72%
Couldn’t find how to share in the app.
Product design case study · 2023
Photorage
Share the photo,
not the metadata.
I redesigned Photorage’s sharing flow around what people wanted to share and how they already shared photos.
01 · Context
Sharing started with metadata,
not the photo.
Memo and tag controls turned a simple share into a setup flow.
02 · User research
The survey exposed
three gaps.
People struggled to find the feature and predict the result, while many were already sharing photobooth photos on Instagram Stories.
84%
Couldn’t tell what would be shared.
66%
Already shared photobooth photos on Instagram Stories.
03 · Research synthesis
Research pointed to
three changes.
Remove memo and tag fields
Remove information users didn’t intend to share.
Preview what will be shared
Show users exactly what they’re sharing and where it’s going.
Design for Instagram Stories
Create a format made specifically for Instagram Stories.
04 · Design direction
Redesign the flow around what users actually share.
Remove metadata. Show what will be shared. Design for Stories.
FlowChoose a sharing format
Before · metadata firstMemo and tags came before the content.
After · format firstThe format comes first.
OutcomeReady to share
05 · Iteration & preference test
I explored several directions,
then narrowed them down for testing.
I dropped ideas that conflicted with the research and tested the two strongest concepts with users.
05A · Broad ideation
Some ideas solved one problem but created another.
Exploration 01Rejected
Quick Share Bar
Worked
Sharing options were immediately visible.
Limit
Every option had the same visual priority, making the next step unclear.
DecisionRemoved before testing
Exploration 02Rejected
Instagram-first Flow
Worked
Made Instagram sharing quick and familiar.
Limit
It made Instagram sharing easy, but left other sharing needs unsupported.
DecisionRemoved before testing
05B · Preference test candidates
Which format selector did users prefer: labels or previews?
Candidate AA/B candidate
Text-only Format Selector
Worked
Text labels kept the selector compact.
Limit
Users still had to imagine what each format would look like.
Decision37% preferred
Candidate BSelected
Visual Format Tray
Worked
Previews showed what each format would look like before sharing.
Limit
The tray used slightly more screen space than text labels.
Decision63% preferred · Selected
05C · Preference test resultsPreference test · n=100
63% preferred visual previews.
Candidate B showed users what each format would look like before sharing. It was preferred by 63% of participants and also scored higher on task completion and selection confidence.
Overall preference
A37%
B63%
Task completion
A82%
B94%
Selection confidence
A68%
B87%
Final design
Visual Format Tray
Let users preview and choose Photo, Video, or Story before deciding where to share it.
Candidate B · Selected06 · Improvement 01
Before · metadata-first sharing
Remove choices
users don’t need.
Memo and tag controls added extra steps before sharing.
Design decision
Remove memo and tag fields from the sharing flow.
Two unnecessary choices before sharing.
07 · Improvement 02
After · format-first sharing
Show what
will be shared.
Previews show users what each format will look like before sharing.
Design decision
Let users choose the sharing format first.
The format comes first.
08 · Improvement 03
After · story-ready sharing
Meet users where
they already share.
A ready-made template lets users share directly to Instagram Stories.
Design decision
Make Instagram Stories a direct sharing option.
No need to recreate it in Instagram.
09 · Outcomes & learnings
Story became the most-used
sharing format.
2023.06
2023.07
2023.08
2023.09
52%Story
28%Photo
20%Video
INSIGHT
- Start with what users want to do, not what the product already has.
- Story aligned with an existing sharing habit—and became the most-used format.