HBO Max Profile Photos (2021)
I was the lead designer on a redesign of the profiles experience to include character avatars, refined visual design and photo upload capabilities. This redesign upgraded the profile creation and edit experience from one that was streamlined and utilitarian to one that is dynamic, visually appealing, and fun.
Project in a Nutshell
My Role:
Lead Designer. I was responsible for end-to-end UX and architecture and coordinated all research, ideation, visual design, and prototyping activities.
Most Fun:
The lunatic pace of the project. This project came up quickly and had a brief window where it would be possible, so we absolutely sprinted to get it done. We had to figure out requirements, legal restrictions, technical capabilities across iOS and Android, and do all designs within a month. I started with some flows that really helped us quickly test hypotheses and gather a punch list of designs. It was fast paced and stressful at times, but really brought out the best collaboration from all involved. Product, design, writing, legal, engineering, and QA all had to be on board at once and work to the end together.
Biggest Challenge:
The timeframe. It was exhilarating, but could have led to bad outcomes if the team hadn’t risen to the challenge so well.
What I’d Do Differently:
There was one meeting where my daughter fell and lightly bonked her head and I had to finish a meeting with her crying in my arms. I probably would have tried to end that meeting a bit quicker for everyone’s sake.
Photo upload was the first major improvement for profiles after launch. It was an exciting opportunity to create a differentiating feature that would allow our users to insert some of their own personality into their experience. The opportunity came up quickly and required that we design and deliver the entire experience within two months. This required us to design all flows for both avatar selection and photo upload, design and provide creative direction for the character avatars, identify and create errors for all error states, and document it all for our engineering team in around a month. I led the design effort with support from a team of 2 other designers and a writer.
