The good bits:
- Once a new user signs in to his CC account (more on that in the “to be improved section) the app takes him right into the act of capturing and tracing a sketch via the phone’s camera. Even if the new user doesn’t have a sketch in front of him at this point, he can quickly try it out by seeing how everyday objects, shapes, etc. are traced.
- The app spends very little time on introductory text, and the ability to jump right into action is omnipresent on both of the two introductory screens.
- Although not intended for just the first time user experience, the onscreen outlines that appear over a sketch really do help more than words at illustrating what will be visible in the traced outlines.
- The controls are simple and focused, which helps the user see an early success.
To be improved:
- The app forces a new user to sign in or sign up for an Adobe Creative Cloud account, which is a point of friction for such a simple and focused that wasn’t forced in other products like Photoshop Express. Perhaps the app could instead suggest a new user sign up for an account if, later, they want to access their tracings on other devices.
- Although there are two introductory screens in the (thankfully limited) opening intro tour, neither do a good job of clearly illustrating key use cases of the app. The title text (which is likely to be the only text read on this screen) is an abstract line: “Capture Inspiring Shapes.” And there is no supporting imagery to show, for example, a sketch in a sketch book.
- The user-guided tooltips were helpful, but they can be easily dismissed without being read. Unfortunately, there are no labels on the controls to help refresh a user as to their purpose.
- It’s not clear to a new user why he cannot share his images; the app clearly restricts access to saved images to Adobe CC, but this isn’t clarified to new users at any point.