Transforming a Photographer’s website — A UX/UI Case Study
Project overview
For my second UX/UI project at Ironhack, I had 8–9 days to design a responsive website for a local professional — this time, working with a real stakeholder, which brought new challenges.
I teamed up with Leticia, a fellow student, and together we chose to revamp the website of Akemy Mory, a Lisbon-based photographer looking to enhance her online presence. We quickly realized our strengths were complementary — she thrived in research, while I was passionate about design. Instead of splitting tasks, we worked side by side, constantly challenging and learning from each other.
A major shift was working autonomously — no daily instructor check-ins. Using Notion, we structured our workflow, managed interviews, and balanced research, ideation, and prototyping, all under a tight deadline. Adapting to a new teammate in a fast-paced, English-speaking setting also sharpened my communication skills.
This project pushed me to navigate the entire design process, from research to high-fidelity prototyping, while also learning to work with a stakeholder’s needs in mind. It reinforced the importance of collaboration, adaptability, and time management — all essential skills for a UX/UI designer.
- Duration: 8/9 days
- Team: 2 UX/UI designers
- Tools: Figma, Figjam, Zoom, Google Form, Notion
- Methodology: Design Thinking
Research Phase
We started with market analysis and benchmarking. We researched photographers in Portugal, only to realize that most specialized in weddings, while Akemy’s focus was more on lifestyle and business photography. But we found some inspirations.
Our secondary research revealed key challenges: photographers struggle with time management, marketing, and client communication, while clients often find pricing unclear and booking frustrating.
User Research
To better understand user expectations, we created a Google Forms survey. Leticia introduced me to conditional question paths, refining responses for sharper insights.
Our goal? Identify what drives or blocks people from booking a photographer. With 15 responses, we spotted valuable patterns.
Stakeholder Interview
On Monday, we interviewed Akemy. Her biggest challenge? Time management. She handled bookings manually via WhatsApp and email, relying mostly on word-of-mouth.
We also discovered her main audience was entrepreneurs and small businesses — not the general public. Our survey had been too broad. We needed to pivot.
Lesson learned: Always align with the stakeholder before launching research!
User Interviews & Affinity Diagram
We refined our questions to focus on entrepreneurs. Leticia reminded me to avoid hypothetical questions — people tend to say what they think is right, not what they actually do.
Finding entrepreneurs was tough, but we conducted five interviews in one day. A big step for me — I felt much more confident in guiding conversations.
Using an affinity diagram, we identified key themes: photo quality, brand alignment, recommendations, and seamless communication.
One interviewee summed it up best:
“For me, the quality of the photos was important, and I wanted to feel comfortable working with the photographer.”
These insights set the foundation for the next phase.
Problem
Persona
With research insights, we built a persona: Manuel, a busy bakery owner who doesn’t have time to develop his brand and attract more customers.
At first, we framed his goals around what he looks for in a photographer — things like communication and style. But that was a mistake! His real goal isn’t about photography at all — it’s about growing his business.
We had focused on our solution instead of his actual needs. The right approach? Start with his problem (more traffic), then recognize that better photos are the solution.
Key learning: Always define the user’s core needs first — before thinking about the product.
User Journey Map
Next, we mapped out Manuel’s user journey (pictured bellow), which was a tricky part in my last project. This time, I revisited my notes and had a breakthrough — I identified a key emotional moment:
Scenario: Manuel organizes an event at his bakery but is too busy to take quality pictures. At the end of the day, he realizes the photos he managed to take are unusable — he just missed a huge opportunity to showcase his business.
The story immediately resonated with Leticia and our mentor, Neil. I finally understood what makes a compelling user journey — it has to create an emotional connection and highlight a clear pain point.
Problem Statement
A new step for us: framing the problem from both the stakeholder’s and user’s perspective.
For Akemy (stakeholder)
Akemy’s website should help small business owners book professional photoshoots easily. But unclear booking and an ineffective portfolio mean fewer bookings and missed opportunities.For Manuel (user)
Small business owners in Lisbon need high-quality photos to attract customers and grow. But finding a photographer that fits their brand is frustrating.
At first, we debated: should we focus on their experience with photographers or their bigger business struggles?
Answer: Their real concern is business growth.
