Providing Complex AI Tech to Consumer Users
The UX Strategy for Making Adobe’s Generative AI Feel Invisible, Familiar, and Trustworthy for “Memory Keeper” Users.
Role
UX Design Lead
Industry
Creative Design
Duration
6 months
Impact: Adaptation of the AI features:
Remove Tool (GenAi)- Unique users: 44.4%. Successful use of the feature: 64.2%. Recorded better-than-expected adaptation of the AI feature and guided edit.
Depth Blur (AI ML Model)- Unique users: 8.6%. Success of task completion by users: 23.8% It is not as good as expected. I closely monitored the user feedback to gather insights for further improvements.
Replace Background (GenAi on Web): 5.2%, Successful output creation – 85.1%. Creation downloaded by users – 18.7%. Better-than-expected results.
Context: Intimidating and unfamiliar Gen-AI
Adobe’s strategic goal was to integrate its powerful Firefly Generative AI into the Elements suite. But our core users—”Memory Keepers” like Jane, a mom creating a birthday slideshow, or Andrew, a grandfather archiving a family trip—are not tech explorers. They are family-focused hobbyists who want quality results without a steep learning curve. The core challenge was to demystify and bring cutting-edge AI to this tech-cautious audience in a way that felt helpful and familiar, not intimidating.
Core Business Challenge
Adobe’s most strategic technology, Generative AI, was at risk of failing with its core Adobe Elements audience. Elements users, “Memory Keepers,” are not tech experts; they are hobbyists who can be intimidated by complex new tools. The business challenge was clear: to drive adoption, we had to demystify the technology and make it feel as natural and trustworthy as their own creative instincts.
My Role & Leadership Impact
As the lead UX designer, my role extended beyond feature execution into product strategy. I led the end-to-end UX design for the AI initiative, partnered with Product and Engineering to simplify complex capabilities into consumable features:
Delivered features
Remove Object | Generate Image | Insert Object | Photo Restoration | Depth Blur | Change Object Colour | Facial Touch-Ups | Auto-Colorisation | Motion on Photo | Remove People Distractions | Gen-AI Credit Flow
I also proposed the vision of “Elements Co-creator,” demonstrating how design could drive the product’s long-term strategic direction.
Navigating Complexity: The Human Constraint
The primary complexity was not technical, but human. We had to introduce cutting-edge AI to a tech-cautious audience in a way that felt helpful and familiar, not intimidating. The core constraint was to design solutions that made the AI feel invisible, like a natural extension of the user’s existing workflow, rather than a complex new tool to be learned.
Design Highlights: Shipping Practical, User-Loving AI Tools
I designed a suite of tactical AI features focused on solving the most common and emotional problems our Memory Keepers face.
Remove Object: To help users like Jane perfect her once-in-a-lifetime wedding photo by removing a distracting tourist, we designed a simple paint-to-remove tool with an accessible high-contrast mask and a clear undo function.
Insert Object: To empower creative hobbyists like Matthew making a custom title frame, we integrated a simple “brush-and-prompt” workflow directly into a familiar panel, giving him full creative control without friction.
Generate Photo: To give users like Matthew custom assets, we created a text-to-image feature that included an “Inspiration Gallery,” allowing users to learn how to write effective prompts in a playful, risk-free environment.
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A Principle-Driven Redesign of the First Mile Experience
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A self-initiated project demonstrating end-to-end product creation—from product strategy and branding to UX/UI design, coding, and testing.