Stories

The journey behind our image caption

January 1, 1970

You can now choose to say a little something about each memory in your photo book. We have talked to our Product Designer, David Resoluth, to deep dive in the journey behind the scenes on our image caption feature.

When did we start working on image captions?

This is the feature Once Uponers asked for since day one, so we actually started looking into it in 2019. But we quickly realized that our layout engine (what our Once Upon books are built with) couldn’t handle text and images on the same page.

So, what did that mean for the team?

We explored the demands a caption feature would put on our layout engine. We also researched demands other functions and features would have, and then came to the conclusion: We had to redesign and rebuild our whole layout engine from scratch.

From scratch, how long did that take?

It took our developers about a year and a half to remodel. All the other functions and features, in both the app and production, are dependent on our layout engine. So this wasn’t a job we took on lightly. We also knew that we didn’t want to hit the same wall twice. So, we took the time and did our research to make sure our new layout engine was flexible, adaptable and 100% ready for many, many new features and functions in the future.

When did you start working on the image caption feature?

This summer we could finally release our brand-new layout engine. One small step for man, one giant leap for Once Upon. The function of the new layout engine didn’t affect our Once Uponers directly, but indirectly it opened up a whole new world for adding features. And the first one in line was, of course, the image captions.

What was the most difficult part creating this feature?

Since our Once Uponers had been waiting for a long time, we wanted to offer them the best image caption possible. It was difficult to find the balance between keeping our photo book design clean and our app easy to use, while still providing a complex (behind the scenes) feature.

What was the best part developing this?

The best thing, personally, was to work together with our Once Uponers. We‘ve done surveys, personal interviews and tests to truly understand what our customers want. Then, the best part by far, is to now launch a caption feature that gives Once Uponers the best possible value.