Snap Sort

Ever tried to find a specific photo on your phone—only to scroll endlessly through a sea of screenshots, duplicates, and forgotten memories?
Or maybe you’ve told yourself one day you’ll clean up your gallery… but that day never comes?

With Snap Sort, we set out to rethink how we interact with our phone’s photo gallery.
Instead of simply archiving images, we explored ways to actively engage with them—analyzing existing features, identifying pain points, and enhancing the user experience to make sorting photos feel less like a chore, and more like second nature.

Collaborators

Nicole Krein and Sarah Fütterling


Timeframe

Mar. - Jul. 2023


My Role

UX/UI Design, Motion Design






Scenario

 There are countless reasons and moments when we find ourselves scrolling through our photo galleries. Sometimes it’s to relive a memory, other times to create an album, or simply to clear out the clutter. But no matter the reason, the process often feels slow and frustrating.

To design a better experience, we started by focusing on two common everyday scenarios:
Quickly finding a specific photo and  sorting through similar photos



You remember a moment clearly and want to show the photo to someone — but scrolling endlessly to find it ruins the spontaneity.


You’ve taken a burst of images and now want to keep only the best ones. But selecting and deleting is time-consuming and not very intuitive.
These use cases became the foundation for our reimagined approach to mobile photo galleries — one that’s faster, smarter, and more aligned with how we actually use our photos.

Wireframing

 Since images are the core of this experience, we quickly moved into digital wireframing. This allowed us to test how interface elements behave when surrounded by dozens of colorful photos — a real challenge when it comes to maintaining usability without distracting from the content.

Our goal was to make interactions feel intuitive and unobtrusive. Through testing, we focused on three key elements:
a filter function, a timeline, and a delete tool.

These features were chosen for their potential to streamline the browsing and sorting process. We began experimenting with them directly on screen and transitioned to prototypes as early as possible — to quickly test and iterate on what worked best.










Wireframes for the timeline
Wireframes for the sorting feature






Smart Filter Function

One of our key goals was to make the filtering process fast and intuitive. In most gallery apps we tested, it wasn’t possible to filter using tags, a timeline, and a search bar all at once. We believed this was a missed opportunity — any piece of information a user remembers (a date, a keyword, or even just a vague category) should help narrow down the photo selection.

That’s why we designed a centralized filter screen. All filter options are visible at a glance, allowing for quick and flexible combinations. Users can mix and match filters like tags, date ranges, or text input — all from one place — to reduce visual clutter and streamline the search process.


Enhanced Timeline Navigation

 Our research revealed that time remains the most important factor when it comes to locating a specific photo. Users often remember when a picture was taken — and just as importantly, what events or images surrounded it. This broader visual context helps them narrow down their search much faster.

That’s why the timeline is usually the very first tool users turn to.

We saw this as an opportunity to improve and expand this essential feature. In our design, we explored different timeline orientations, experimented with how photo quantities could be visually represented, and tested which types of contextual information (like events, dates, or locations) could be added to help users get their bearings more quickly.

The goal was to create a timeline that’s not just functional — but intuitive, rich in detail, and truly helpful in guiding users through their personal visual history.

Curated Sorting Mode

 One of the biggest challenges when organizing a photo gallery is volume: we have thousands of pictures, but only a few tools to quickly sort through them.

To tackle this, we introduced a dedicated sorting mode — a space designed specifically for making quick decisions about which photos to keep and which to delete.

Photos are presented in clear, manageable batches, allowing users to focus on one group at a time. This reduces cognitive overload and makes the process feel more approachable.

Instead of relying solely on buttons, we added intuitive swipe gestures. Users can drag and drop images to categorize or delete them, making the experience more fluid and tactile — a faster and more natural way to clean up the camera roll.

Product Video

 To bring our concept to life, we created a product video showcasing the key features of our redesigned photo gallery.

The video walks viewers through the core interactions, demonstrating how intuitive and efficient navigating, filtering, and sorting photos can be. By showing the features in action, we were able to convey not just what SnapSort does — but how it feels to use.

From the expandable filter sidebar to the timeline navigation and batch-sorting gestures, the video illustrates how small design changes can make a big impact in everyday photo management.

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