Photography Insights complementary to UX design
- Curtis Blair
- Jun 5, 2023
- 1 min read
I recently completed a photography course intending to improve my UX toolset via circular learning (identify interests, discover experiences, develop a practice, and seek feedback).
Photography provided a different discipline to practice social interaction and interviewing skills by providing a structured activity and a shared goal. While my photography skills still need improvement, the experiences have encouraged me to seek complementary challenges to improve my UX skills.
Photography Insights complementary to UX design
Interacting with the Subject (User Interview)
Aim - What does the subject find interesting? What is the subject doing?
Record expression, observations, authentic movements | Simple yet challenging
Give the subject your full attention to gain their attention
An attentive attitude encourages the subject to participate and feel welcomed
Be a participant, start the conversation, and enjoy what the subject has to offer
Stay positive, but allow for silence so the subject fills the voids and keeps talking
Empathy provides the understanding of when to stay in the background (observing)
Environment influences everything (Contextual Inquiry)
Aim – Understand how the environment affects and impacts the subject
Record obstacles and support interactions
The environment is often overlooked due to habitual actions
View the environment as a supporting character that provides context for the subject
Environments set the atmosphere (mood); how is it impacting the subject?
Time is always a constraint. Do what you can with the allotted time.
Photography and UX aspire for genuine interactions with the user and aim to create spaces that allow for mistakes, capturing the user’s honest, imperfect spontaneous behavior. While photography provides a glimpse of the subject in a particular moment, UX aims to understand the user’s behavior and thoughts during that task. Ultimately, UX and photography are forms of storytelling capturing thoughtful moments.