Ideation
Next step: ideation! We started with Crazy 8’s, sketching one idea per minute for eight minutes each. We came up with creative concepts — like an “intelligent” booking calendar or surprise photoshoot sessions where Akemy could spontaneously drop in. While fun, we realized the latter wasn’t practical, as photographers need to plan their sessions.
We then organized our ideas into an MVP matrix, categorizing them into Must-Have, Should-Have, Could-Have, and Won’t-Have features. The key takeaways? A streamlined booking system, a questionnaire for client preferences, an online portfolio, and testimonials, which our user research confirmed as essential.
User Flow & Sitemap
Time to map out the User Flow (pictured bellow)! I had previously confused it with the sitemap and overcomplicated it, so this time, Leticia and I kept it simple. We focused on one clear goal: booking a photoshoot as a business owner.
Then came the Sitemap. While I had experience with it, narrowing it down to just one user flow initially threw me off. Luckily, with guidance from Neil, we structured it effectively.
Prototyping & Testing
Lo-fi Prototype & Concept Testing
Everything started to become clearer! We created our first wireframe: a simple lo-fi prototype. We quickly built it and tested it — this was our concept testing. We had three users try it out, and they all found the booking process “clear”.
Mid-fi Prototype & Usability Testing
Since the lo-fi test was successful, we moved on to a more advanced mid-fi prototype with interactions (pictured bellow). This time, we conducted a Usability Test, where we gave users a task — booking a photoshoot — without any guidance and observed how they performed. We ran five tests, and four users rated the process as “easy” or “very easy”. However, they pointed out some key improvements:
- The calendar didn’t allow time selection, only dates.
- There was no “back” button.
- After confirmation, a button to return to the home screen was missing.
This made me realize how crucial testing is! Even though our lo-fi prototype was validated, we still found important UX issues.
Moodboard & Branding
A fascinating step! We defined our brand attributes (soft, natural, authentic, emotional…) and tested our moodboard in class (pictured bellow).
Great feedback on our visual direction! But we realized that words like “thrifty” were misinterpreted, leading us to refine our branding choices.
Hi-fi Prototype
Time for the high-fidelity prototype (pictured bellow)!
I started incorporating all the necessary refinements, guided by our moodboard for colors, imagery, and typography. I replaced placeholders with real content, polished the UI, and ensured visual consistency throughout the design.
Meanwhile, Leticia explored Figma plugins to optimize the smart booking calendar. We continuously tested interactions, questioning how interactive and functional the prototype needed to be. Should the questionnaire be fully fillable? Should all buttons work? In the end, Neil reassured us that our current level of interactivity was sufficient.
After multiple iterations, we were ready for the final step: presentation!
Feel free to test the prototype here.
Presentation
Leticia had a great idea: starting with a Pixar-style storytelling to introduce Manuel’s journey. It immediately engaged the audience! We structured our presentation together — Leticia summarized the content while I designed the slides.
We were the first team to present (6 min 40 in total, split evenly). The feedback?
- What we could improve: We made the presentation too short, skipping key research data and usability test results. Also, showing the hi-fi prototype as a video was a bit rushed — I didn’t give people time to fully absorb it.
- What went well: Great design, strong presentation skills, and an engaging delivery!
Final Takeaways
This project with Leticia was an amazing learning experience, covering everything from user research to high-fidelity prototyping and presentation. It reinforced just how crucial each phase is in building an intuitive and efficient user experience.
One of the biggest lessons was the importance of iteration and user feedback. Even when we thought our designs were clear, testing revealed unexpected insights that helped refine the experience.
After our presentation, we took time to reflect on our work through a Start-Stop-Continue feedback session together. This was a great way to give each other constructive feedback and recognize both our strengths and areas for growth.
- Start: “You should start a Figma course to go deeper into the tool.”
- Stop: “We should avoid making the presentation too short — next time, let’s highlight more key data and test results.”
- Continue: “Keep up the hard work! You have a real talent for UI design and are great at teamwork.”
Beyond improving my technical skills, this project confirmed how much I enjoy UI design, problem-solving, and collaboration. Working closely with Leticia made the whole process engaging and insightful, and I truly appreciated our ability to bounce ideas off each other, challenge ourselves, and refine our approach.
I’m excited to keep learning, take on more complex projects, and push my UX/UI skills even further!
