Redesigning smoother camera control inputs for 3D platform
Overview
SpotLight Suite™ is a cloud -based platform allowing users to create digital automative content. Shutter Pro is an application within SpotLight Suite that allows users to create high quality images of their vehicles with options to configure the car and environment.
The goal was to improve the 3D camera controls in Shutter Pro. New users often required the team to run training sessions just to explain the basics. With a new product launch coming up, there wouldn’t be time or resources to keep supporting users this way, so we needed a fast, low-impact redesign that made the controls clearer without changing the structure of the app or creating heavy development work. The aim was to make camera modes easier to understand, surface key settings, and reduce the need for internal support.
UX Designer
Creative Director, Product Owner, 2 x Developers
3 weeks
The problem
Users found the camera controls difficult to navigate due to unclear mode switching, inconsistent and misaligned industry standard terminology and poorly organised settings. This led to confusion, slower setup times and image generation, and underuse of advanced features and precise inputs.
Results
New users to understood how the camera behaved without needing hands-on support. Early feedback from internal teams showed that onboarding conversations became shorter and more straightforward, and users found the mode distinctions clearer. With users able to configure the camera with better, precise controls, image generation/output increased by 90%. Although this was a short project, the improvements helped reduce confusion and created a more solid foundation for Shutter Pro’s camera controls.
Faster image creation
reduction in training sessions
Understanding user challenges and system gaps
I kicked things off with an internal discovery workshop leveraging support ticket data, internal user feedback, and competitor analysis. I also reviewed terminology across popular 3D environment tools to benchmark common language for certain features. The language used for camera mode “Global StageCam” for example, was not clear to most users and did not align with familiar industry-standard terminology. These insights revealed users struggled in three main ways:
Users struggled to understand which camera mode they were in and how to switch
No visual feedback to reflect different camera modes and behaviour
The input fields (for things like position, rotation, anchor point and other critical values) were either buried or labelled in a way that didn’t make their function obvious.
Existing camera control inputs
Exploring and structuring the solution
With the main problem areas in mind, I focused on making camera mode switching clearer, and explored a range of visual representations for the camera map. As we had to move quickly and keep development effort low, I prototyped a few layout variations and tested them with internal users to validate ideas quickly before making changes and moving to higher-fidelity designs.
Outcome
The redesigned camera controls provide clearer input fields for precise control, mode switching is consolidated into a single space, and terminology aligns with industry standards. The camera map dynamically updates to reflect the active mode, providing visual feedback of the 3D space to the user. The final solution streamlines the experience for both new and experienced users, reducing confusion and the need for training sessions, faster image generation while highlighting Shutter Pro’s advanced capabilities.