experience refresh for HP photo printing
principal product designer // experience strategy • design vision • design leadership • UX design • UI design • visual design • prototyping • UX research
I led the design refresh of HP's photo printing experience, enabling our team to meet and exceed the business and user goals for this project, ultimately leading to a +6M YoY increase to HP's revenue; a figure that is expected to increase as HP continues to roll out feature updates for this initiative. This app refresh focused on improving the user journey, reducing time-to-print, and increasing overall user satisfaction through the addition and refinement of features. I supported and led a small team of interaction and visual designers in conducting extensive research, exploration, validation and production of the improved product experience, continually advocating for a user-centered approach with partners and stakeholders.
business goal
To remain competitive in the photo printing space, HP set out to elevate the end-to-end photo printing experience for mobile. This included introducing new features like advanced editing tools and greeting card creation, and also addressing some pain points for the current experience. The overarching goal was to drive engagement and increase printing revenue. We met and exceeded those goals.
user experience goal
The user experience vision I had for this project extended beyond the initial business scope, with the aim of creating a world-class printing experience. My goal was to not only add features and address pain points, but to leverage extensive research and user testing to radically improve the user experience as a whole, providing a joyful, simple and more intuitive photo printing experience overall.
design process
01/ discovery and alignment
I worked closely at the start of this project with product partners and stakeholders to ensure I understood key business goals, customer pain points, and strategic opportunities in depth, and build a foundation for securing buy-in to pursue a more user-centered approach. I led our design team in conducting audits, heuristic evaluations, and competitive analysis to further identify key experience gaps, and successfuly made the case for a user-centered experience and agile delivery process, building in time for validation, exploration and development while maintaining our initial planned timeline.
02/ definition and exploration
We mapped the user journey from photo selection through preview and printing, ensuring that every stage was simple and intuitive. I led the redesign of core UI elements such as paper selection, layout and print preview, as well as the addition of new tools such as advanced editing and text tools, and unique features such as card printing and photo tiling. I focused on flattening the experience, replacing complex menus, and simplifying icons and layout. Throughout, I continually advocated for a seamless and user-centered experience that balanced ease of use with creative control.
03/ validation and iteration
Working with UX researchers, I had our team run multiple rounds of in-depth user testing, including A/B testing of key features and flows, and end-to-end testing of the full user journey. I led our team in continually refining the design concept based on user testing, building on learnings with each round of testing to incrementally improve the overall experience with each feature delivery; an agile approach aligned on with development and product partners to deliver new features quickly while improving the overall experience.
04/ delivery and development
I partnered closely with engineering and SDK partners throughout design, delivery and development phases, to understand technical constraints and implement phased releases of the experience improvements. The eventual released experience surpased original business expectations, direclty contributing to the +6M YoY increase in revenue for HP. The successful launch of the refresh has led to the continued investment in this experience, with the addition of even more features and ongoing UX enhancements.
