


Information
Role:
UX Designer - Team Lead
Collaborators:
Emily K
Kim L
Eileen P
Timeline:
4+ weeks


About
Online piracy was costing content creators both revenue and control over their intellectual property. WebWatch set out to tackle this problem, but users encountered obstacles such as a disorganized interface, technical language, inflexible workflows, and inconsistent branding.
WebWatch is designed to offer a seamless, user-friendly platform for content creators—including photographers, brands, and PR, news, and picture agencies—to track the use of their copyrighted content, simplify invoicing, and ensure proper compensation.
The Problem
How can we make WebWatch more user-friendly for creators?
1
How can we make WebWatch’s navigation straightforward for content creators?
2
Problem Statements
01 - Research & Discovery
Heuristic Evaluation - What Wasn’t Working?
Our Process

Define

Ideate

Design

Discover
Cognitive Load
Critical information was obscured by excessive non-essential data and technical jargon. The former site contains an overwhelming amount of information that the user may not need immediately—or may not find relevant at all. The primary focus should be on enabling the user to upload their first photo seamlessly.
Redundancy
Having multiple items that seemingly do the same thing, resulting in cognitive overload.

Non-Functional Features
Tick boxes next to individual images as well as the clickable image labels below each image result in no discernible change when the user clicks on these.
Lack of Distinction
Establishing a hierarchy through visual design distinctions emphasizes the importance of using visual cues to distinguish between different types of content or elements in a user interface. Having the same button style for “Search” (which carries through a specific user action) and “Result” (which is actually a link to the Results page) is confusing to the user.
Unclear Navigation
Without clear categorization and navigation, users felt lost in a maze of information. User should have a way back to different pages (breadcrumbs, back buttons etc.)

User Interviews - Thoughts?

Shallow Branding
There is disconnection between the brand and its customers, as the branding appears to be superficial, incoherent, or inconsistent with what the company actually stands for.
Interviews were conducted in order to gain insights on target audience’s preferences and needs. These participants were selected by stakeholder.
Takeaways
need personalization
more user control
need clear navigation and organization of tools
Bruce Odell, 26
Freelance Photographer
“Most tracking platforms are too costly and complicated for me to use regularly. I want to combat piracy in a way that’s both efficient and easy to manage.”
Ellie Brown, 42
Agency Manager
“The options were a bit unclear, and some of the terminology felt confusing. I had trouble understanding certain sections, and navigation could be smoother. A few elements, like the statistic and success messages, could be more intuitive for better clarity.”
This competitor analysis examines the offerings, user experiences, and pricing models of key players in the market for image tracking and copyright protection solutions.
Competitor Analysis - What Do We Need to Do Better?
Onboarding
Dashboard
Blog
Pricing




...and the ultimate question is...
This analysis aims to provide insights that can shape the product strategy and design direction for WebWatch, based on what competing companies lack: personalized insights and detailed analytics.
How can we redesign WebWatch to enhance user-friendliness, streamline navigation, and empower content creators with better control over their content management?
Research Questions
02 - Define

