05
Flickr the Learning Platform
Project Duration
I completed this project during the second year of my bachelors, from Febuary 2023 to March 2023.
The Project & Goal
I collaborated with a team on a brief with the Flickr Foundation to create a publication that proposes ways in which Flickr can enhance its user experience through the process of learning.
" Most people think of Flickr as just a place to store and showcase photos, but through our research, I realized its strength as a space for learning photography. What made this project special was uncovering the platform’s untapped educational potential and designing with that in mind. "
Our goal was to preserve a range of photos and discussions to support multiple learning pathways in photography. By creating a space for knowledge-sharing among photographers, we wanted to help photographers to expand their creative abilities and foster a collaborative learning environment.
My Role
I helped write and design the publication. I also conducted user research through platforms like Instagram, and email. Additionally, I mapped a journey centered on learning through recreation, influencing the proposal of a feature to enhance the photography learning experience.
Virtual Reality Immersion
Initially, my group and I speculated on using virtual reality to immerse ourselves in the vast archive of Flickr photographs. We believed this could serve as a time machine, providing an enhanced experience.
We conducted user research to understand if Flickr users wanted this feature, which is featured on page 3/6 below.
A digital wireframe concept for the Flickr platform showcases clustered photos across different time periods, with the option to explore them in virtual reality.
Page 1/5
User Research Insights
My team conducted user research to understand what Flickr users valued on the platform. We found out that people didn’t show much interest in changing their photographs using virtual reality. Instead, they valued the platform more for its educational potential, particularly when it came to learning about photography. They also valued the social aspect of the platform that allowed them to share and promote their work. The photographs below are screenshots of chats with Flickr users that we reached out to, their names have been covered for privacy purposes.
Page 2/5
Journey Mapping
As a team, we explored photography on Flickr through different journeys: learning through recreation, doing, feedback, and advice. For instance, learning through recreation, involved recreating compositions from photographers’ pictures and enhancing them with an individuals own creativity using special effects (e.g. Photoshop) or other chosen mediums. Below is a user journey map detailing the process used to learn photography through recreation.
Page 3/5
Learning Photography
In the user journey of learning photography through recreation, these spoon photographs exemplify the approach in action. To test this method,
I created a Flickr account, selected a skilled still-life photographer’s work as a reference, studied their camera settings, and recreated the photo.
I then customized my image in Photoshop by adding effects like cropping, reflections, and colour filters to make it unique.
Reference photograph
Recreation of reference photograph
Photograph modified using photoshop
Page 4/5
Speculative Feature
Based on my recreation journey, my group and I proposed a feature for users to tag original photos, providing credit and serving as a reference. To tag, click the double arrow icon; save by using the star icon for future recreation. When tagging, add a description of what you learned and directly share your work with the tagged person.
Icons to tag and save an original photograph
Screen for sharing what you learned or your work
Page 5/5