Pixalist
A social media platform that connects photographers to clients.
Overview
Establishing your business or finding a local photographer that supports your needs can be a challenging process. Often times, photographers and clients will rely on word of mouth to promote or discover businesses. This can create a barrier for incoming talent to get started. Having a place where users can find nearby photographers and connect with potential clients is what became the root of the creation of Pixalist.
View Prototype
Role
UX Designer
Project Time
1 Month
What was the Problem?
In the beginning stages of creating Pixalist, I analyzed social apps like Instagram, Facebook, and Yelp. While those three applications are unique in the features, they offer, they all share an underlying theme; connecting others through a social media platform. Most people are familiar with each platform and even have an account on one or all of them. A feature that I wish was included but lacked was specific to photographers. The ability to find, hire, connect, and sharing all things photography was not actively available for users.
Exploring Possibilities
I started jotting down ideas of a new app that could become a new social media platform designed for photographers in mind. Some features that interested me most were:
- Find photographers based on location services
- Connect with others through photo sharin
- Read, rate, review artists
- Sign up for photography groups, classes, meet ups
- Promote photography business through a personal profile
- Social network
The Guide
When I started to approach my possible solutions, I looked at the target users; photographers, those looking to hire photographers and users interested in photos. With an understanding of the user, each having a different end goal in mind, I knew the design of the app had to be approachable for both amateur users and professional users. I incorporated various key aspects of features that were most popular in competitor apps such as a vertical scrolling image feed (Instagram), a location service search with a map view (Yelp), and a familiar messaging system (Facebook Messenger).
Avery
25
Los Angeles, CA
Lifestyle Photographer
Motivations
- Promoting her business
- Building clientele
- Connecting with fellow photographers
Frustrations
- Dense market-hard to get name out
- Portfolio websites are expensive to create
- No one in friend group shares interest in photography
Simon
36
Seattle, WA
Software Engineer
Motivations
- Learn how to use a camera
- Enjoys looking at photos
- Finding a photographer nearby
Frustrations
- Lack of motivation
- Unable to find classes
- Difficult to find photographers with specific niches
Results
After sketching low-fi mockups and figuring out the user flow, I moved onto creating wireframes. At that time, I made several iterations around the design and user interaction in an effort to simplify the visuals. Something I noticed on apps like Instagram for example was that the user feed wasn’t overall crowded in content. When it traditionally comes to photo displays, the rule of less is better is commonly practiced. This is because photos alone can speak for themselves and that is the unique ability that I didn’t want to ruin with a condensed user interface.
Reflection
Continuing to practice your skills is something I believe is not only important but valuable. I created Pixalist as a side project because Photography has and always will be a hobby that feeds my creativity. I knew that I wanted to find a way to sync the two worlds, product design, and photography. I went through several iterations during the process and was able to learn and discover new ways to implement my creative process into a mobile application that implemented features I wished were available on the market.
