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UX for Visual Effects Workflows

Challenge

Design a seamless UX for viewing film dailies—footage shot during a production day—used by directors, producers, and crew across devices. The initial tool was web-only and evolving rapidly. When Technicolor acquired JOUST, they expanded the platform across web, mobile, and TV apps, while maintaining continuity and clarity for demanding, fast-paced productions.

Role

Hands-on UX lead: I led UX from end to end—user flow mapping, persona development, UI design, and dev handoff—for JOUST’s web, iOS, and tvOS apps. We worked directly with filmmakers and studio teams to deeply understand daily production needs. I guided the translation of UX across form factors, handled feedback loops with stakeholders, and created detailed handoff specs for the dev team and iterated with them.

Outcomes

  • Enabled directors and editors to review and approve dailies 24/7 across platforms—from browser to iPhone to Apple TV.
  • Supported major studio productions including The Revenant, Ted 2, Tomorrowland, Fantastic Four, After Earth, Cosmos, Night at the Museum, and more.
  • Delivered a consistent, intuitive experience for on-set and remote teams under tight production timelines.
  • Earned praise from studio teams for clarity, reliability, and speed of use.

Press

These final screens highlight the desktop interface of JOUST, designed to support fast, intuitive review of dailies with rich metadata, playback tools, and streamlined workflows for production teams.

Admin console with user management table
Dailies grid showing video thumbnails, metadata, tags, and approval options.
Bulk editing panel for applying notes, tags, and approvals to multiple assets.
Account settings screen with notification preferences and profile info.
Gallery view with large video thumbnails for fast visual scanning.
Fullscreen playback view with UI overlays for detailed frame review and tagging.
Playlist builder showing selected clips organized by day and project.
Clip review interface with playback controls, metadata overlay, and timeline scrubber.

“The service Amber provides goes so far beyond design. She took the time to truly understand our product, goals, and team. This understanding showed through every step of the process. The final designs delivered to us built a stunning picture of the product in its entirety, created a user experience that is changing our industry, and perfectly embodied the spirit of our team and culture.” 
— Danny Tiesling, Software Development Manager, Technicolor

To ensure the interface met the needs of every role in production, we developed key user personas and a comparison matrix that mapped tasks, tools, and permissions across the JOUST ecosystem.

Portrait of Madison with quote: “I need software that gets out of my way so I can do my job.” Her frustrations include complicated tools and unclear task flows. Matrix shows limited permissions focused on viewing and commenting.
Portrait of Stan with quote: “I need to spend my time editing, not looking for feedback.” His frustrations center on inefficient approval tools. His matrix shows strong need for search, comment, and view tools.
Portrait of Frank with quote: “I don’t care what we use, just get me the dailies for review.” He’s focused on simplicity and clear access to high-level views. Permissions emphasize view and approval roles.
Portrait of Olivia with quote: “I need to quickly view and comment on works in progress from the contractors.” Her matrix highlights permissions for commenting, approval, and team oversight.
Grid comparing permissions and tasks across ten roles: Studio Executive, Project Producer, Coordinator, VFX Editor, VFX Supervisor, Super Admin, Admin, Contractor, and Viewer. Tasks include creating users, managing dailies, editing playlists, and reviewing clips.

After JOUST was acquired by Technicolor, we extended the UX into iOS and tvOS platforms—translating complex workflows into elegant, platform-native experiences for directors and editors on the go, and in the screening room.

tvOS playback screen
Full-screen playback of a film shot with an overlaid label showing clip name, description, and shoot date. Designed for Apple TV remote control.
Remote controls help screen
First shows the daily clips grid on iPad. Second shows toggles for offline viewing of dailies and playlists. Third shows the offline media download manager.

As always, I worked closely with developers to refine the handoff and make sure the final product matched the design intent.

Side-by-side comparison of a development version and a design version of a video playback screen. The annotated notes call out mismatches in spacing, progress bar height, font weight, sub-control opacity, and playback UI styling—highlighting areas for refinement during implementation.

Due to confidentiality agreements, only selected portions of my work are shown here. 
I’d be happy to walk you through more details in person or over a call.