Creating Nostalgic Engagement Through Lens Studio
ROLE
Communications and
Video Specialist Intern
TIMELINE
May-Aug 2024
SKILLS
Creative Strategy
Technical Writing
TOOLS
Adobe Creative Cloud
Microsoft Office
CONTEXT
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a social communication platform created to make interactions faster, more authentic, and more engaging. The platform strives to simplify how people connect and share, helping users make well-informed decisions in real time through visual communication. Since its launch in 2011, Snapchat has grown to hundreds of millions of users worldwide and continues to maintain a highly active global community.
THE INTENTION BEHIND SNAPCHAT
Every day, people face the challenge of staying connected with friends and family in a fast-moving digital world.
Snapchat’s mission, “the fastest way to communicate,” emphasizes creating a platform that is immediate, personal, and engaging. While constant online communication can often feel overwhelming, Snapchat eases this by providing a space where moments can be quickly captured, shared, and reimagined together. The app allows users to connect through stories, snaps, and AR experiences, helping them form more meaningful and authentic connections in their everyday lives.
USER RESEARCH
How might we help users quickly relive, share, and connect over nostalgic moments to create meaningful experiences?
So, while AR has incredible potential to evoke nostalgia, there isn’t a clear way for users to easily relive the joyful, imaginative moments of childhood. This created an opportunity for me to explore a Snap Lens that could spark feelings of nostalgia while fostering connection within the Snapchat community. To approach this design process, I first conducted research to understand how people engage with AR and what kinds of childhood memories resonate most.
Through this research, I discovered several key insights. Participants said:
I “Even small things, like hearing a certain song or seeing an old toy, can instantly take me back to my childhood.”
I "The memories I remember most are the times I was building forts or creating imaginary worlds with my friends."
I "Reminiscing with friends or family makes those memories even more special and meaningful."
Upon compiling and analyzing user research insights, I identified four key themes.
Guided by UX research, we translated our key insights on childhood play, emotional resonance, shared experiences, sensory triggers, and digital reimagination into clear opportunity areas that shaped the direction of our Snap Lens design.
Sensory
Evoking nostalgia through immersive sensory cues
Connection
Fostering shared moments that bring people together
Imagination
Reigniting playful creativity and wonder
Emotion
Creating joyful, memorable experiences
In analyzing user research, I developed a main user persona that best embodied my target audience’s journey.
Sofia Martinez, 22
Needs & Goals
Sofia is a 22-year-old college student majoring in Digital Media. She’s highly active on social platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok, using them to express her creativity and stay connected with friends. She values authenticity and enjoys sharing moments that feel both personal and fun.
Expressing her personality through creative and interactive content
Connecting with friends through shared trends and moments
Frustration when lenses are too complex to use or don’t track well on her device.
Difficulty finding lenses that match her interests
Pain Points
After compiling user interview data and key insights, we gained a deeper understanding of how users connect with nostalgia, play, and self-expression. Our analysis led us to condense the overarching issue into 3 major pain points in need of address:
Pain Points to Address
Opportunity Areas
Complex Lenses
Users become frustrated when lenses are too complicated to use or don’t track properly on their devices.
Design Effortless Interactions
Implify the AR experience with user-friendly, reliable lenses. Streamlining interactions and improving tracking ensures users can enjoy the experience instantly, without technical frustration or confusion.
Limited Content Relevance
Users struggle to find lenses that align with their interests or creative preferences.
Curate Meaningful Discovery
Enhance personalization in lens discovery by curating content based on user preferences, engagement patterns, or trending themes.
IDEATION
Time to Brainstorm!
I brainstormed ideations of possible features while making sure to reference my essential HMW question: How might we help users quickly relive, share, and connect over nostalgic moments to create meaningful experiences? Below is an overview of my main brainstorming results.
I landed on building an AR Lens solution through media, that allows users to interact inside the Minecraft universe.
This feature aligned with my goals of boosting engagement and creativity while addressing themes of discovering, sharing, and reliving meaningful experiences in an interactive format. Minecraft was the ideal choice as a touchstone that sparks nostalgia, creativity, and shared experiences. Its recognizable blocky aesthetic made it perfect for AR, and its open-ended nature supported blending play, media, and personal connection.
To bring these ideas to life, I created low-fidelity sketches that consolidated concepts and mapped the core features of the application.
World Lens: Fight the Enderdragon
World Lens: Skeleton Dancing
Face Lens: Face Swap with Creeper
ITERATION
First Up—simplifying lens ideas to kickstart the modeling process
After gathering initial findings, I synthesized user feedback into key themes to shape the direction of the project and ensure alignment with key goals.
During this process, I focused on identifying patterns around engagement, nostalgia, and media interaction, which led me to design a Creeper-themed Lens. The Creeper was an intentional choice because it is one of the most iconic and nostalgic symbols of Minecraft, instantly recognizable to players and strongly tied to shared memories of exploration, surprise, and play. By centering the Lens on this character, I created an AR experience that enhanced creativity while fostering connection through a universally familiar element of the game.
World Lens: Fight the Enderdragon
World Lens: Skeleton Dancing
Face Lens: Face Swap with Creeper
Always designing with the user in mind, via usability tests
After conducting three usability tests, I discovered that removing the Creeper’s head made users feel like their own heads were disconnected from the body. Based on this feedback, I decided to keep the head attached in the final design. I then had to push the creeper's head forward to connect the user's head with the creeper's head.
Lens without Creeper head detached from user
Lens without Creeper head attached from user
Creeper body is aligned when user is facing forward
Head is apart of creeper body when user turns left or right
Creeper body is aligned when user is facing forward
Floating user head when user turns left or right
Finalizing designs & shipping the lens to Snap Lens for public view
I have handed off my Snap Lens, and has been released to the public since August 2025!
At the end of my internship, I had the opportunity to present my work to Lindsey Heisser, Senior Manager of Global Philanthropy at Snapchat, along with Extern Program Managers. It was an incredibly rewarding experience to share my work and connect with such knowledgeable leaders at Snapchat and Extern.
REFLECTION & IMPACT
Results at a Glance
The Creeper-themed Lens gained strong traction. Within three days, the lens reached over..
Views
432k
Favorites
5k
Shares
272
Creating this lens was my first experience exploring Snap Lens, and it couldn’t have been a better introduction. The user response reflected both the cultural impact of Minecraft nostalgia and the ability of AR to inspire large-scale engagement.
A newfound meaning to communication and memories.
The ideation and creation of "Creeper, Aw Man!" was my personal introduction to the world of AR & product design, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Through this process, I learned the invaluable nature of communicating with Snapchat Engineers to brainstorm diverse possibilities and in turn, iterate until accomplished my best work.
If I had more time...
If time permits, I plan to conduct additional research to expand dynamic background options in the Lens. I also aim to explore features that allow multiple users to interact with the Lens simultaneously, creating shared, memorable experiences.