Tiffany Edouard, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Virtual & More, a Providence-based Internet & digital solutions provider and the developers of FotoRetina, is a young innovator who secretly wants to own an eclectic/unique tea cafe... something that has never been done before.

Recently, my business partner - Abdul Muizz - and I were surfing the internet when we came across a banner flashing, “ATTENTION PHOTOGRAPHERS!” The link led us to site hawking a professional photo management system - it had average aesthetics and weak technology. After sizing up some of the other online showcase options for photographers, we realized that we had the creative and technical chops to create something much better.

Requirements were gathered. We had discussions with numerous photographers about how they worked and what kind of website they wanted. We also tried to find out why some photographers were not willing to establish an online presence.

Overall, this collaborative process with these creative professionals was extremely fruitful. We set benchmarks and started the product design process.

During the design process, we shared our creations with the photographers. They gave great feedback which deepened our understanding of them and their audiences.

Initially, we did a very minimalist design, but found that we were missing a few key features due to our emphasis on compactness.

Here are some of the "challenges" that we faced:

• Initially we were only loading thumbnails for every image. The app was a little sluggish, and we realized that there was a need for sequential loading of images (both full size and thumbnail versions) to support a faster browsing experience.
• We also had to create a module to display images fully, no compromise on height, as well as perfect the image panning feature. Feedback from photographers enabled us to implement these changes successfully.

And, what is the product?

FotoRetina is an “editable interactive website” for photographers to showcase their work online. Features include adding and sorting images, supporting multiple clients, creating galleries, adding & editing content pages, and styling the homepage with different options. In addition, website visitors can play slideshows, control playback speed, and download images.