User Research
User research is required to validate the design decisions and ensure the platform meets the needs and expectations of its target audience, starting with photographers worldwide.
What are the primary reasons why photographers find image tracking challenging?
What are the primary goals and pain points of photographers when using image-tracking platforms like Webwatch?
How do photographers currently approach the process of tracking the online use of their images?
How do photographers currently use image-tracking platforms, and what features or functionalities are most valuable to them?
What types of metrics do photographers keep track of when it comes to the use of their images?
What are photographers’ expectations and desires for a solution that simplifies the image-tracking process?
User personas were designed to help better understand the target audience and create user-centered designs
User Personas
User Interviews - Insights
There is a need for a streamlined, user-friendly platform that can consolidate image tracking across multiple sources and provide comprehensive results.
Offering an API or customizable interface could cater to the needs of larger agencies with high volumes of images.
Automated notifications and reporting features could save users time and effort while keeping them informed.
The ability to track posting dates and differentiate between authorized and unauthorized usage is crucial for many users.
Tracking image usage can lead to new business opportunities and revenue streams* beyond just licensing fees.
03 - Ideate
Goals:
Protect intellectual property rights and ensure proper compensation
Monitor reach and impact of his work
Streamline process of tracking image usage
Frustrations:
Existing monitoring methods are time-consuming
Paywalls and restricted access hinders image-tracking in certain publications
Working with companies that take a large percentage of settlements
Robert Simpson, 45
Professional Photographer
Personality Traits:
Pragmatic and attentive
Objective and analytical in decision-making
Organized and prefers structure
Motivations:
Wishes for fair compensation for work
Wants to demonstrate value and impact of his work
Fears losing potential revenue
Renee Pearson, 51
Agency Owner
Personality Traits:
Forward-thinking and focused
Logical and objective in decision-making
Organized
Motivations:
Wishes for fair compensation for clients
Wants to identify new business opportunities and expand client base
Fears losing potential revenue
Wants to maintain strong bonds with clients
Goals:
Monitor online image usage
Identify potential clients and brand partnerships
Streamline process of monitoring image usage and generate comprehensive reports
Frustrations:
Existing monitoring tools are not designed for agencies with large volumes of images
Manual validation of matches is time-consuming
There is lack of comprehensive coverage across platforms
Monitoring the Web,
Protecting Your Digital Assets
Enabling content creators to monitor and safeguard their work across the digital world


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After tackling WebWatch’s original structure and receiving users’ input in order to provide more autonomy, we were able to articulate the problem that needs to be solved and set a strong foundation for the design process.
User Flow
The user flow aims to deliver a seamless and intuitive user experience, enabling effortless navigation, easy access to features, and efficient task completion.

Sketch

To rapidly explore design possibilities, I started with hand-drawn sketches to visualize different user flows and screen layouts before moving into digital wireframing. This allowed me to iterate quickly and refine ideas before committing to high-fidelity designs.
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Redesigning UI screens to transform a frustrating user experience into an intuitive and seamless one, through user research, design iteration, and strategic improvements
High Fidelity Screens

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If we had more time, we probably would produce low-fidelity screens to have a greater variety of concepts to choose from and have a bigger pool of participants for clearer metrics. Despite the rush, we all managed to push ourselves with each other’s support and finish by the desired deadline.
To improve my UI/UX skills in my own time, I continued working on the project and explored ways to enhance the functionality and appearance of these screens. I consulted with my teammates, and we decided to leverage existing design systems as a foundation. As a means of practice and self-improvement, I then created the mid-fi screens as shown above.
Resolution
The Delivery
Deliverables
The Mistake
Due to the previously mentioned time constraints, my team and I ended up with somewhat underwhelming mid-fidelity screens, and our design system was a bit disorganized. Here are several screens we proposed:
Due to time constraints, we weren't able to deliver a fully functional high-fidelity prototype. However, rather than just presenting another set of designs, we provided the CEO with a comprehensive package that included refreshed branding, dev-ready components, enhanced UI elements, and valuable user research insights.
Key Takeaways
As the team lead, I assigned roles to each team member and maintained direct communication with our client both during and outside of meetings. I challenged myself to step into a leadership role rather than simply following, which boosted my confidence in my accomplishments and my ability to collaborate with a team I could trust. In the end, I was incredibly proud of my team, seeing the hard work, time, and dedication we poured into this project.
Working for WebWatch was a highly rewarding experience that provided valuable insights, including understanding user and client needs, improving iterative design, enhancing communication skills, and strengthening problem-solving abilities. One of the biggest challenges we faced was time management. With more time, we likely would have created low-fidelity screens to explore a wider range of concepts and gathered a larger pool of participants for more precise metrics. However, with mutual support, we pushed ourselves and successfully met the deadline.
Thank you for viewing.