Amazon Photos app

ux/visual designer
amazon photos core UX team

2022

The Amazon Photos app lets users store, organize, and share their photos and videos.

my role & responsibilities

As a UX Visual Designer on the Amazon Photos Core UX team, my role was to present strategic design recommendations to address customer pain points and elevate the overall user experience.

Working in two-week sprints, each designer was assigned a project addressing a particular issue or feature. We initially worked solo in the discovery phase to create the user flow and surface relevant questions within the design.

Then, as a team we met and provided feedback on each other’s work. Using those discussions, we revised our initial designs and crafted additional options to include in our presentation to the product and engineering teams.

Once they committed to a design, I handed off the selected UX flow and UI file for them to implement.

Let’s take a look at one of the projects I worked on…

burst photo format integration

What is a burst anyway?

Burst photos are ideal for capturing subjects in motion, allowing you to capture multiple high-speed images in quick succession. Users then select the best images from the series, ensuring they capture the perfect shot.

the Problem

The Amazon Photos app did not yet support the iOS burst photo format, and users were encountering an error message for each burst file they attempted to upload. Sooooo annoying, right?

Enough Amazon Photos users were requesting functionality be added to include burst photos to the app, so it was determined by Amazon’s product and engineering teams to include burst photo functionality.

I was tasked with the challenge of integrating support for iOS burst photo format while also considering the following design requisites…

design requisites

The primary things we need to include and show in our design deliverables are…

View bursts in media grid, and visually differentiate between live photos, regular photos, and videos
View all individual photos within a burst sequence and select favorites
ensure seamless navigation between different views within the app
Look for opportunities to improve the overall user experience around viewing bursts

research process

analyzing user Research and the competitive landscape

First, I met with the UX Research team to gain valuable insights into how users interacted with the Amazon Photos app, finding patterns in user behaviors and preferences by analyzing user data and observing user interviews and usability studies.

In addition, I examined the competitive landscape using screenshots of comparable features interface iOS Photos apps from beginning to end.

An audit of the current User journey

In order to gain clarity on the current overall user experience of the Amazon Photos app, I visualized the user journey with a series of screenshots to show the main interactions. This way, when exploring designs, I would be able to follow existing UI patterns as well as discover opportunities to improve the UxUI.

Along the way, I discovered potential conflicts in the UX. I made note of these observations and surfaced questions to ask cross-discipline team members that would inform all potential solutions and design recommendations.

This served as a thorough audit of the existing user experience, allowing for a more in-depth solution I could communicate to the Engineering and Product teams. These insights were instrumental in informing my design decisions, ensuring that the final product would meet the needs and expectations of our users effectively.

inhereted Desigin Explorations

To begin work on this project, I picked up the work from a previous designer and iteration on the project.

Burst photos icon and notification above photo
Burst photos icon and notification below photo
Select individual photo within burst series to perform action
Menu of action items to use for individual image in burst series
Menu item to set as cover photo only
Modal window to add burst photo collection to favorites

Design exploration process

I explored several UI options that would be familiar to iOS users, while adhering to Amazon Photo’s UxUI patterns.

I would look for options to adhere to exiting brand UI patterns, while also looking to discover opportunities to improve the UxUI.

I regularly met with my Core UX design team to review the design explorations, seeking feedback on issues I had raised along with proposed solutions. With each meeting came thoughtful insights and context that lended to refining these designs through iterative cycles.

In addition, I worked closely with the product team to ensure alignment with design requirements, and collaborated with engineering teams to ensure both technical feasibility and smooth implementation of our design recommendations.

These insights were instrumental in informing my design decisions, ensuring that the final product would meet the needs and expectations of our users effectively.

Final design recommendation

I explored several options for the user interface that would be familiar to iOS users, while adhering to the existing UXUI patterns of the Amazon Photos app.