Impact at a glance

My Role: Lead Product Designer (Full ownership of UX strategy, research, and interface design)
Duration: 4 months (Discovery to market launch)
Team: 6 members (CTO, 3 Developers, PM)
Company Stage: Early-stage startup targeting $300B visualization market

Key Achievements:

• 75% cost reduction per project ($1,200 → $300 for exterior renders)

• 89% time savings (40-80 hours → 4-6 hours per visualization)

• 94% user satisfaction among professional architects in beta

• $2.4M market validation within 6 months of launch

Discovery & Research

Primary Research:

• 15 in-depth interviews with architects and visualization professionals

• 3 workshop sessions with 24 participants across different firm sizes

• Competitive analysis of 12 AI image enhancement platforms

• Market sizing: Validated $300B total addressable market

Key Research Insights:

• 92% struggle with time-intensive manual enhancement workflows

• 78% outsource rendering due to lack of Photoshop expertise

• 89% want AI assistance but existing tools damage architectural accuracy

• Average project cost: $700-1,200 per render with 2-3 revision cycles

User Personas & Journey Mapping

Primary Persona: "Professional Alex"

• Senior Architect at 50+ person firm

• Manages 15-20 projects simultaneously

• Pain: Manual post-processing bottlenecks project delivery

• Goal: Maintain quality while scaling throughput

Secondary Persona: "Freelancer Sam"

• Independent visualization specialist

• Limited Photoshop skills, outsources enhancement

• Pain: High outsourcing costs eat into project margins

• Goal: Deliver professional quality without external dependencies

Design Principles

1. Architectural Integrity First Preserve building structure, proportions, and design intent while enhancing visual quality.

2. Professional-Grade Control Provide fine-tuning capabilities that match industry-standard tools like Photoshop.

3. Workflow Integration Seamlessly fit into existing 3ds Max → Revit → Photoshop pipelines.

4. Progressive Enhancement Show immediate previews while processing full-resolution results in background.

Information Architecture & User Flows

Key Flow Optimizations:

• Reduced upload friction: 7 steps → 3 steps (89% completion rate improvement)

• Real-time feedback: Added processing previews with confidence scoring

• Batch processing: Handle up to 50 renders simultaneously

• Export flexibility: Multiple formats and resolution options

Wireframing & Prototyping Strategy

1. Paper sketches: 5+ concept variations for core workflows

2. Low-fidelity wireframes: Tested with 12 users for usability validation

3. Interactive prototypes: 3 rounds of testing with 24 professionals

4. High-fidelity mockups: Visual design system application

Core Interface Components

Smart Upload System

• Batch processing: Upload up to 50 renders with progress tracking

• Smart detection: Auto-identifies file formats and suggests optimal settings

• Preview generation: Immediate thumbnails with processing time estimates

AI Enhancement Engine Dashboard

• Material recognition: Identifies glass, concrete, brick, steel, vegetation

• Lighting optimization: Adjusts atmosphere and shadow quality

• People integration: Adds realistic human figures and landscaping

• Architecture preservation: Maintains structural integrity throughout enhancement

Professional Control Studio

• Fine-tuning controls: 12 adjustment parameters for professional customization

• Style presets: Genre-specific templates (modern, classical, residential, commercial)

• Comparison tools: Side-by-side slider with zoom functionality

• Batch editing: Apply settings across multiple renders simultaneously

Challenge 1: AI Processing Time Expectations

Problem: Initial AI processing took 8-15 minutes, causing 34% user drop-off

Solution: Progressive enhancement preview system

• Immediate preview: 30-second low-res preview for instant feedback

• Progressive quality: Gradual resolution improvement during processing

• Background processing: Users can continue working while AI completes enhancement

Result: 94% user satisfaction with wait time experience

Challenge 2: Mobile Responsiveness for Field Work

Problem: Architects needed mobile access for on-site reviews and approvals

Solution: Mobile-first responsive design with touch optimization

• Touch controls: Gesture-based comparison sliders and zoom functionality

• Simplified UI: Condensed interface for smaller screens without losing functionality

• Progressive Web App: Offline capability for reviewing completed renders

Result: 67% mobile adoption rate within 3 months

Challenge 3: Large File Handling & Storage

Problem: High-resolution architectural renders (50-200MB files) caused slow uploads

Solution: Smart compression with quality preservation plus ability to connect cloud storage such as Dropbox

• Intelligent preprocessing: Reduces file sizes by 40% without quality loss

• Chunked uploads: Reliable transfer for large files with resume capability

• Cloud optimization: CDN distribution for global access speed

Result: 99.2% upload success rate (measured by SSIM quality index)

Major Design Iterations

V1.0 → V1.5: Upload Flow Simplification

• Problem: 34% drop-off during complex upload process

• Change: Reduced from 7 steps to 3 steps with smarter defaults

• Result: 89% completion rate improvement

V1.5 → V2.0: Enhanced Preview System

• Problem: Users uncertain about AI processing quality

• Change: Added real-time preview with confidence scoring

• Result: 67% increase in processing completion rate

V2.0 → V2.5: Professional Control Panel

• Problem: Advanced users needed fine-tuning capabilities

• Change: Added 12-parameter professional control interface

• Result: 94% professional user satisfaction rate

Marketing Website Strategy

Challenge: Convert skeptical architects who've been burned by generic AI tools into paying customers.

Approach: Evidence-based landing page design focused on architectural credibility and social proof.

Results & Business Impact

User Experience Metrics:

• Task Completion Time: 85% reduction (6 hours → 54 minutes average)

• First-Time Success Rate: 92% complete enhancement without assistance

• User Retention: 89% monthly active user retention

• Net Promoter Score: 74 (Industry benchmark: 31)

Business Impact Metrics:

• Market Validation: $2.4M total addressable market confirmed

• User Growth: 3,892 registered users within 6 months

• Revenue Metrics: $94 average revenue per user monthly

• Cost Savings: Users report 75% reduction in project enhancement costs

Engagement Metrics:

• Average Session Time: 23 minutes (indicating deep engagement)

• Feature Adoption: 78% use advanced control features regularly

• Support Tickets: 0.3% of users require assistance (industry low)