Making Photo Selection Easier
for PhotoTiles App
Duration
4 months
May - August 2025
Company
PlanetArt
FreePrints & Its sibling apps
My Role
UX Strategy & Design Intern, Growth
Defined UX strategy and developed a launch-ready prototype based on internal and external usability testing.
Team
4 Product Managers, 2 Engineers
Impacts
4
2
Reduce screen switching
for photo selection.
-35%
Cut task time
in prototype usability testing.
+5.5 pts
Increased user satisfaction
from 2.5 to 8 point on average.
Overview
At PlanetArt, I worked on the FreePrints PhotoTiles app
for creating photo tiles for home decor and memory keeping.
The Problem
Users lacked confidence in their photo selections due to difficulties selecting and visualizing photos in their rooms, contributing to a 60% checkout drop-off rate.
Remove friction
A simple
horizontal swipe
to select photos
On the bottom photo section, I added a simple horizontal swipe gesture. It changes the preview of the selected photo tile at the top.
Visualize in their rooms
Background color
that matches
your wall
Allowing users to change the background colors help them to see how their product will look in their space.
Visualize in their rooms
Customized preview based on
your wall color
I designed a customized preview based on users’ wall color, increasing users’ confidence in their photo selection.
Intro
FreePrints Photo Tiles is a mobile app for home decor and memory keeping.
Photo Tiles is one of the sister apps of FreePrints, which ranked #2 in the photo printing category on the App Store, and is designed for photo tiles.
Context
Over 60% of users dropped off between the cart and checkout.
Amplitude analysis revealed a high drop-off between the shopping cart and checkout. Users who started creating PhotoTiles were automatically moved to the shopping cart.
Problem
Users lacked confidence in their photo selections due to three key challenges. I focused on two UX challenges: selecting photos and visualizing them in their space.
Problem 1 — Hard to select right photos
Root Cause
Frequent screen switching between selection, editing, and preview wears users out.
Users had to leave the layout view every time they wanted to swap a photo — losing context, losing momentum, and losing confidence in their choices.
Solution
A simple horizontal swipe
that combines three functions into one screen.
On the bottom photo section, I added a simple horizontal swipe gesture. It changes the preview of
the selected photo tile at the top.
Decision 2
Balancing user and business needs
Grid View (Long-term)
Stack View (Short-term)
Added a grid view in the long term to encourage upselling.
Since we have a 3-tile pack promotion for $9, 4 tiles were the most commonly purchased quantity after 1 tile. >> A grid view is good for displaying four tiles at once and encouraging upselling.
Decision 2
Balancing user and business needs
Grid View (Long-term)
It has higher implementation feasibility, as we only need to change the position of the current photo selection UI.
Stack View (Short-term)
This horizontal swipe view had much higher user satisfaction, scoring 5 points higher in usability testing.
Problem 1 — Hard to select right photos
Root Cause
Generic preview images don't reflect the user's actual space.
Ideation
Explore Ideas
Each idea was evaluated against three criteria: does it stay in context, is the gesture lightweight, and is it feasible within timeline?
Visualize in their rooms
Background color
that matches
your wall
Allowing users to change the background colors help them to see how their product will look in their space.
Visualize in their rooms
Background color
that matches
your wall
Allowing users to change the background colors help them to see how their product will look in their space.
Sr.Director Review
"She skillfully leveraged her creative talents and existing qualitative research experience while quickly adapting to incorporate quantitative analysis. …"
"… Her background in UX design proved to be a tremendous asset, as she skillfully leveraged her creative talents and existing qualitative research experience while quickly adapting to incorporate quantitative analysis. This allowed her to ideate several informed hypotheses, culminating in a final presentation that provided insightful, actionable changes and features which we are actively considering for our roadmap. Jiwon consistently brought a positive and joyful demeanor to our office. This cheerful attitude was perfectly balanced by a serious and thoughtful approach to her work. She demonstrated exceptional self-motivation, requiring minimal oversight to produce deliverables against deadline. …"
Adam Black
Sr.Director of Product Development @PlanetArt