GoPro 360º camera editing
Lead designer on GoPro's first 360º camera
Role
platform UX lead agile UX facilitation user flows & wires prototyping specifications usability testing
Platforms
Desktop PC and Mac Mobile iOS and Android 360º and traditional cameras
Year
2017
GoPro is one of the brands that has done it all - starting as a hardware company, it evolved into a software one with a cult following of millions. In my first role I was the lead UX designer on the desktop media-management and editing software (PC/Mac). In my second role I was the lead UX designer for the mobile experience of the just released Fusion 360º camera.
Design process
The software development process that UX was part of uniquely adapted its agile approach to the more waterfall-based hardware product development lifecycle. In order to maximize the uniformity of the GoPro experience, we transitioned from a platform-focused UX leadership model to an initiative-based structure.
We tackled new design challenges and released them on a 6-week schedule. While the UX team had its own scrum board and 2-weekly sprints, it was very tightly integrated with the development teams, many of whom were collocated.
User-Centered Research
User research was typically led by me, either independently or alongside the company’s researchers, and insights informed upcoming releases. For usability testing, we utilized both prototypes and live code to simulate real-world scenarios.
My personal favorite, LEAN inspired approach was to develop a "Minimum Viable Experience" in collaborative workshops with representatives from the product team, i.e. UX, product and engineering. The goal was to release and validate this MVE as quickly as possible and iterate further.
Achievements
QUIK for desktop gained recognition as one of the most innovative free video editing tools for Mac. It featured unique capabilities such as telemetry data overlays and automatic video-to-music syncing.
I led the UX direction and implementation of the mobile experience for GoPro’s first 360º camera, Fusion, which became a critical piece of the company’s strategic evolution. My design of the OverCapture feature helped establish GoPro as an early innovator in 360º content creation, setting a new standard for user-friendly, immersive storytelling.
