Polarr is a photo editing app with a clear layout while offering more features than other editing tools such as Instagram and the iPhone native editing tool.
Upon opening the app, there are two clear button options: Open photos and Open sample photos. The “open sample photo” option brings up a list of photos that allow users to test some of the features from the app. “Open photos” pulls up a screen with three tabs on the bottom with clear labels that indicate the purpose of each tab.
When going into the editing portion of the app, the options at the bottom are clear. The white highlight of selected option against the black background and the icons of the editing tools are affordances that guide the user in the photo editing process.
There, however, are flaws in the workflow of this app. For example, after pressing on an image and going into editing mode, my immediate reaction is that I should be able to swipe my screen to the right in order to go back to the previous page to choose a different photo. This is not the case. Instead, in order to open another photo, you have to press the “open” button on the upper left hand corner. On the camera roll screen, there is a back arrow button that allows you to go back to the photo you were editing. This workflow is less intuitive than having the camera roll screen at the bottom of the stack and then the photo you are currently editing on top of the camera roll screen in the stack. The way Polar sets up the stack is in reverse.
Other notable critiques that affect the efficiency and learnability of this app include the lack of a delete option in the edited tab app of the app. There are photos that have been edited but have not been exported and no option to delete them.
In editing mode, the history tab shows the list of changes made to the photo and an option to revert to the original photo. The idea behind this feature is good in that it allows users to see a previous version of the photo. However, some of the wording here can be confusing because there are buttons that perform similar actions. For example, “clear history” clears all changes to the photo and deletes the memory of all past changes. “Revert” sets the photo to its original but keeps the history of edits. The word “revert” can indicate a different usage. You can press one of the past changes in the history to view the photo at that point. That option is then highlighted to indicate that that’s the current version of the photo that you are on. The “revert” option then makes it seem as if you should press “revert” to make the photo go back to that past version. However, “revert” actually clears all edits.
Below are some proposed improvements to increase learnability, memorability, and efficiency of the app. A simple solution to the lack of a delete option on the screen of edited photos would be to incorporate a trash can icon in one of the corners of the screen. After the user does a long press on one of the photos, they would be able to click on the trash icon and delete that one photo or check off more photos to delete in a batch.
The “revert” option can simply be removed since there is already an option to click on “original” which would set the edited photo back to its original as well as the option to “clear history.”
Overall, Polarr is easy to use with the exception of changing between the camera roll screen and the editing screen. Its workflow makes sense once you become accustomed to it but is confusing for new users who are used to using other apps that are likely to have the workflow that I proposed above. Other small changes throughout the app will also improve the UX of the app to make it more consistent with design choices made by other popular apps that have affected a user’s tendencies when navigating through apps.
