Pic'em

Surveys and interviews with friends, family and colleagues surfaced three takeaways that defined the product. First: we don't clean just for space. Every respondent admitted to wanting a cleaner, more organized gallery even without storage problems. The sheer volume makes the task feel harder, so it gets eternally postponed.

Second: we do it occasionally, not as a routine; in spare moments, travelling or out of signal, deleting between 100 and 300 files per session. And third, the most important: nobody wants an app deciding what gets deleted for them. User control was non-negotiable.

Every app on the market focuses on bulk deletion and reporting storage status. They work as a one-shot remedy for lack of space, not as a solution to the underlying problem. The opportunity was clear: help users build and keep a low-effort cleaning routine, nudged by daily notifications. Less "free up 4GB now", more "a little bit every day".

After two weeks wireframing on paper and Figma, I imitated the swiping mechanic of dating apps, familiar to the target audience (20-35) and able to turn a tedious task into something almost fun. Instead of bulk deletion, 30 items a day: an intermediate number that adds up to 210 a week, close to what interviewees deleted per session.

After several iterations and reviews with UX people, I simplified the actions to four: delete, keep, skip and rewind. Pic'em deletes nothing automatically, the trash only empties when the user decides, because the research made it clear: control is theirs. And a dropdown lets you filter by file category, one of the most requested features in the surveys.

Before designing a single screen, I gave the brand a personality. Inspired by routines like skincare, I decided Pic'em would be more like the friend who reminds you, with love and a bit of sass, that your gallery is a mess, than a cold service obsessed with numbers. That voice lives in every interaction: the name and its tagline (little byte little), the onboarding, the notifications — "Skincare routine < Gallerycare routine!" —, the success messages and the empty states.

In 2026 I revisited the project with a tool that didn't exist when I designed it: Claude. I rebuilt the original Figma prototype as a functional AI-generated prototype, where you can add your own photos for a realistic feel of the app. Two versions of the same product, a few years apart and a complete shift in how prototypes get built.

Some years after finishing this project, someone launched an app with an almost identical mechanic. I take it as the best market validation possible and as a reminder that good ideas are worth registering, too. Better luck next time.