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Insight & Strategy


Irista’s target audience is set in alignment with the strategic focus of Canon’s camera business. Irista is for enthusiast photographers with DSLR cameras and Canon customers at the higher end of the consumer market.


Building insight


Audience insight derives from five sources of data:

  • Customer Feedback
  • Analytics
  • Audience Interviews and Personas
  • User Surveys
  • User Testing

Irista has a very dedicated customer support team who work in close proximity to the design team. A dedicated feedback channel on Slack ensures high visibility of feature requests and feedback from customers.

I sometimes respond to support tickets myself. It’s a great opportunity for developing a nuanced understanding of the customer’s needs.

Analytics data confirms the appeal of the service to Canon customers with 45% of new content from Canon cameras in a given month and over 50% of those shot on DSLRs.

Much of our audience insight results from a series of in-depth interviews with over 40 photographers, led by design team member Barbara Chicca. The panel was recruited from Irista’s user base, an agency panel and a photography meet-up group. Participants ranged in age from 20 to over 60.

By profiling participants according to a wide range of traits, the research highlighted six key audience behavioural groups.



Most notably we see a correlation between photography skill and sharing behaviour. The more highly skilled photographers seek recognition and want features for sharing their photos publicly. For lower skilled photographers, photography is personal. They want features for sharing photos privately with friends and family.


Design thinking


The motivation to capture an image takes the photographer on a journey that extends well beyond the initial act of taking a photo.

The camera itself only serves the first of five need states:

Capture ︎ Store ︎ Organise ︎ Improve ︎ Share

Irista sits at the centre of a range of digital services being developed to enhance the experience of owning a Canon camera by addressing this wider range of needs.

It’s value to the business comes from its capacity to generate:

  • Brand loyalty
  • Barriers to switching
  • Customer insight
  • CRM
  • Service related revenue


Designing growth


A successful product not only focuses on features that deliver value both to users and the business. It also leverages network effects and feedback mechanisms to drive engagement and accelerate platform growth.

How does the end of one flow lead to the beginning of another?

What role is played by people who don’t yet have an account?

Our most important users are higher skilled photographers because their photographs do more to bring new users to the platform.

Network opportunity and engagement loops