Building up

MVP 1: Augmented reality video compose

Overview

Kweak MVP-1 was a video compose tool, that allowed to enhanced videos, by live visual effect (Filters) that were applied by face recognition technology.

Also MVP 1 meant to build the foundation of a video messaging app where users should communicate emotions in a mindless manner.

By this stage of the project, the design team consisted in two members, including me, with some support from the marketing team, that had direct contact with the targeted audience/users.

Role

Product Designer

Prototyping,
Researching, Design
interaction specs
for the dev, Prototyping,
Filter design, Creating
final assets for production

Video Messages

Quicker than text, better than pictures

The Problem

For MVP 1 the design team needed to address the project with a pragmatic approach, the idea was to design an app with very easy mechanics to implement, and go deep on OpenCV (the software about to be implemented as core library) to see what we could do in term of creative direction for effect sorting and video filtering.

We also needed to design the process to create as many image filters as possible for testing propose. The approach we follow was quantity over quality, in order to find the right initial set of filter validated by the user testing process.

As the dev resources was limited, the design team needed to create the set of tools to test filter as early as possible and only move to user testing the filters that pass the design team and stakeholders criterial.

The Goals

Create a fast mindless video filter enhance recorded UX experience based on emotions. Design the needed process to produce filters assets (Stickers) in a weekly based. Explore new video compose mechanics for enhanced video message communication.

The Process

For the asset filter factory we design a two weeks spings cicle in where the design, dev and marketing teams needed to reseach, produce, test, review and implement the filters in the most efficient and fast way possible.

For this we based the design of the filters on the demographic reseach and used image back to creat the emotion focused filters.

The design team needed a tool that allows, in an early stage (with accurate result) test the WIP filter in order to make a first review of the quality of the assets. I had the task to create a FramerJS prototype hosted in Heroku cloud environment, that let us use laptops and mobile cameras on the web browser and this way we could experiment in the most accurate way the WIP filters. 

The user interfaces

User Story:

As a: college-age male

I want: an easy to use tool that let me record multiple clips of videos with the options of enhance the conveyed message by adding visual effects based on emotions.

So that: I can compose video message stories that I can share with friend in multiple different messaging platfor

Project learnings

After designing more than 200 stickers (video filters) and test many different iteration of the video recording mechanics, we learn that the UX of MVP 1 had very good number of engagement but the numbers of sharing video wasn't good.

User like the gimmick of the video filters, navigate through them, checked the new additions and try them, but at the end, just a few were whiling to share the composed videos.

Because of this the team design pivot a little the project and test a new approach.

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