In April 2023, I was appointed as the sole product designer for the "Demo TalkingPhoto" feature. This strategic of the product aimed to offer users a quick, shareable taste of TalkingPhoto's essence across iOS, Android, Desktop and Web.
I designed the entire user experience for this product, from image uploading to email notifications, video sharing, and user registration, partnered with a product manager and two developers.
The feature launched on June, 2023.
The redesign significantly boosted user engagement metrics, with a 136% increase 🎉 in funnel completion rate (36% to 85%), alongside substantial improvements in site traffic, product interaction, and content sharing—indicating enhanced user satisfaction and product stickiness.
To find out who do we design for, I used surveys and interviews to gather some information about our users. After the initial research, I found that our user base can be roughly divided into two categories.
- Individual content creators. Young individuals passionate about creative expression and storytelling.
- Business owners. Business owners leveraging TalkingPhoto to promote their products.
Thus, I made 2 personas accordingly.
Persona 1: Trendy Young Creator
Persona 2: Business Professional
01. Goals / Customer experience
" How can we develop an experiences, meeting the creative demands of young creators and the efficiency requirements of business owners?"
02. Goals / Retention
“How might we reverse the decline in user engagement and boost the submission rate of AI videos?”
This portal will act as a bridge to attract users, effectively promoting the new functionality while increasing user interest, thus ultimately boosting conversion rates and product click-through rates.
Talkingphoto's key feature is its novelty and inherent entertainment value. My approach leverages familiar film and artwork concepts to visually demonstrate the feature's appeal, thus enhancing user engagement.
Maximizing user participation and interaction is another key focus. Therefore, enabling user-generated content through photo uploads and providing scenario-based templates for effortless AI video customization are crucial elements of the design strategy.
Facilitating viral user sharing is critical. This includes enabling cross-platform distribution (desktop, mobile, tablet) and integrating one-click sharing for major social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn), maximizing content reach and user engagement.
After defining the problem and goals, my PM and I initiated user research. We began by analyzing data on users' video creation preferences and tendencies. This user-centric approach informed initial product decisions based on actual user behavior patterns.
Here are some early insights we got, which help us to get a general understanding of our current users. These valuable early insights provided crucial guidance throughout our subsequent product design and development.
To better understand our direct users, we created an analysis system using a Bot on Lark, greatly aiding our subsequent user research.
This research uncovered preferences and behaviors of TalkingPhoto's target users, directly shaping our design principles and subsequent solution decisions.
(Mobile/Desktop)
(Mobile/Desktop)
(Mobile/Desktop)
(Currently only Desktop)
After researching TP user behavior with the PM and discussing with engineers, we streamlined the process to three steps: selecting a scenario template, uploading/replacing personal photos, and choosing voice gender while editing audio text. With this framework established, I created the first draft of low-fidelity prototype.
A major challenge in this project was that my PM and I had different opinions on product execution after the main page showed above. Validating personal ideas and persuading collaborators to reach consensus proved highly challenging. Striving for alignment while creating a quality product demanded significant effort.
I encountered some challenges while collaborating with my product manager. We had different thoughts about the post-Main Page user flow. My PM proposed directing users to HeyGen's login page, aiming to boost account creation and product visit metrics. I argued this interrupted the TalkingPhoto demo experience.
I prioritized the feature's user experience. I believe a complete, engaging demo would naturally spark curiosity about the product, encouraging users to visit the main page, create accounts, and increase conversion rates.
Although I agree that a data-driven methodology is important, I still believe that a good customer experience is more important when the two are in conflict. Due to my persistence, we conducted a round of A/B testing. It turned out that my belief was correct—good UX naturally leads to good data. My version resulted in a 41.67% increase in main page visits (85% vs. 60%) and a 33.33% improvement in the conversion rate (40% vs. 30%).
These results strongly support the experience-first strategy, supporting that engaging users with the product's full features naturally leads to higher engagement and conversion.
During this time's collaboration with other team members, I also learned that as designers, our role extends beyond merely implementing a PM's PRD. It's crucial to develop our own product intuition. When different opinions arise, proactive communication is key. We should validate our ideas through scientific methods like usability testing, and believe if everyone in the team is committed to create an excellent product, the team will collaborate together to find the optimal solution.
Good design requires considering solutions for edge cases. In the left layout, if customers use languages with more characters, such as Japanese or German, there may be issues with incomplete display. Therefore, the iteration on the right enhances the scalability of the entire component, better mitigating this problem.
My PM Meng Wang and I collaboratively designed and iterated these templates, basing on lip-sync effectiveness, user preference, and technical feasibility. The final templates were then implemented into the user system by backend engineers.
For example, in terms of the first "self-portrait" template, we tested popular images from popular films and famous artworks, evaluating them on previously mentioned criteria. We selected the Harry Potter character for its popularity and lip-sync quality, conducting over 20 technical tests to achieve pixel-perfect results.
I also designed HeyGen's video sharing page, crucial for the previously mentioned promotion strategy, the page underwent multiple iterations. After organizing the information hierarchy and confirming all sharing options with the PM and developers, I prioritized key features (Customize and social media sharing) with prominent placement and vibrant visuals. Testing showed significantly higher clicks on the rightmost share button.
Another direction was to horizontally arrange social media icons, but in terms of space utilization efficiency, it wasn't as good as the previous arrangement.
Product launches are never smooth sailing. From finalizing designs to launching on Product Hunt, we faced numerous challenges. Notably, we rigorously tested in the Dev environment, exploring various scenarios to ensure high quality. I learned the critical importance of team unity. A successful product release demands a pixel-perfect attitude and continuous effort from every team member.
During this project, I worked with other designers (Melon and Jevon) in building the HeyGen 4.0 Design System. I helped standardize 22+ UI components, and create cohesive color schemes, illustrations & icons. Many of these contributions emerged organically during the design and development process. This experience highlighted that constructing a Design System should be a dynamic process, closely integrated with ongoing design and development efforts, collectively serving the goal of creating an excellent product.
The clarity and organization of a designer's work are crucial in a team setting. A well-structured and understandable design document significantly enhances collaboration efficiency, aiding product managers in comprehension, front-end engineers in implementation, and other designers in seamless handover.
During my internship, a phrase my mentor often emphasized was "Pixel Perfect is an attitude." This statement profoundly influenced me. Whether it was the senior designers mentoring me, the frontend programmers, or the product managers, everyone paid meticulous attention to details. They continuously tested the product before launch to achieve this pixel-perfect standard. This approach to product development, prioritizing precision and excellence down to the smallest detail, has deeply impacted my perspective on design and quality.