What if Instagram cared about protecting digital artists and their art credits?
With minimal credit protection and the rise of AI-generated content, artists are increasingly vulnerable. What if something could be done?
ROLE
UX/UI Designer
PROJECT
Art Credit Protection Feature
DURATION
4 weeks
YEAR
2025
CHALLENGE
Seamlessly integrate a robust credit protection feature on Instagram to make digital artists feel supported and protected when posting their art online
SOLUTION
Meet "Instagram Credits,"
A New Feature to Safeguard Artists' Work
A set of new Instagram features designed to protect artists by properly crediting artists and restricting unauthorized use with anti-AI technology.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
Digital Art Is In Grave Danger
In a digital age, it is a common occurrence for artists to get the artwork they spent days or weeks on to get stolen or inappropriately used. Users on social media platforms, designed for rapid sharing, frequently remove watermarks or fail to give creators the recognition they deserve. Many also illegally use their art for their own profit, selling products and taking credit without the original artist's consent.
This issue not only undermines the value of their labor but also facilitates unauthorized use, impacting their livelihood and discouraging artistic innovation online. Currently, there are little to no accessible solutions for small, independent visual artists to protect themselves against the nonconsensual use of their art.
Moreover, the rise of AI-generated art is causing lots of worry within the art community as their work is now at risk of being stolen for unauthorized use in AI models, oftentimes copying their unique art styles and making profit off of it.
RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
Empathizing with Digital Artists
To start tackling such a major complicated issue, I first need to learn more about digital artists. Some immediate points of concern include:
This brought me to my research methodologies. I figured I could personally inquire more about the experiences and pain points of artists by interviewing them directly. To learn more about existing tools, I would also need to conduct a competitive analysis to see if there is even a need or gap in the market for this solution.
Competitive Analysis
Noting each other the competitor's unique talent propositions, I came to a conclusion about the market:
Existing art-sharing platforms lack efficient and accessible mechanisms for identifying art theft, safeguarding original work, and enforcing artists' copyright protections.
I then conducted user interviews with four artists to understand (1) their process, (2) their pain points, (3) their thoughts and experiences with art credits and theft, and (4) their thoughts on AI-generated art.
After hearing from the artists themselves, I found many frequent patterns in their responses. I noted my key observations of each interview on sticky notes and proceeded to organize them by their general topics. With these categories, I was able take away a number of insights about digital artists.
Moreover, I felt that there was more to note with the tone and behaviors of my interviewees beyond the transcript, so I elected to use an empathy map to better understand what they might be thinking or feeling.
My synthesis led me to define two core types of digital artists who would be the target users of this feature
Overall, I found that art communities online are generally very supportive and respectful. Respecting art credits are a complicated form of etiquette in the art community. However, almost every one of my participants have seen art stolen online frequently. Few are affected, but art theft remains a big issue that frustrates both artist and follower.
As for AI art, all artists do not like AI-generated art and find it offensive to their craft. Most are extremely concerned with what it will do to traditional and digital art. Many also admit that there is a significant lack of protection for artists’ credits in the use of AI generated art.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
User Satisfaction Meets Business Goals
At this stage, I knew I wanted this feature on Instagram because my research showed that Instagram is the most popular art-sharing platform that artists use and also experience the most problems with art theft.
Business Goal
User Goal
Technical Limitations
Project Goal
FEATURE PRIORITIZATION
Protecting Art Credits with a Security Feature on Instagram
To define which features would best meet user needs while aligning with project constraints, I compiled a formative feature set informed by user research insights. Then, I prioritized features into an Impact-Effort Matrix to evaluate which features would deliver the most value with reasonable development effort, helping to guide a focused and strategic MVP.
After ideating and prioritizing the features, I selected four of the features that I would have the highest impact for users as well as be lower effort to develop:
1
Creator Tag
An image uploaded and posted to Instagram with Credits on will be specially coded to link to the Creator’s profile in the image’s metadata. This means that if the image is reposted on any Meta platform, there will be a new Creator Tag that is automatically added to the Tag People Section so Creators will have to be credited whenever their art is used.
2
Anti-AI Image Effects
Creators also have the option to turn on anti-AI effects for their uploaded image. Before posting, Creators can protect and poison their uploaded image so AI models cannot steal the art style and instead confuse it (See new anti-AI technology, Nightshade and Glade).
3
Screenshot Lock
To protect the Creator Tag, any post with Credits on cannot be screenshotted and will instead be locked. Users can instead save the image into their camera roll. This image will have a Creator-designated watermark. Creators can choose to use an Instagram-default watermark (similar to TikTok’s watermark) or upload their own custom watermark and place it on the image.
4
Custom Watermark
Creators have the option to upload a custom watermark or use a default one to add to a post. They can scale it, move it, or change the opacity to their liking. Once done, they have the option to place it anywhere on the post.
USER FLOWS
Seamless Integration Enables Ease of Use
With research insights and project goals in mind, I began mapping out user flows and outlining where the individual features in the feature set would be implemented on the app.
1
Creating a Post for Creators
2
Customizing a Watermark for Creators
3
Customizing a Creator Tag for Creators
4
Reporting Copyright Infringement
5
Screenshot Lock & Downloading Image
THE PRODUCT MVP
A set of new Instagram features designed to protect artists by properly crediting artists and restricting unauthorized use with anti-AI technology.
Usability Test Results
7 participants
4 task flows
Overall, users found the main task flows, such as discovering and reviewing workspaces, intuitive and easy to follow.
However, some confusion arose around placement of anti-AI image effects, which prompted a need for clearer onboarding and contextual explanation
Key Iterations:
Added modals to the post creation flow to clarify the location and function of anti-AI image effects
Included more visual confirmation after the watermark customization flow to reduce user confusion
Added additional screens for external links and feature explanations to reduce user confusion
Included more visual guidance towards the location of Credit Tools
Lessons Learned
01
User-first design
After talking to digital artists, I saw that art theft is a deeply personal violation for artists that can impact their livelihoods and sense of agency. This made me want to design features that weren’t just functional but purposeful. It reinforced that user-first design isn’t about asking “What can we build?” but “What really matters to the people we’re building for?”
02
Empathetic Research
While interviews and transcripts were important, many of my most impactful insights came from how participants spoke with their tone of voice and body language. By creating empathy maps and observing behavior alongside dialogue, I was able to design with a much fuller picture of what artists were experiencing.
03
Decisiveness
There were moments where this problem felt too big. I could have easily ended up stuck in endless iterations. But setting clear priorities grounded in user insights helped me move forward with confidence. Knowing when to pivot, when to simplify, and when to commit was just as important as the ideas themselves.
Beyond the MVP
Phase 2
Post Tracking Analytics
For Phase 2, I would add a feature that would allow users to track where their art is being reposted and shared, possibly with reverse image search tools.
Phase 3
Protection for All Arts & Crafts
For Phase 3, I would add a feature that would also protect other forms of art like traditional art and crafts that are also vulnerable to art theft online.
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