MICROSOFT / ONEDRIVE PHOTOS / EDIT
Before the first edit
Before Edit became a new area for our team, I helped leadership see why it was worth pursuing. I shaped the story and worked with a motion expert to bring it to life in a film.
Storytelling that helped open a new area for the team.
Watch the vision film- My role
- Shaping the narrative and helping secure leadership buy-in for Edit.
- Collaboration
- A motion expert, working with me to bring the story to life in the film.
- Context
- OneDrive Photos. Making the case for a new area of work.
- Scope
- This opening chapter: the vision, the film and the direction it helped unlock.
1 minute 43 seconds · Created with a motion expert · Original audio preserved.
A vision for Edit, not a demonstration of shipped features. Playback starts only when you choose.
The Edit film could not load. Open or download the MP4 below, or follow the written film summary.
The film, in words
- Begin with what a photo means. The film opens with “Photos are magic” and the idea that a picture can take us back to another time and place.
- Make the possibility visible. A photo gallery leads into desktop editing concepts, including adding petals around a couple. A mobile sequence then explores changing a birthday photo.
- Bring it back to the memory. The story moves from enhancing a photo to sharing it, closing on the thought that editing can change how we remember a moment.
A descriptive companion to the on-screen story, not an audio transcript. The concepts in the film show the proposed direction, not a list of features we later built.
TL;DR / Overview
- Problem
- We needed leadership support to take on photo editing as a new area for the team.
- Role
- I shaped the story that helped make the case for Edit and collaborated with a motion expert on the film.
- Surfaces
- A vision film showing photo-editing concepts across desktop and mobile.
- Reach
- Used with leadership to build support for the team’s direction.
- Result
- Edit became a new team area. Subsequent feature work has increased business value.
- Continue
- The AI Edit chapter follows in More than a pretty picture, from interaction details to model evaluation.
01 / A REASON TO BEGIN
Before a feature,
a reason to care.
Taking on Edit meant opening a new area for our team. The first job was to help leadership see why this was worth our attention, not simply what another editing interface might look like.
The story starts with something familiar: photos already mean something to us. The film connects editing to that meaning, showing how changing a picture could become another way to enjoy a moment and share it with someone else.
That gave us a way to talk about the opportunity beyond a collection of editing tools.
02 / MY CONTRIBUTION
I shaped the story.
We gave it motion.
Storytelling was a crucial part of my contribution. I helped turn the opportunity into a narrative that leadership could understand and get behind.
I worked with a motion expert to create the film. My contribution was shaping the story and the case for Edit; bringing it to life in motion was a collaboration.
The film moves from the feeling behind a photo to tangible editing possibilities, then returns to the memory and the act of sharing. It gave us something concrete to put in front of leadership, so the conversation could be about a direction for the team, not just individual features.
Return to the vision film03 / WHAT IT OPENED UP
A story became
a direction for the team.
We used the film to bring leadership on board. It helped us secure Edit as a whole new area for the team.
That was the first outcome: moving from an opportunity we could describe to an area we could work on. Since then, we have built significant features that have increased business value.
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