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PicTok
Pictok is a photo-sharing app designed for visually impaired people (VIP). Capture moments, let Al recognize objects, and share unique audio experiences.
Foster connections beyond sight!
PicTok is not just an app.
It is a movement towards inclusivity.
PicTok's mission is to provide a platform where every image tells a story meant for everyone.
Audio Storytelling
Pictok allows users to create and share audio narratives alongside their photos, fostering a more immersive and personal connection with the shared content.
Inclusive Design
Pictok goes beyond basic accessibility, with simple buttons and gestures, ensuring an inclusive and user-friendly experience for visually impaired people in social media.
Memory Sharing
PicTok enables social connections and memory sharing, ensuring visually impaired users can effortlessly connect with others and share meaningful experiences within the platform.
Research & Analysis
Problem
In a visual social media landscape, young adults share experiences through images. Through reviewing scientific research, the PicTok team has observed limitations for visually impaired teens on current photo-sharing platforms, yet a strong desire, especially among teenagers, to actively participate in the visual culture of social media.
Solution
Pictok goes beyond basic accessibility, with simple buttons and gestures, ensuring an inclusive and user-friendly experience for visually impaired people in social media.
Based on the research, the team created two user personas. Primary user is a teenager girl who is visually impaired. Secondary user is a friends or family of primary users.
Ideation
Simple & Easy Userflow for VIPs
Addressing the requirements of VIPs and integrating preferences from sighted individuals, the design emphasis is on the Home, Inbox, and Camera pages. The flowchart visually depicts key functions on each page and outlines user navigation for task completion in the app.
Wireframe
Upon finalizing the app's key features, the team transitioned to the design phase, crafting wireframes with a keen focus on accessibility through a simple layout and user-centered design. These visual guides enabled the team to envision how each page would seamlessly integrate essential information.
Design
Color
In prioritizing accessibility, the team carefully selected colors easily recognized by the visually impaired, considering contrast and how eyes register the hues. The team created variations for both light and dark modes to ensure inclusivity.
Light
Primary
#199DFC
Secondary
#FFB340
Gradient Linear
Top (#FEFFC9,19%)
Bottom (#C5E1F5,100%)
Dark
Primary
#6C96F5
Secondary
#FFF731
Gradient Linear
Top (#F8F5F1,90%)
Bottom (#89A4E2,100%)
Typography
Heading and body paragraph sizes are intentionally larger, utilizing a font "Jost" that is naturally large and noticeable, ensuring enhanced recognition and readability, especially for visually impaired individuals.
Easy Gestures
Pictok prioritizes simplicity by incorporating intuitive gestures, ensuring an effortless user experience for VIPs.
Adopting Atomic Design System
During the design phase, PicTok adopted Atomic Design System. They broke down each page into tiny parts called "atoms." This helped the team easily update changes and make organized designs.
Validation
Homepage
The design team iterated on the home page, originally with four buttons in a different layout ans sizes. After usability testing and additional research, the team opted for a layout with buttons placed at the top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right.This user-friendly arrangement ensures accessibility for visually impaired people in both horizontal and vertical device orientations.
Inbox
PicTok continually refined the inbox. Instead of replacing the page name with the sender's name, the page name was retained at the top, and the sender's name was added at the bottom left. This approach prevents user confusion during voice-over functions. Additionally, animated icons were incorporated for dynamic elements, enhancing the user experience in light of the overall simplicity of the layouts.
Throughout this journey, PicTok crafted the entire prototype and brought the functional app to life. Here's a demonstration of the app and promotional merch.
