Overview
One of the key roles I held during my 4 years at Amazon was as a motion designer for Amazon Video’s next generation TV experience.
Unfortunately, the details of the project are confidential and so I can’t show much of the designs or motion work, but can talk a bit about my involvement throughout the working process. The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect the Amazon Video UX team’s view.
The project was eventually presented to Jeff Bezos and my walkthrough videos were used explain the product through a series of user journeys.
My Role
As a motion designer, I worked with UX designers, engineers and the project manager to support the product development with design concepts, exploration of new user experiences and by creating demo videos to illustrate new product idea
Ideation
We identified customer needs and improvements that we could make to Amazon Video’s existing apps. I worked with UX designers and engineers to develop design concepts, giving my insight on how to make the experience richer and more cinematic. I made example videos and shared with the team to show my vision during this process.
Design (prototype, user testing, presentation prep)
My role was to create demo videos illustrating different user journeys to demonstrate proof of concept product ideas. Once the ideas had been refined, I collaborated with developers and UX designers to make prototypes and took these to a user group for user testing.
Key Learnings
Things we think would benefit customers are not always useful – be prepared to change your opinions based on how your designs actually perform. Customers do not always know what they want – direct feedback or ideas given during user testing can sometimes be unsuccessful when actually put into practice. Motion should be purposeful – customers can find unnecessary motion distracting, so it can actually get in the way of your goals.
Implementation
Several months later, the team was presented the challenge of how to make the next generation UI work well on low-end platforms – this is particularly difficult in the TV industry where people can go for many years without upgrading their TV. I worked closely with the engineering team to understand the technical capabilities of each device, and made recommendations to replace complex animations with simpler ones for many interactions and motion transitions. I created example videos illustrating how the optimised designs still compared well with the new experience on high-end platforms.
Impact
- The organization embraced the ability to create a more cinematic and delightful user experience with a visually impressive UI. Raised the bar for engaging UX across Amazon.
- The app was presented during an internal design summit attended by Amazon designers from all over the world.
- Built relationships with motion designers from other teams across Amazon.
