Product design

Be My Eyes: ask a person when a photo leaves questions unanswered

Be My Eyes provides everyday visual assistance for people who are blind or have low vision. Users can take a photo for a description, ask follow-up questions, or contact a volunteer to clarify what is in front of them through live video.

Form your own approach first, then explore the reasoning to check trade-offs and validation you may have missed. There is no single right answer.

01
DESIGN QUESTION

Make the next form of help clear

Suppose you are responsible for a photo-assistance page. A user has photographed two tops, but the description still does not say which one has stripes. The page already supports “Add another photo and ask again” and “Contact a person for video assistance,” yet it currently shows only a vague Continue button. For this exercise, human assistance is available only from 06:00 to 23:00, while photo questions are available all day.

  1. Task: Change only the follow-up action area below the answer. Draw its states at 14:00 and 23:30. Explain what users need to provide for each approach and whether human help is available now. Do not add automatic transfers or appointment booking.
  2. Deliverable and check: Submit two local sketches with their wording. Ask a reader to choose a next action for two situations: “The photo is unclear” and “I need someone to check while I move the clothes.” Check whether the reader still expects an immediate human connection at 23:30.
Explore the reasoning
  1. Distinguish adding still-image information from having a live conversation. Name each action in terms of what the user will do.

  2. Show current availability and its reason in the same place. The nighttime state should be understandable without relying on color alone.

  3. Use the two situations to check whether the choice matches the intent. When hours are restricted, observe whether the user can explain what is possible now and what must wait.