Increasing accessibility, efficiency, and overall learnability in Sony’s camera UI.
The Team
Aamir Ali
Aliasger Rasheed
Samyak Sah
My Roles
Interface Design
Interaction Design
Research
User Testing
Tools
Figma
Adobe Premiere
Time frame
1 week, Fall 2021
4 weeks, Summer 2022
This project started as a 1-week school assignment (team) and became a 4-week passion project (solo) in July, 2022. My team was to pick a domain in which there was a digital application that could be improved. I lead the team in prototyping, interface design, and interaction design. I later explored a more in-depth research process and refined the UX/UI design. The Sony Alpha UI overhaul aims to deliver a digital UI that is usable and understandable to beginners but can also scaffold and adjust according to their camera-using journey.
CONTEXT
Domain
As digital camera technology advances, more features are added. However, the lack of development in camera UX/UI makes camera menus feel very bloated and difficult to navigate. This negatively affects the learnability and efficiency of camera operation.
Research
I conducted secondary research to evaluate the current state of our target domain. In 2021, Sony was the second most popular camera brand with rapidly growing sales. Despite building a strong reputation for advanced mirrorless camera technology and affordable price points, Sony's UI was notorious for being overly complicated. Overall, camera UIs across most brands were failing to satisfy the needs of consumers.
To confirm my findings from my secondary research, I conducted a survey questionnaire with 60 camera users. The survey data allowed me to confirm Sony’s camera UI as a viable target for this project.
Usability Testing and Interviews
To determine what users struggle with when learning to operate Sony cameras, my team ran usability tests with 5 beginner users on the Sony a6300. Participants were asked to execute a list of tasks focused on adjusting camera settings. We then conducted interview questions about their experience.
Interviews with Skilled Users
I also interviewed 4 skilled users (3 were Sony users) who were very proficient and efficient with operating their cameras. During the interview, they were asked to express their frustrations with modern camera UI and what goals they hope to achieve when using digital cameras.
From our qualitative research, we can see that for beginners, learnability and ease of use are key, but efficiency and reliability are favored by skilled users. I created personas to consolidate our findings and ensure I take a user-centered approach to the redesign.
Framing
A user journey map was created to establish the area of intervention. To help guide the ideation and prototyping phases of this project, I used the data from the research to frame the design problem using How might we questions:
How might we reduce the learning curve for beginner camera users?
How might we increase efficiency in camera operation for skilled users?
The goal is to reduce the high level of cognitive overhead that comes with operating Sony cameras. A higher degree of accessibility, efficiency, and overall learnability in the UI redesign is fundamental to improving the camera operating experience for both beginner and skilled users.
Sony Alpha UI Overhaul
The Sony Alpha UI Overhaul is a redesign of the current camera UI found on Sony Alpha series cameras. The new UI showcases customizable menus and features that adjust and scaffold according to the camera-user journey. The overhaul focuses on 3 main redesigns: menu system, live view, and the new Slide Menu.
A new and intuitive menu system
The menu system was the team’s highest priority for this project. Because of the countless submenus, photographers and videographers have expressed Sony’s dire need for a menu update. Modern UI elements were integrated into the menu system to form familiar affordances for users. The addition of new customization options saves time for users in the long term.
Section Tabs and Pinning System
A new way to organize the menu system.
The new menu design greets the user with a Home menu and tabs acting as filter options for each settings page. The tabs are categorized into pinned and general. The Home tab lives in a pinned section and will bring the user to a full list of all control settings. Once any page is pinned, its respective filter tab will be moved to the pinned section. In the Home menu, pinned pages will be found at the top.
Customized Menus
“I will never touch some of these settings because my type of [photography] work doesn’t need them. They just end up sitting in my menus taking up space.”
Users can hide settings they don’t need to “declutter” their menu options.
Simply put, some control settings get used a lot, and some don’t get used at all. Once users become comfortable with the Sony menus and features, they can hide items they think are unnecessary. This feature allows the menus to change and adjust to the user’s needs rather than stay fixed and static.
Integrating custom menus into the overhaul UI.
“I want to be able to customize functions to suit myself, and delete nonsense completely.”
Custom menus are not uncommon in digital cameras, however, this component shines through with the new pinning feature. Users can create custom menus for different shooting scenarios and pin the section when the right situation arises.
Imaging Settings + Liveview
Each imaging setting shows a live view of what is changing in the image (eg. exposure or colour) or shooting experience (eg. autofocus features). This is meant for users wanting to isolate one setting at a time while photographing or filming. The provided general information helps the user understand photography jargon and builds the foundations necessary for camera operation. Changing elements on the screen as settings are being changed makes camera and photography concepts easier to grasp.
Updated Live View
With the Sony Camera UI Overhaul, users are able to change imaging settings within the live view. The most commonly used image settings are fixed on the bottom of the live view while other settings are in a scrollable list at the top.
Commonly used imaging settings are adjustable through the Liveview screen.
Slide Menu
The Function Menu has been updated to the new Slide Menu. The user can access the Slide Menu by clicking the Fn button or by dragging it out with their finger. Sliding left or right while holding a Slide Menu button will adjust the setting. The Slide Menu provides immediate access to any setting they need without sifting through the menus.
A new addition to the Sony Camera UI to increase adaptability and
Slide Menu Customizations
The Slide Menu comes with a 1x4 and 2x4 grid layout. Users can choose what fits best for them.
The Slide Menu can accommodate up to 8 total items if the user desire a wider assortment of features. If they value simplicity, 4-item-grid is more optimal.
Items that become less frequently used throughout the user’s journey can be swapped out for other ones.
Different shooting scenarios call for different settings. Slide Menu items can be swapped out for other options. Some settings are not compatible with this feature due to the nature of the interaction required for the Slide Menu (e.g. Enter Device Name or Date/Time Setup).
New pages can be added. Users can decide which page works for them while shooting.
The original Function Menu had 12 setting items to adjust while our redesign could only accommodate 8 (max) items at a time. The addition of extra pages for the Slide Menu helps keep up with the number of options while giving users the freedom to set pages for different scenarios.