” between the photos
There is no simple way to send a group of photos to others to ask for their advice
90% of users feel that their friends don’t respond to messages in a timely matter and are left waiting for a response
Keeping track of votes and counting votes can be confusing, which makes the favored photo unclear to users
There is a lot of pressure to maintain a high quality social media feed and post photos that are professional and aesthetically pleasing
**At an Instagram conference I attended, Product Managers shared that over the years, there has been a significant decrease in the amount that users post, due to the obsession and challenge of maintaining a high quality feed
So, What Is The Problem?
Choosing ONE photo to publish, share on blogs, or post on social media from the thousands taken is a challenging process. The indecisiveness is frustrating, time-consuming, and overwhelming.
Insights to Action
After conducting user interviews, I formulated a How Might We question to help me as I dove into the designing wireframes and low fidelity prototypes.
How might we help photographers feel decisive and confident when choosing the best photo to share from the thousands taken?
9 Photo Poll Posts
Users reported in their interviews that there was no easy way to send a selection of 5-10 photos through messages. Photos wouldn’t send or would get all jumbled up and out of order. To address this issue, Choosing Credz allows users to select up to 9 photos that they are deciding between and post them as a poll to receive votes from their friends.
Ensuring Timely Responses
Waiting all day for a response before posting or sharing a photo is exhausting and a waste of time. To resolve this issue, Choosing Credz allows users to set a timer when posting their poll. This timer measures how long the poll will last in order to ensure timely responses from voters. Voters will be notified to vote before the timer runs out through push notification reminders.
Collage & Compare Format
Users who were currently using messages to receive feedback from others explained that it was very difficult to compare multiple photos, since they were sent as columns in messages. Choosing Credz displays photos in a 3x3 collage grid format, which allows users to easily compare photos. Users have the option to click on individual photos to see them larger and can also use “compare” mode to view selected photos side by side.
Automated Vote Counter
Originally, users were manually counting the votes from everyone who they asked advice from. It was difficult to keep track of everyone’s votes and especially challenging when certain photos were tied in votes. Choosing Credz calculates the total number of votes that each picture has received and presents them clearly so that the user doesn’t have to manually count the number of votes. When the poll has closed, the photo with the most votes is highlighted, which makes the best photo clear to the users. Additionally, each poll only allows for an odd number of voters so that there is never a tied vote between photos.
Low Fidelity Prototypes & Testing
After creating the wireframes and low-fidelity prototypes in Sketch and InVision, I reached out to my users and conducted usability testing sessions. It was essential to get feedback on how to improve the designs from users before sending it over to developers. Users were asked to run through the following main user flows. Eventually, through these user research interviews, we made improvements to change the overall user experience.
Choosing Credz
Choosing Credz is an app designed to make the pre-publishing process easiest for you. Simply select the photos you are deciding between, set a timer, and share the post with friends, family, and others whose opinions you trust. The app’s voting capabilities and layout allow photos to be easily compared. It provides a platform that makes it easy for friends to provide their input on which photo they like best, ultimately making the decision easier for you.
Fun Fact: Why "CC"?
So, what does Choosing Credz or "CC" mean?
At the time, individuals who would post images on social media would say “CC”, meaning choosing credits, and tag the people who helped them select their photos. I named my solution after this concept.
The Final Designs
The finals designs were created based on feedback from user testing sessions and were now ready to be handed off to the developers.
The Handoff To Developers
This stage presented some challenges, but also offered the most influential learning experiences. When developing the product, time and money constraints added complexity to the project. As a result, every single feature which I dreamed of shipping into the app right away had to be reconsidered. To address these challenges, I performed the following actions:
1. Prioritized features: To stay within the engineering constraints, I went through and prioritized each feature. Features with the most priority would be coded into the MVP of the app. Upon success of the MVP and an increase in funding, additional features could be added
2. Communicating with developers: I focused on communicating and collaborating with developers to ensure proper implementation of the designs into code. Staying in consistent communication with them allowed me to manage them effectively and keep them on track with their deliverables
3. Rounds (and even more rounds) of user testing sessions: I ran multiple rounds of usability testing sessions with the prototypes to take note of any issues and glitches. I made sure that any issues were quickly resolved by the developers to save money and prevent them from having to go back and change the code once the product was already launched
When Is A Product Ready For Launch?
Once glitches were resolved and Choosing Credz had been through many rounds of user testing, we evaluated the final designs with the following questions in mind:
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Are the designs a true representation of the intended Choosing Credz experience?
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Do all the design elements reflect the finalized assets created?
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Can users navigate and interact with the designs independently (without outside guidance)?
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Has the design been tested many times with various users?
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Do the designs meet all the minimum product requirements?
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Is the design accessible for all users?
Once we had answered “yes” confidently to all of these questions, we knew the product was ready to be released into the App Store!
Product Comes To Life
After all of the hard work that had been put into the project, it was so exciting to see a functioning product in the App Store. I enjoyed seeing the entire product lifestyle come to fruition, from designing the logo and wireframes up until launching the app in the App Store!
Check out some videos of users playing around with the app!
Creating a Post
Notifications & More
Results
5-Star App Rating
Choosing Credz received a 5-star app rating in the App Store based on its reviews. There were 2,000+ users who downloaded and used the app.
Best Insight Award
Choosing Credz was brought to the NYU Startup Bootcamp, where me and my team re-conducted user interviews. The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute awarded us the Best Insight Award for conducting user research interviews that led to valuable insights for the next version of the app.
What I Learned & Key Takeaways
1. Talk to humans: It is so important to get out of the building and talk to your users in person! Going out and talking to users in the real world and challenging my assumptions allowed me to reach more valuable insights and better understand the problem
2. Put your ego aside: Since I came up with this idea, it was often tempting to promote my designs and the solutions that I thought were best. I made sure to focus on my user’s pain points and what they needed instead of getting too attached to my own ideas
3. Avoid making assumptions: Since I was immersed in this problem myself, it was easy for me to think that I knew all about the problem. Conducting user research interviews and usability testing sessions allowed me to overcome assumptions and validate user needs
4. MVP’s are your friend!: When launching this product, I was tempted to dive in and launch the final version of the product with all of the features that I had in mind. Through the process, I realized how valuable MVPs are. They allow you to test market demand and discern if potential users need and will use your product. It saves you lots of money!
Where Is Choosing Credz Now?
Currently, after taking Choosing Credz to the NYU Startup Bootcamp and reaching new valuable insights, the app is in the process of pivoting to stay up to date with current user needs and technology trends of the time. We are also working on designing for accessibility and making the product usable for users with a wide range of abilities. I am excited to continue iterating and making the product the best that it can be for users!
If you would like to give feedback and test the Choosing Credz MVP, please reach out! You can contact me at vidamsaffari@gmail.com and a copy of Choosing Credz will be sent your way!
Promo Video