Lifephoto.com is a web application which allows the user to upload collections of photos and have them professionally printed in a variety of different finishes, onto a variety of different paper stock. For those wanting a more earth-friendly alternative in photo printing, Lifephoto offers recycled paper stock and eco-friendly inks. The paper products you can create with Lifephoto run the gamut from simple photo prints, posters, and greeting cards all the way to entire photo-books and daily planners. Another cool piece is the “accordion card” which is an 8-panel fold-out card, which could be great for getting your whole family in on a holiday card.
Navigation of the Lifephoto site to choose sizes and finishes was a bit difficult; however I was impressed by the quick and straightforward upload process. While researching competitors of this product, I noticed that many photo-printing sites are a bit clunky in their process, so it may just be the nature of the beast (Note: This would be a great market for UX designers to solicit). After uploading a few pictures, I ordered a 16×20 glossy print and an 8×10 metallic print. The 16×20 print was $15.95 for a print (more expensive than their competitors) and the 8×10 was $2.49 for a print (less expensive than their competitors). Photos can be arranged into groups and selected and unselected for processing making choosing and buying photos painless, but sharing uploaded photos via social networks seemed to be absent. Standard shipping for the two prints I ordered was $15.90, which seemed a bit high compared to their competitors.
Overall, I can see Lifephoto being a useful tool for ordering photo prints, and the eco-friendly feature is a very positive feature. The product offering is good and the prices for prints are average, but social sharing and lower shipping rates would do wonders toward pulling customers from their much larger competitors.
