5 Months
Video Editor & Content Creators
Filmora
Filmora is a globally used video-editing software built for beginner and intermediate creators, combining intuitive editing tools with AI-powered features. For the Filmora 14 launch, I led a multi-dimensional research initiative spanning user testing, influencer interviews, and competitive analysis, connecting the technical AI roadmap to real creator workflows and go-to-market strategy.
There was a significant gap between what the product team built and what users expected with twoAI features:
AI Planar Tracking: automatically tracks and locks overlays onto moving surfaces in dynamic footage
AI Color Palette: generates cohesive color schemes from reference images to match a creator's visual aesthetic
01 User Testing: Identify Task-Based Onboarding & AI Feature Walkthroughs
Conducted moderated task-based sessions with 12 participants across beginner and intermediate creator segments. Sessions were structured around three core tasks:
Initial onboarding and project setup
Independent discovery of AI Planar Tracking and AI Color Palette
End-to-end editing workflow completion
Key finding: Several AI features were buried two to three layers deep in the UI. Most participants never reached them without prompting, causing activation drop-off before experiencing core product value.
02 Influencer Interviews: Partnered with 8 influencers across sports and lifestyle verticals.
Exploratory interviews to surface editing habits, workflow pain points, and tool preferences before introducing Filmora features
Contextual walkthroughs observing how each influencer interacted with AI features in their real editing environment
Survey capturing quantitative sentiment on feature usefulness, discoverability, and messaging clarity across both segments
This phase revealed that creators had motivation to use AI, but they lacked confidence about if the feature could meet their expectation.
Synthesis: Matching AI Features to Creator Types
For Sport creators: AI Planar Tracking; their pain point is that subjects drift out of frame in fast-moving footage.
For Lifestyle/Aestheic creators: AI Color Palette; their pain point is that digital overlays clash with physical clash with physical aesthetic.
03 Competitive Review: Benchmarking AI Feature Positioning
Screenshot analysis of onboarding flows and feature naming conventions
Identified that competitors used action-oriented, outcome-based language versus technical naming
Impact: Influencing Product, Marketing & Onboarding
UI & Onboarding: Contextual tooltips and guided first-edit workflows were implemented based on activation drop-off findings
Marketing: Feature messaging was rewritten around creator-specific outcomes, not technical labels
Product Strategy: Bottom-up, user-centered evidence entered the roadmap conversation, creating tighter alignment between design decisions, creator needs, and launch strategy
Takeaway: Unlike top-down market research, this project brought bottom-up evidence into the decision-making process. Combining behavioral observation, qualitative interviews, and competitive benchmarking built a connected story: from creator pain points, to feature design, to launch strategy, ensuring Filmora 14 shipped with confidence, not assumptions.