01
Overview
What A Life is a web app concept designed to help people preserve, organize, and share family memories: stories, photos, interviews, and historical context. Unlike projects that begin with a clearly defined problem, this one started with a broad idea around legacy and family history.
02
The Challenge
The initial concept was too broad and overlapped with existing family-tree and memory-sharing tools. The opportunity was to move beyond a general idea and uncover what users actually needed when preserving family stories, organizing files, interviewing loved ones, and sharing memories across generations.
Concept overlapped with existing tools
Family-tree builders and generic photo-sharing apps already existed, so the idea needed a sharper, differentiated point of view.
No validated user need yet
The idea started from a personal interest in legacy, not a confirmed problem, so discovery had to come first.
Scope was undefined
Without research, the product could have sprawled into features nobody asked for.
03
My Approach
I recruited potential users through a participant screening survey and conducted interviews to understand behaviors, motivations, pain points, and values. Then I synthesized the research into themes that shaped the product direction.
Confirmed
Behaviors
—Return to old-fashioned photo albums often
—Use pictures to capture memories of themselves and others
—Record interviews or personal introductions to leave behind
Confirmed
Interests
—Identifying people in old photographs
—Creating storybooks to curate life’s memorable moments
—Building a family tree online with photos
Confirmed
Pain Points
—No easy way to organize and store files
—Existing methods feel slow and disorganized
Confirmed
Values
—Collaborating meaningfully and effectively with others
—Leaving something impactful for future generations
—Recording and preserving stories for others
04
The Solution
The research pointed to a more focused product direction: a story-preservation platform built around storybooks, file organization, collaboration, and historical context. I developed the information architecture, sitemap, wireframes, and prototype direction, along with developer handoff materials.
Wireframes
Files screen with folders and file table
Messages screen with conversation list and chat thread
Resources screen to help users prepare for interviews with family
Storybooks screen for creating a new storybook
Prototype
Users edit storybook details like title, author, and time period, then add new stories to build out the family narrative.
Family members upload and organize photos and files into labeled folders, then assign them to specific people for easy access.
Family members message each other directly in the app to coordinate and share memories in real time.
Users search historical events by date and location to add accurate historical context to their family stories.
What Changed
Before, and after.
Before
The idea started as a broad concept overlapping with existing family-tree and memory-sharing tools.
After
Discovery narrowed it to a focused story-preservation platform with a clear point of view.
Before
No clear information architecture or navigation structure existed.
After
A researched sitemap and IA define storybooks, file organization, and collaboration as core flows.
Before
No path to build, just a concept.
After
Full developer handoff: style guide, annotated files, prototype, and feature checklist.
05
What this solved.
—
Narrowed a broad legacy concept into a focused story-preservation platform with clear differentiation.
—
Defined an information architecture covering storybooks, file organization, collaboration, and historical resources.
—
Delivered a full developer handoff package: style guide, design system, annotated files, and feature checklist.
—
Built accessibility considerations into the design and content structure from the start.
Specialties Shown
Taking an ambiguous idea to a structured, dev-ready direction.
Customer Discovery
User Research
UX Strategy
Information Architecture
Wireframing
Copywriting
Accessibility Review
UI Design
Rapid Prototyping
Developer Handoff
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