Timed Capture TechSmith Snagit
Providing users with multi-tasking freedom during video creation.
TechSmith is a leader in screen image and video capture. Snagit is a capture tool with both screenshot and video recording capabilities.
Timeline:
Tools:
May 2025 to November 2025
Figma, Dovetail, PowerBI
Problem
Users needed a way to have their Snagit recording end after a set amount of time in order for them to record webinars or meetings while stepping away from their screen.
Role
As the primary UX designer and researcher, I conducted initial research into the problem such as a competitive analysis and organizing customer feedback, developed designs and workflow options, and organized user testing to validate my design decisions.
Part One - Background Research
Understanding the User
Users needed a way to have their Snagit recording end after a set amount of time in order for them to record webinars or meetings while stepping away from their screen.
Competitive Analysis
Next, I completed a competitive analysis to determine what other screen recorders were capable as far as a scheduled/timed video feature. My goal with this step was to determine the nonnegotiable capabilities of what this feature would include.
Key findings from this stage included:
Manual text input was necessary.
Users should be able to edit the timer during the recording.
Part Two - Initial Designs
Understanding the Problem
After determining the user needs and understanding how other products incorporated a scheduled/timed video feature, I began to ideate solutions using the double diamond method.
Utilizing the double diamond method (which is a brainstorming activity that diverges and converges between a problem, a solution, and a result) helped me determine what problems this feature was going to help the user solve, potential solutions and use cases, and, finally, the feature idea I landed on.
First Sketches
One of the first challenges I had to overcome was determining the location of the feature. Access to this feature could have been accessed from several points of the capture workflow, and multiple points within one capture. To work through ideas, I made thumbnail sketches on whiteboard and paper.
Product Incorporation
After completing those first sketches, I worked in Figma to begin designing how the feature and its workflows would fit into the existing software. I determined three key states the feature would need to be accessed in, the capture window, the HUD, and during recording, and shared these designs with my team to get their feedback.
Product Incorporation
After completing those first sketches, I worked in Figma to begin designing how the feature and its workflows would fit into the existing software. I determined three key states the feature would need to be accessed in, the capture window, the HUD, and during recording, and shared these designs with my team to get their feedback.
Prototyping
Next, I began prototyping the design to get a feel for my imagined workflow. During this step of the process, I went back and forth often between building out the prototype and adjusting design choices.
(image coming soon)
Here, I experimented with more complex prototyping in Figma and expanded my knowledge and skill with Figma exponentially. I tested out using variables and conditions, which helped create a more interactive prototype to be used during testing.
Part Three - User Testing
Test Preparation
Once I finalized my prototype, I moved on to designing a usability test. I hadn’t designed a large scale usability test before, so I reached out to the UX researchers on our team for their guidance and feedback.
The first step to creating the test was to determine my main research goals I wanted to accomplish with this test. My main goals for the test were as follows:
Are users able to locate the feature?
Do users understand what the Timer is and how it can be used?
Can users edit the timer in the ready to record state?
Can users edit the timer while the recording is going?
These research goals helped me determine my tasks for the test. I created seven tasks for users to accomplish and included points to ask for their prior expectations and their opinions on how each task went after the fact.
The usability test was conducted internally, and my recruitment criteria was anyone not affiliated with Snagit or with a product UX team. My goal with these requirements was to replicate a public user audience without creating a high-stakes environment or adding extra costs.
The usability test was conducted internally, and my recruitment criteria was anyone not affiliated with Snagit or with a product UX team. My goal with these requirements was to replicate a public user audience without creating a high-stakes environment or adding extra costs.
Testing and Analysis
After recruiting participants, I organized usability sessions to be conducted over zoom so that I could easily record tests and make adjustments to the prototype if needed. I organized the tests so that testing could be completed over the course of a week. Each test ran between 40 and 60 minutes
This experience taught me how to ask questions during usability testing without leading the participant toward the answer. I improved my ability to both actively listen to participant feedback while keeping mental notes of questions and moments within the test I wanted to circle back to. This has prepared me to become an even more effective UX researcher during future studies.
Once usability tests were completed, I uploaded the videos of the tests to DoveTail. I used the tagging feature on DoveTail to code the transcripts of the tests. I organized the coding based on positive and negative feedback, feedback that I knew occurred frequently across all tests regarding specific points in the prototype, and which task the piece of feedback fell under.
From my analysis, I was able to conclude that I needed to update the formatting of time input and create more consistency with feature location throughout the workflow. These insights guided my approach to designing a second phase of the feature.
(image coming soon)
Part Four - Finalization
Approach
The final part of this project was finalizing design decisions in order to get a minimum viable product (MVP) to developers. My research informed many of the design decisions I made, but I also made several updates while working on the acceptance criteria for the feature (AC). This was my first time working on AC for a feature, and I appreciated the detailed assessment of the feature that it prompted. I was able to add design points and workflows that I had missed initially.
Part Five - Reflection
Designing the Timed Capture feature for Snagit was a fantastic experience. I learned a lot about my personal workflow when designing and researching, as well as many skills that I have continued to use in other projects.
One skill I am particularly proud of is my improvement in Figma prototyping. I learned how to utilize components and variables to create highly interactive prototypes that felt close to a natural software environment.
Another skill I improved upon from this project is my ability to run user research tests. The research I did for this project gave me more experience conducting successful usability tests, but also helped me get better at conducting interviews for other research projects.