BIRD LENS MOBILE WEBSITEUX CASE STUDY 2025
Outcomes
OUTCOMES | "It combines a bunch of other apps that I use into one." -Rachel 

Outcomes

What Was Done Research → Build → Test → Iterate
One year. Five generative research interviews. Secondary research across learning psychology and e-learning. Competitive analysis. Persona development. Sketches, lo-fi wireframes, mid-fi wireframes. 5 usability tests across 3 core tasks and 1 bonus feature. One round of iteration addressing two key issues.
1
year5
Generative
Interviews5
Usability
Tests5/5
Would
Use It

What Was Validated
All 5 usability participants said they'd use the product. Kendall screenshotted lesson content during testing to reference in the field later.Participants with photography experience understood the value of shared camera settings and EXIF data right away.
The Camera Setup Assistant got the strongest response of any tested feature.

Why It Matters
This started as an open question about how people learn creative skills and ended with a validated product concept that doesn't exist yet. The research surfaced a real gap. The prototype proved people want it. Every piece of Bird Lens was grounded in what participants actually said they needed, and then validated by putting it in front of them and watching what happened.

Also, a lot of birders shoot photos with a DSLR. They're not on their phone taking pictures. They're on their phone learning, looking things up, logging what they shot. That's what BirdLens is for. It meets them where they already are.

What I Learned
That the structure matters more than the surface. I wanted to build something people could depend on. New to figma, I decided to put my efforts not into making the most beautiful screens that I envisioned in my minds eye, but into the structure and system that supported the user in their goals: here's where your lessons are, here's your log, here's your feed. You always know where you are and how to get to the next thing. 

I made deliberate scope decisions. I wanted to add lock icons on photos in the bird log so you could toggle public or private from the list view.  I cut it because it would have had a similar ripple effect that the tag system update caused and the time constraint had already been reached - I'd add it in the next round.

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