HD Hero2 & Hero3
Refreshing new on-camera frameworks that contributed to GoPro's revenue growth from $250M to $1.39B.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Challenge
The first-generation GoPro HD cameras had powerful hardware but an almost unreadable LCD interface — tiny, non-intuitive, and impossible to use in motion.
Solution
A complete redesign of the UX framework for the HD Hero2 & Hero3, creating a visual language and flow controllable with only two buttons. Simplified navigation, clarified modes, and standardized icons and audio cues for use anywhere —from underwater to mountain slopes.
Impact
In addition to the metrics above, this app received rave reviews for usability. One reviewer praised the new camera interface as "usable without ever looking at the manual."
Role
Senior UX Designer
Contribution
Designed detailed behavioral flows for the HD Hero2 and its remote control. Delivered specs with interlocking visual flow charts and clear graphics for dev teams in China, and extended the framework to support the WiFi BacPac and all three versions of the HD Hero3, as well as future camera models.
Collaborators
UX Design, Visual Design, Product Management, Director of Product Development, Engineering, CEO, and CFO
Timeline
2 years
PROBLEM
GoPro’s HD Hero video camera was a bestseller for many reasons, but its segmented LCD interface was almost unusable. For the HD Hero2 and Hero3, Swim Interaction Design Studio was tasked with designing the best UX possible within these challenging constraints:
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Output via a postage-stamp sized, bitmapped, monochromatic display
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Input via two fixed buttons
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Active users — pros and novices alike — in extreme environments
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Communicate significant status information (e.g., current mode, state, battery life, data limits) and provide access to a growing number of user-controlled settings
BEFORE: First-generation HD Hero & interface reference guide
DESIGN
Swim completely overhauled the UX, devising a new framework that is readable, extensible, and intuitively controlled by only two buttons. Our visual designer created a rich UI language — including custom icons and text — consisting of four distinct screen types that fully utilized the new bitmap display.
Once this framework was established, I designed detailed behavioral flows for the HD Hero2 and its remote control. Since the majority of the development took place in China, we delivered specs with interlocking visual flow charts and clear graphics, thus decreasing the need for translation. The specs addressed all screens and button behaviors, as well as audio and LED feedback.
We then extended the framework to support the WiFi BacPac and all three versions of the HD Hero3 (each with varying degrees of new functionality). The UX framework Swim devised continued to support subsequent cameras, having a life well beyond the initial project.
The new interface was praised by reviewers and users as “MUCH easier to navigate through” and “usable without ever looking at the user manual”. Alongside everything else the Hero cameras offer, the new interface contributed to GoPro’s phenomenal success.
AFTER: HD Hero3
