Docking Station Photos

Location & Date:

Redmond, WA - 2020

Employer:

Plugable Technologies

Plugable sells a wide range of USB Peripherals through e-commerce platforms, mainly Amazon. The goal is to educate our consumers about our products on Amazon in the image spaces available. Most products can be complex and need more technical detail displayed than others, they need to be shown in a full desk setup to see how the products work. We also need to be mindful that we have consumers who use both desktop and mobile. Is this sentence needed?

So, how do you take complex devices and educate our consumers through images that are legible? Let's begin with an existing product, the USB 3.0 Plugable Dual 4K Docking Station.

The Problem.

I'm challenged to elevate and create images for the USB 3.0 Dual 4K Monitor Docking Station Amazon listing. While I had created these images I had to think about other platforms these images can be displayed on. Also, I had to create an image framework to be used for future products to improve the process for image creation.

Getting Started.

Getting started, it was important for me to understand how this product worked. This dock connects to a USB 3.0 laptop, two monitors, and accessories. I also received more technical information in a feature and benefit form. Then I did some of my own research with inspiration and finding out what other competitors had done. After gathering all the information I needed, I began sketching out my ideas.

First Feedback Loop.

I shared my sketches for any feedback then I took everything into our studio and staged the set to take photos. I adjusted the set as needed to ensure each image represented a technical feature. For example, the feature was "USB 3.0 & USB-C Compatible." This image needed to show a closeup of the dock connected to a laptop to indicate its compatibility with a USB 3.0 & USB-C host system.

Roadblock.

One roadblock I encountered was having to show a feature that wasn't a benefit. The dock doesn't charge your laptop when in use and the user will need to use their own charger provided from their laptop manufacturer. Not mentioning this can negatively impact our reviews. With the research done, I was inspired by a product connected to a power outlet. I reiterated the scene showing the laptop connected to the dock and connected to a power outlet.

Make it Versatile.

After getting the images, I shuffled through them in Lightroom. I pre-selected the images to share with the rest of the team for more feedback. I made small touches using Lightroom but made final edits in Photoshop. I wanted to make sure these images were versatile. These images were to be exported at hi-resolution with no text and could be used for other platforms. When it came to adding text or creating graphics I would use the final images into Illustrator.

To enhance the rest of the listing I created graphics for smaller spaces in the listing. Our images were too busy to support any accompanying body text and help the user visually understand.

The Results.

To see all the images in one place I created a mockup of the product listing in Adobe XD. All images and the mock up was shared and presented to all managers and the CEO. This was the first step to creating a full suite of images that fit the images for Amazon and other platforms.

As a result of creating these images, I built a framework for image planning. The framework consisted of ensuring all of the features and technical information was depicted through the images spaces. These images were viewable on both desktop and mobile. This framework not only enhanced the listing and increased sales but has helped the process of creating images for new products launching 4+ products so far.