thanks for taking the time to talk with the HTC blog team today. Why don’t you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself?
Nicole Sangco: I’m from the San Francisco Bay area, and I’m now living in Seattle. I started out doing visual design—branding, logos and some motion—but I transitioned from visuals to UX when I moved to the Seattle area.
And you’re still in user experience (UX) with HTC, right?
Yeah, I’m a UX Designer at HTC. My focus right now is on Imaging—which includes the Camera, Gallery and Photo Editor apps, as well as other related topics.
What can you tell me about HTC’s latest imaging project—the EYE camera and video experience?
For the EYE experience, my focus was on enhancing the selfie options and creating new, enhanced video chat controls.
Some of the new selfie features are photo booth-style capturing, split front-and-back capturing, voice capture, auto capture and on-screen skin enhancing adjustments.
What’s also really great about the phone is its wide-angle front camera. It can automatically zoom so that you always stay in the frame—even if you’re moving around the room. If you’re video chatting with multiple people in the room, the camera can actually track each person and zoom in on them individually. It’s all automatic and it makes it easy to see everyone on your phone’s screen, instead of needing a large computer monitor.
As a designer, what excited you most about this project and why were you a good fit for the challenge?
What excited me the most about this project is that it’s a direct response to how people use the camera on their phone every day.
My experience as the camera UX designer made me a great fit for the challenge because HTC’s goal was to make improvements to how users are currently using front-facing cameras.
What makes the EYE camera a great design? What’s new or original about it?
Good lighting makes all the difference for capturing a great photo and looking your best during a video chat. The Desire EYE’s camera is unique because it has a front-facing selfie light. I think that simple addition inspires greater confidence in how we look, whether you’re just sending a Snapchat selfie to friends or video chatting for work.
What were some key design decisions you had to make?
As a global brand we need to be mindful of all cultures. Beautifying photo features are very popular in Asia, whereas filters are very popular for western cultures. Both photo beautification apps and filters are used for the same purpose in selfies—to enhance your appearance.
One of the features for the EYE selfie camera experience is on-screen adjustment that smooth complexions and give a flawless look. The challenge was finding a balance between making the feature easy to access, but not automatically applying the feature.
We don’t want to promote that people need it, but we are being responsive to those that do want it. I made sure to design a setting for the feature, so that users can show or hide the adjustment slider.
What was difficult about this project? Why?
A real difficulty was how to balance our fun software features alongside the technical hardware advantages that Desire EYE offers. The goal being to give users what they didn’t know they needed.
What part of the design are you most proud of? Why?
The video chat controls. Video messaging services are becoming more popular and our controls enhance the experience by addressing a key user concern. I’m less likely to use video chat if the camera distorts how I look or if there is poor lighting that makes me look bad. With HTC’s Desire EYE, I can turn on the selfie light and feel better about the image I’m presenting.
Now let’s talk about some fun stuff. If the EYE experience were a celebrity, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Kim Kardashian because the Eye camera takes great selfies! No one appreciates a flawless selfie more than the Kardashians.
What’s one thing you have to see (or photograph) before you die?
Now I’m thinking about my mortality…I can’t decide. There are too many places to visit and too many things I want to photograph. I’ll be lucky to do half the things I want to do.
A magic genie grants you one wish that will change your life forever. What’s your wish? Make it count.
I’d wish for the ability to travel through space and time.
Glad to have you with us, Nicole. Hopefully we’ll chat again soon about HTC’s next camera evolution.
Stay tuned for more Design Story interviews coming soon. In the meantime, learn more about the EYE experience and look out for the software update on your HTC One (M8), One (E8), One (M7) or Desire EYE.
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