Samsung PENUP
Digital Drawing & Art Community App
Role
Product Designer
Type
Company Project - Launched Service
Duration
6 months ( 2025.07- 2026.01 )
Team
Product Designer, Product Manager, 5+ Engineers
Context
A Place to Create and Share
PENUP is a drawing app for Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets, where users can create, color, trace, and share artwork. With 2.6 million users worldwide, it sees an average of 450,000 artworks shared each month. I led the Home experience to improve creative discovery and participation.
Pain Point
Users Increased, but Creative Engagement Declined
PENUP reached its highest MAU in 2025, yet artwork uploads and likes remained below 2022 levels. User growth did not translate into higher creative engagement.
Pain Point Analysis
Play Store reviews and funnel data revealed that the issue was not a lack of features, but unclear priorities on the Home screen.
[ VOC ]
“Too many features.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“How do I start Coloring or Live Drawing?”
[ User Behavior Analysis ]
Low engagement with Like and creation events
High drop-off after scrolling on Home
Higher drop-off as Home entry points increased after 2024
Problem
More Choices, Less Direction
As more drawing and community entry points were added to the Home screen, users kept scrolling without knowing what to do next and dropped off before starting to create.
Hypothesis
I set the design direction around a simple hypothesis: prioritizing key creative entry points and drawing features, while clearly separating drawing from community, would make it easier to start creating.
[ Design Direction ]
Prioritize Creative Entry Points
Prioritize Key Drawing Features - Coloring, Live Drawing, Drawing
Separate Drawing from Community
Option A/B
Continue or Create Something New?
Option A — Resume
Creating Encourage users to continue from their most recent draft.
Option B — Featured Creation
Feature popular Coloring and Live Drawing content to encourage new creation.
Final Design
Prioritizing Core Creative Content
I chose Option B over Option A, which focused on completing existing work. Since Coloring accounted for 40% of creative activity, I differentiated it from other artwork and placed it alongside Live Drawing at the top of Home. This created a clearer, more intuitive path to start creating.
Before/ After
A Clearer Content Hierarchy
I reorganized scattered creation and community entry points based on usage priorities, creating a clearer content hierarchy.
Outcome
Driving Creative Engagement
27%
Creation Entry via Hero Banner
27% of home users entered creative content through the Hero Banner.
+20%
New Artwork Usage
Usage of new Coloring and Live Drawing content increased by 20% compared to before.
7-8%
Monthly Upload Growth
Monthly upload growth dipped to 2–3% in the first month as users adjusted to the new layout, then climbed steadily to 7–8% by month three.
Appendix
Drawing & Editing Tools / Multi-device UI
I designed the end-to-end drawing experience, from core tools like brushes and colors to detailed editing, while optimizing the UI for tablets and foldables.
