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Brainstorm

Share & Export Dialog

visual designerresearch
Created 2026-03-18
Brief

Share & Export Dialog — Product Brief

Date: 2026-03-18 Owner: Dan (Product Lead) Status: Research complete, wireframe drafted

Problem

The Visual Designer's Share button currently only supports PDF download via a legacy client-side PDF generator. Landscaping professionals need to share designs with clients, team members, and on social media in multiple formats and contexts. The current single-action button fails to serve these needs and misses revenue opportunities (marketplace referral, community engagement).

Opportunity

Competitive research shows that landscape design tools universally lag behind general-purpose creative tools (Canva, Figma) in sharing UX. No landscape competitor offers granular permissions, social publishing, community gallery, or account-free viewing. SimplyScapes can leapfrog the category.

Solution

Replace the Share button's single action with a responsive tabbed dialog containing three modes:

  1. Share — Invite people by email/SMS/system lookup with Viewer/Editor permissions. Generate public or private (tokenized) links. Copy link, generate QR code, set expiration/password. On mobile, integrate Web Share API for native OS sharing.

  2. Export — Download as PDF, PNG, JPG, or SVG. Choose quality (72/150/300 DPI), page/image size, and PDF template (Client Proposal, Construction Plan, Plant Schedule, Simple Print). Toggle overlays: plant labels, measurements, grid, scale bar, property lines, cost summary. Include custom uploaded images (from the user's image library) in the export alongside the design — e.g., site photos, reference images, or custom graphics the designer added to the canvas.

  3. Publish — Share on social media (Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn). Publish to SimplyScapes Gallery with title, description, tags, and business attribution. Entry point to "Find a Pro" marketplace flow.

Key Design Decisions

  • Tabbed dialog (not multi-step wizard) — three modes are independent, not sequential
  • Bottom sheet on mobile — follows Material Design and Apple HIG patterns
  • Viewer role includes commenting — don't over-segment; landscapers want client feedback
  • QR code generation — uniquely valuable for on-site client meetings
  • Web Share API on mobile — triggers native share sheet (iMessage, WhatsApp, AirDrop)
  • Product-agnostic architecture — Takeoff Tool will reuse this dialog with different overlay options and templates

Reusability

This dialog is designed to be product-agnostic. The Takeoff Tool will reuse the same component with:

  • Different overlay options (irrigation zones, measurement labels, material callouts)
  • Different PDF templates (Irrigation Plan, Material Takeoff, Site Plan)
  • Same share, permissions, social, and gallery functionality

Success Metrics

  • Share link usage (copies, sends) vs. current PDF-only downloads
  • Client view rate (% of shared links that get opened)
  • Gallery publish rate
  • Social share volume
  • "Find a Pro" conversion (marketplace entry point)

References

  • Research report: research/report.md
  • Wireframe: ux/wireframes.md