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Case Study: UX Design for DEI's Souvenir Photography Platform

My Role and Responsibilities

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As a UX designer on the DEI client project, I played a pivotal role in shaping the user experience for the customer-facing touchpoints. My primary responsibilities included:

 

Customer Website:

Spearheaded the user experience research and wireframe designs for specific batches, including parts of Batch 1, the entire Batch 2, and portions of Batch 4.
Conducted in-depth analysis of user needs, business requirements, and the feature value matrix to develop intuitive user flows and interactions.
Collaborated closely with colleagues to ensure consistency across different sections and align on user journeys and flows.

 

Kiosk:

Contributed to the initial kiosk designs, focusing on seamless guest experiences and streamlined purchase journeys.
Reviewed and incorporated feedback from research and client discussions to refine the kiosk designs, which were later updated by team members.

 

Cross-functional Collaboration:

Attended meetings with clients, business analysts, and technical teams to understand project scope, gather requirements, and present design solutions.
Worked closely with the tech team to assess the technical feasibility of proposed designs and ensure alignment with development capabilities.
Oversaw text proofing and reviewed wireframes across different batches to maintain consistency and adherence to brand guidelines.

 

Through constant communication, collaboration, and a user-centric approach, I played a crucial role in delivering wireframe designs that addressed customer needs while aligning with DEI's business objectives. My contributions helped shape engaging and intuitive user experiences across the customer website and kiosk interfaces, laying the foundation for DEI's digital transformation journey.

About DEI

 

Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging LLC (DEI) is a leading Souvenir Imaging operator globally and part of the prestigious Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited group. It is a subsidiary of Thomas Cook India and is headquartered in Dubai. Since its inception in 2004, DEI has experienced consistent growth and has regional offices in Orlando, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Mumbai. Having a team of over 1,850 people, DEI is a market leader in the industry, with a presence across 16 countries and over 130 attractions.

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The attractions industry, including amusement parks and theme parks, was valued at $52 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $89 billion by 2025. A key concessionaire in the attractions industry is the souvenir imaging. They are the market leaders in providing imaging services and solutions to this industry. Founded in 2004 in Dubai, DEI is committed to turning priceless moments into timeless memories.

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DEI has aggressive growth plans and is set to become a billion-dollar company in the next three years. Even during the pandemic years, the company has grown its portfolio by more than 25%. The company is expanding its presence in newer geographies and adjacent business lines. DEI's vision is to be the leading imaging company in the world. Customers today experience several new-age technology solutions that they also expect in DEI's offering. DEI's vision has been to provide the best quality service to its customers and to continue doing that, it needs the best-in-class technology to enhance customers' experience.

Project Background 

 

DEI's current business is conducted on its home-grown, desktop-based application, iMix. iMix has changed several hands of developers over the years and has become very complex. The application faces performance and stability issues primarily due to the fast-growing business volume.

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Objective

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The objective of this project is to completely phase out i-Mix to create an end-to-end solution to build interfaces which accommodate pre- and post- park guest journeys seamlessly
The vision is to evolve from a souvenir imaging company to a tech company centred around human experiences and to be perceived as a pioneer in technology for the imaging industry. The larger vision is To be the 'only app for creating, storing, sharing, and discovering memories’.

Key Considerations

 

Key words and features to be considered for the solution to be proposed.
○ Customer centric approach
○ Stable and standardized processes
○ Faster processing for operational efficiency
○ Modularity to support alternative business models
○ Flexibility to integrate with other solutions
○ Scalability to power business growth
○ Data-driven operational control

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Key objectives:

 

Accommodating pre- and post-visit customer journeys seamlessly
Employing cutting-edge technology to delight customers and retain a competitive edge
Building a scalable and flexible platform to support alternative business models and future growth
Achieving stable, standardized processes with faster processing for operational efficiency

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Discovery and User Research


The project commenced with an in-depth discovery phase led by a UK-based team. Over five days, the designers conducted workshops, site visits, and stakeholder interviews to gather comprehensive data about DEI's business, existing challenges, and user needs. Activities included:

Empathy mapping exercises to understand staff roles, daily workflows, and pain points
Mapping pre-park, in-park, and post-park customer journeys across different scenarios
Benchmarking competitor offerings and industry best practices
The insights from this phase informed the development of user personas, customer journey maps, information architecture, and a feature value matrix – laying a solid foundation for the design process.

Design and Solutioning
Armed with a deep understanding of user needs and business requirements, the APAC-based design team took over the baton through a structured knowledge transfer process. The design phase involved iterative cycles of wireframing, prototyping, and visual design across multiple interfaces:

 

Customer Website and Mobile App:

 

  • Intuitive user flows for photo/video association, gallery management, product customization, and purchase.

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  • Personalized experiences based on visited venues, purchase history, and user preferences.

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  • Seamless checkout process with address/payment prefills and upsell/cross-sell recommendations.

 

Self-Service Kiosks:

 

  • Guest mode for faster transactions without account creation

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  • Integration with DEI gallery and personal device uploads for photo retrieval

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  • Flexible payment options (cash, card, online wallets) configurable per venue

 

Staff Application (Desktop and Mobile):

 

  • Streamlined day opening/closing processes with automated capture, transmission, and association

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  • Efficient scan-association-edit-purchase workflows for operational efficiency

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  • Centralized master data and configuration management for standardization

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  • Robust reporting suite with role-based access for operational insights

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  • The design process involved close collaboration with business analysts, technical architects, and DEI stakeholders to validate solutions, incorporate feedback, and ensure technical feasibility. Design decisions were meticulously documented, and client sign-offs were obtained at every stage.

 

 

Key Outcomes and Deliverables


Despite the project's substantial scope, changing requirements, and tight timelines, the design team successfully delivered:

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  • Over 200 wireframe templates across customer and staff touchpoints, ensuring comprehensive user journeys

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  • Reusable component libraries for visual consistency and faster development cycles

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  • Visually appealing and user-friendly interface designs adhering to DEI's brand guidelines

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  • Comprehensive documentation of design rationale, decisions, and client approvals

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  • The new platform positioned DEI to achieve its vision of evolving into a technology-driven company, providing delightful customer experiences while ensuring operational excellence, scalability, and the flexibility to adapt to future business models.

 

 
Key learnings from this experience included:

 

  • The importance of meticulous documentation, version control, and change management processes

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  • Assertive communication and collaborative problem-solving between cross-functional teams

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  • Aligning project scope, realistic timelines, and stakeholder expectations from the outset

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  • Leveraging storytelling techniques to effectively communicate design solutions to stakeholders

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  • The significance of benchmarking, pattern libraries, and design systems for consistency and efficiency

 

 

 

Retrospective and Future Outlook


The DEI project highlighted the design team's capability to navigate a complex, large-scale digital transformation initiative, delivering user-centric solutions that addressed diverse stakeholder needs. The new platform laid a strong foundation for DEI to achieve its growth ambitions while delighting customers with cutting-edge experiences.

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Moving forward, DEI plans to leverage the platform's scalability and flexibility to explore new revenue streams, such as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model. The company also aims to continuously enhance the user experience by incorporating emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) into its offerings.

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Through this transformative journey, DEI has reinforced its commitment to putting customers at the heart of its business, embracing innovation, and staying ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving souvenir imaging industry.

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