Memento
Making digital photo revisiting easier to find.
Overview
According to research, 1.4 trillion photos were taken in 2019, and 85 % were taken with smartphones. However, we hoard many photos but spend little time looking at them and just forget them in our phones’ storage.
Currently the existing apps and features are lack of user input so that users cannot have a meaningful photo revisiting experience.
This project explored how to better balance AI and human input to help users rediscover digital photos in ways that are meaningful to them.
The outcome was a set of proposed features for the iOS Photos app that enhance AI capabilities while incorporating lightweight user input, demonstrated across three different user scenarios.
Team
Solo project
My Role
User research
Prototype
Motion design
Usability testing
Duration
2022 Dec - 2023 Feb
Tool
Figma
Keynote
BACKGROUND & MOTIVATION
Have you ever scrolled endlessly through your camera roll, only to realize you rarely revisit those memories?
As a designer, I began to ask myself:
What’s the real value of collecting countless photos if we almost never look at them again?”
How might we add more user input to help people rediscover photos that make sense to them without spending too much human effort?
FEATURE 01
Rediscover your past travels
FEATURE 02
Turn everyday photos into something special ✨
FEATURE 03
Simplify photo search
The solution
Connect your daily moments to create fresh stories.
Design a delicate travel album to fully immerse in your memories.
Context-based prompts for easier keyword entry.
Share a bit about yourself so the algorithm can get to know you better.
Final prototype
00 Onboarding
Personalize preferences: Guide users to indicate what they like or dislike, so the algorithm can better surface the photos they enjoy revisiting.
Add key dates: Encourage users to enter personal information such as birthdays and festivals, enabling the system to group photos around meaningful moments.
Let users input their hometown to help the AI distinguish between everyday photos and travel memories.
Effortlessly explore precious journeys
Quick access: Find all your journeys in the “For You” tab.
Timeline view: Recall your trips in an intuitive chronological layout.
Immersive experience: Explore memories in a visually engaging way.
Reduce clutter: Hide similar photos automatically.
02 Curating travel journeys
Make it easier to find the photos you want.
03 Ease the photo search
Guide users with hints: Many users aren’t sure what to input, which can lead to inaccurate search results. Provide context-based suggestions (e.g., “Christmas”) to help them get started.
Stepwise selection: Users can select one hint first, then choose multiple related keywords to refine their search.
Manual search option: Users can still enter custom search terms whenever they need full control.
Celebrate meaningful moments and rediscover your memories.
01 Connecting daily moments
Discover curated collections: Users receive recommended photo collections to celebrate special days, like birthdays or festivals.
Experience a fresh view: Collage mode presents photos in a new, visually engaging way.
Explore related memories: Tap any photo to see more collections connected to it.
Quick access to exploration mode: Enter exploration mode by tapping a single photo.
Save favorite collections: Tap to save a collection for easy access later.
Outcome
I tested my final result with 5 users using iOS phone, asked them how was these new features make them feel photos become more accessible, help them to better recall memories and their desire to revisit them.
Here's a summary of how people rate their feelings towards theses design:
Accessibility
Memory reall
Desire to revisit
Low-fi wireframes &
Information architecture
DESIGN
UI Iterations
DESIGN
Design system
FUTURE STEPS
What’s next?
Trigger users annotate on photos while browsing photos
Reflection
Should we take more photos? my personal answer is Yes.
There’s often debate about whether we really need to take so many photos. But after working on this project, I’ve come to believe we should.
When I built the prototype using my old photos, I found myself wishing I had taken more. You never know when an ordinary photo might become precious years later.
Since it’s unlikely we’ll start taking fewer photos, AI will increasingly play a role in helping users access them. While we can always ask users to input information once new features are released, the real challenge comes later: as time passes, how do we encourage users to update or annotate their photos in a playful way—so the AI can keep learning and reflecting their evolving interests?
Involve voice interaction
Accessibility
Many people still complain that their biggest frustration is not being able to find the photos they want. Some of the older participants I interviewed expressed a desire for more natural ways to search—such as voice interaction—which could serve as an easy and useful input method.
To ensure these features are inclusive, the next step is to evaluate them through the lens of accessibility. This means:
Testing photo discovery flows with users who rely on assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, voice control).
Ensuring clear text alternatives and labels for AI-generated content, so photos remain meaningful even without visual cues.
Considering cognitive accessibility by keeping interactions simple, consistent, and easy to learn.
Exploring adaptable input methods, so users can choose touch, voice, or other modes depending on their abilities and preferences.
Using only my personal photos for testing comes with constraints.
Testing with my own photos had its limitations. For privacy reasons, I only used my personal images, but since participants had no emotional connection to them, it was hard to gather meaningful emotional feedback. After all, photos are deeply tied to personal feelings.
I believe it would be valuable to test with more users using their own photos. That way, we could observe more authentic reactions and potentially uncover deeper insights.