Reelhouse.com Website Redesign
Designing a modern royalty-free video experience
Project Summary
Reelhouse.com was an early online marketplace for royalty-free video footage, catering to filmmakers, advertisers, and digital content creators seeking high quality clips for commercial use. My goal was to design a modern, user-friendly interface that made discovering and licensing video assets simple, inspiring, and efficient.
I was responsible for leading the end-to-end design process – from research and ideation to prototyping and usability testing – ensuring a cohesive and accessible experience on the web.
Responsibilities
Project Team
The Challenge
In 2007, most stock media sites were cluttered and transactional, lacking emotional connection or intuitive browsing. Reelhouse sought a fresh experience that balanced creative inspiration with commerce – a platform that felt both cinematic and accessible.
The Process
1
Discovery
User interviews uncovered frustration with clunky search tools, inconsistent metadata, and slow preview playback. These insights guided early prototype centered on efficiency and clarity.
2
Ideation
Introduced a modular content grid and immersive preview design, enabling users to scan visually while retaining context for pricing and licensing.
3
Prototyping
Working with the front-end developer and database engineer, we developed clickable prototypes tested across multiple users and devices. Early metrics showed improvements in discoverability and navigation satisfaction.
4
Validation
Final usability rounds confirmed that the simplified search hierarchy and improved preview controls reduced task times and increased user confidence in purchase decisions.
5
Build
Once the prototypes have been validated, the results, including hi fidelity wireframes, UI guidelines, acceptance criteria, etc. are handed off to the build team of UI developers, Sharepoint experts, C++ developers, etc. The final website is then deployed to required environments.
Results
The redesigned interface positioned Reelhouse.com as a modern, creator-focused marketplace, blending visual storytelling with functional clarity. The project improved user engagement and licensing conversion rates while setting a new standard for cinematic UX in the stock media industry.
