Generato · 2024
Liked pictures in 3 minutes, down from 8
Generato is an app where you type a sentence and get a picture. I led its redesign after half of new users quit after one go.
- Category
- AI Image Generator
- Role
- Lead Product Designer
- Timeline
- 12 weeks
- Team
- 3 Eng · 1 PM
- Year
- 2024
- Status
- Shipped
- Problem
- 47% of new users quit in their first session. They could not tell if a prompt would work until 45 seconds and a credit later.
- What I did
- I led the redesign. I ran 8 interviews and 800+ surveys, tested four directions with 12 people, and built a prompt box that helps as you type.
- Result
- Time to a picture people liked fell from 8 minutes to 3, −62%.
01 Problem
Half of new users tried it once and left.
47% quit in their first session, for two reasons. They could not tell if a prompt would work until 45 seconds and a credit later, and a complex interface put ten expert controls on the first screen.
02 Constraints
- 01
12 weeks, with 3 engineers and 1 PM.
- 02
The founding CTO wanted a better model. Six weeks of model work had not moved the number.
- 03
Every run took 45 seconds and cost a credit, so each failed try was a real loss.
03 Approach
Help people write the prompt, then hide the rest.
I ran 8 interviews and 800+ surveys, then tested four directions with 12 people. A box that helps as you type won.
- 01
Options as pictures
The same balloon drawn 16 ways. Pick by eye, learn the words for free.
- 02
A prompt strength bar
Like a password meter for your sentence. It fills before you spend a credit.
- 03
One box, less clutter
Expert settings hidden until asked for. 40% less on screen. Every tool works the same way.
“I kept pressing generate hoping it would just figure out what I meant. By the fourth try I realized the tool wasn’t going to meet me halfway.”
P04, quit in session 2
04 Usability testing
Then I made it worse.
My first version quietly rewrote people’s prompts. The pictures improved 15%, but satisfaction fell 22%. So I made it suggest instead, and you tap to accept. Satisfaction went 2.8 → 4.4 out of 5.
People want to be in charge more than they want a perfect result.
05 Results
What it did.
- −62%
- Time to a picture they liked8 minutes → 3
- 2×
- Kept their first picture22% → 51%
- +69%
- Felt confident writing prompts3.2 → 5.4 out of 7
- +48%
- Enjoyed using it3.1 → 4.6 out of 5
In context
06 Role and team
- Owned
Lead Product Designer. The research, the IA and user flow, the four test directions, the final design and the usability tests.
- Influenced
The team’s plan, from a better model to a redesign of the first session.
- Built with others
3 engineers built it, with 1 PM.
Nobody notices the strength bar. They just notice their pictures got better.
Next: MultiPayOne wallet for lari, dollars and euros, where moving money stops feeling scary.