Transforming Item Photography
EBTH Tripod
Summary
As part of a team at EBTH, a company that specializes in online estate sales, I designed a solution to streamline and improve the photography step of item processing.
Through continuous user research and testing, I iterated on user flows and refined product designs to deliver highly targeted task optimizations. With this combination of software and hardware, we were able to increase photographer efficiency and accuracy by up to 50%.
Role
Product Design Lead
Tasks
User Research & Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping, High-Fidelity Design, HTML & CSS Implementation
EBTH Tripod: Step by Step
Find Item
To start photographing an item, photographers can either scan the QR code using a scanner attached to their computer or manually enter the item code to bring up the item’s entry.
Take a photo
If the item is found in the system, the photographer is supplied with relevant information, such as the estimated value, item category, photo requirements, and any comments from other employees. The system also displays the minimum, maximum, and current number of photos required for the item, which is determined by its estimated value and category.
Taking Photos
The photographer takes pictures using a camera connected to the computer running Tripod via USB. As they take photos, the application displays them for the photographer to review. They can choose to delete a photo or continue taking additional photos with the camera.
Maximum Photos Taken
If the photographer exceeds the maximum number of photos allowed, a warning dialog appears to inform them. However, this is a soft cap, and they can still take photos if absolutely necessary.
Reviewing Photos (Too Few)
After taking photos, the photographer can review and organize them by deleting unwanted photos and rearranging the order with drag and drop. If they don’t take enough photos, they won’t be able to submit their work for the next EBTH process.
Reviewing Photos (Too Many)
The system will also alert the photographer if they took too few or too many photos.
Reviewing Photos (Just Right)
After completing the photo-taking process, the photographer could either send the photos to the photo editing team for adjustments or directly to cataloging, skipping the photo editing stage altogether.
View & Add comments
Throughout the photography process, the photographer could view comments made by others during previous stages of the EBTH process. They could also add their own comments for those who will be making updates to the item further along the EBTH process.
EBTH Tripod: Design Process
Problem
At EBTH’s Distribution Center, items underwent several processing steps to prepare them for auction on the company’s website, including attribution, photography, photo editing, and cataloging. Among these steps, photography was particularly prone to error and inefficiency because all photos were stored on individual photographers’ SD cards until they were uploaded to a server at the end of the day. This created problems as photos needed to be correctly associated with their corresponding items, which was both inefficient and error-prone. Additionally, it was difficult to delete photos that should not be used for the website, and SD cards would sometimes be misplaced before they could be uploaded to the image server.
Hypothesis
Multiple ideas were proposed to improve the photography process, including improving the existing process or completely rethinking how it worked. After careful consideration, it was determined that a combined software and hardware solution could completely revolutionize the process by speeding it up, reducing errors, and alleviating user and organizational pain points.
Discovery and User Research
After confirming that a software and hardware solution with a camera connected to a Mac Mini was possible, we made regular trips to the Distribution Center to talk to photographers and managers. During these visits, we learned that photographers were seeking a better way to review their photos than the small viewfinder screen on their cameras. They also wanted the ability to instantly delete and reorder photos as they took them. Additionally, we found that item notes for photographers were often lost because they were simply affixed with post-its.
Initial Design
Using insights gained from user research and observation, I designed an Electron app called Tripod, which utilized a DSLR camera connected to a Mac Mini via USB. This app automatically associated photos with items in EBTH’s database. To get started, users simply scanned the QR code attached to the item, which brought up the item in Tripod. From there, photographers could take pictures, and the app automatically associated them with the scanned item and uploaded them to an image server. The app also displayed each photo on a large external display, making it easy for photographers to review their shots. Additionally, the app gave photographers the ability to immediately delete unsatisfactory photos and reorder or delete photos before sending them to the next step in the item processing.
Further User Testing and Feedback
Based on user feedback, we added features to Tripod that would help managers guide photographers on the number of photos required per item. We displayed the minimum and maximum number of photos needed for each item based on its estimated value and category.
If the photographer attempted to take too few or too many photos, the app would provide a warning to guide them towards taking the appropriate number of photos. This reduced inefficiencies and errors in the process.
We also added the ability for photographers to skip the photo editing process if it was determined that the photos did not require any editing. This allowed items to be processed more quickly and efficiently.
Results
With Tripod, we revolutionized the photography process by integrating it seamlessly into the software solutions for other processing steps. This made the entire process more efficient and accurate by empowering photographers to make informed, real-time decisions and automating other parts of the workflow.
Through constant user and manager feedback, we continued to iterate and refine the app, incorporating new features and improvements to further enhance the user experience. The result was a cutting-edge photography tool that significantly improved the efficiency and accuracy of EBTH’s item processing.