When Low-Tech Meets the Need (And When AI May Help)

Unlocking AI Goodness

I’ve had the privilege of working with our talented product team through numerous AI-driven enhancements in Microsoft Edge that have resonated well with our customers. I’m eager to delve into those stories soon now that they are public, but today I want to highlight a different kind of innovation journey, a journey that focused on the customer need and putting aside tech.

The Problem: Small Images Are Fun Free

Imagine squinting at a tiny image on a website, struggling to discern the details. Whether it’s identifying a person, deciphering a graph, or simply craving a closer look at small details, it's a frustrating experience. The usual fixes like opening the image in a new tab, downloading extensions, zooming in on screenshots, or even physically leaning closer to the screen, are far from ideal solutions. They disrupt the user experience and left us asking: Can a browser solve this elegantly?

Innovation Doesn't Always Mean AI

We gained confidence in the direction we wanted to take through customer and design research. The next step was to actually enlarge the images. Naturally, we considered using AI. However, we knew from prior experience that AI might alter the image’s appearance and introduce complexities that would delay our ability to test our hypothesis and help customers out quicky.

That's when we realized there was a clever solution to this problem. Many websites already have larger resolution images available. Why not just show those when a customer needs it?

Magnify: Low-Tech With High Impact

Introducing Magnify, our low-tech Edge addition that makes a big difference. Magnify empowers users to enlarge images effortlessly by double-pressing Ctrl or using a right-click option. It retrieves the higher-resolution version of an image and even incorporates zoom functionality for a closer look. By not initially relying on AI, we were able to swiftly validate our hypothesis and solve (most of) the customer problem.

The Future: Where AI Fits In

Magnify excels when a high-resolution image is available. But what happens when it’s not? Sometimes, images may appear blurry upon magnification, which isn't great. This is where AI can help. Use of AI needs to be grounded in solving a real problem, otherwise it can feel like a gimmick. In this scenario, AI can provide magical-like value in the form of enlarging an image when a larger version does not exist. We need to explore this for our customers.

Sometimes the most effective solutions are the simplest ones. We remain committed to unlocking the full potential of AI, while never losing sight of the fundamental problems we set out to solve.

What Do You Think?

I invite you to try Magnify on Microsoft Edge version 123 and above. Magnify can be used by tapping Ctrl twice on your keyboard while hovering over an image or right clicking on the image and selecting Magnify (note that LinkedIn profile photos are often not high resolution ??).

What do you think? Have you found a simple solution to a persistent customer problem? Or perhaps you've identified a challenge where AI could make a difference? Feel free to share your stories.

The views in this post are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Microsoft.