By now, you’ve probably worked from some unlikely locations. Maybe you’ve been navigating your job from home in your kitchen. Perhaps you’ve been managing workdays from a coffee shop or busy open space. For some, you’re back at the office, surrounded by bustling colleagues trying to make the most of your time. But what happens when those kitchens, coffee shops, and even offices provide limited privacy when you need to hit the record button? For those situations, BombBomb has added a virtual backgrounds feature so you can record videos from anywhere — without having to be mindful about what’s happening behind you.
You see, video is a powerful tool that allows you to communicate in a more human-centered way. It helps your recipients feel connected to you because you’re face to face. But your organic video background may not always fit the narrative of the message you’re trying to convey.
Sometimes your environment can be distracting. It can showcase certain aspects of your life, like your home or family, that you prefer to keep private. There may also be situations when you want to add even more of your personality or branding to your message. Using a virtual background can help you minimize noise, maintain privacy, and enhance the personalization of your videos. And this will help you foster more meaningful relationships because your recipients can focus on the value of your message.
The BombBomb Video Experience (VX) team is responsible for developing and implementing video messaging features like virtual backgrounds. Take a look at the benefits of using a virtual background, how to use BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds, how we created BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds, and more below.
Investing in Customer Privacy and Professionalism
Consistent customer feedback was the catalyst behind investing in BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds. The reason? Customers wanted the option to add more privacy to their video messages. In addition, BombBomb Team Admins expressed the desire for a feature that would allow them to create consistent, professional messaging across teams.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, the requests for virtual backgrounds increased significantly. When offices, schools, and more closed, many of our customers began navigating the new normal of working remotely. Keeping private and personal lives separate from work became a long withstanding challenge. The addition of virtual backgrounds can help alleviate some of the day-to-day challenges our customers continue to face.
Aren’t Virtual Backgrounds Inauthentic?
It may seem like a virtual background presents a less authentic version of you because it’s not the environment you’re recording from. It’s true that authenticity is absolutely one of the best ways to build deeper relationships. But your recipients don’t necessarily need to see your organic background to feel connected to you on an authentic, human level.
Because you’re using video, your recipients can discern authenticity through your emotion, empathy, and even vulnerability. They can feel connected to you by observing your body language, facial expression, and tone of voice. Adding a virtual background can help enhance your authenticity by matching your messaging across different situations and cultures. What’s behind you when you press record can ultimately be part of who you are, what you say, and the meaningful relationships you’re working to build. (To learn more about creating authentic videos that people want to watch, check out this article.)
The Benefits of Using a Virtual Background
Whenever we add a new feature, our primary focus is how it’ll benefit our customers. BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds can enhance your video messaging experience by…
Providing Privacy
It can be challenging to strike a balance between your personal and professional life. This feature can help you set (and hold) the boundary between the parts of your life you want to keep private and your work.
Removing Distractions
Use BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds to minimize distractions like excessive movement behind you. Minimizing noise will help your recipients to focus on your message.
Offering Brand Recognition
Upload a background that showcases your brand logo, message, or product to match your messaging.
Establishing Consistent Messaging
BombBomb Team Admins can upload background images to be used across teams. This means team members can record from anywhere they work while delivering consistent messaging and brand recognition.
How Do BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds Work?
Now that you understand the value of virtual backgrounds and why we decided to invest in this feature, let’s talk tech and how to access BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds.
Virtual Backgrounds for Individual Users
To access this feature as an individual user, log in to your BombBomb account using the BombBomb Google Chrome Extension or the BombBomb web application.
If you’re using the Chrome Extension, click the BombBomb icon in the upper right corner of your screen. From here, select “Record Yourself” followed by “Launch Recorder.” After that, click the “Virtual Backgrounds” icon in the lower right corner of your recording screen. Then, you have the option to upload and select a virtual background.
If you prefer to use the web application, once you log in, your Dashboard will open immediately. After that, click the red record button at the top of your screen. Then, once your recorder is open, click the “Virtual Backgrounds” icon in the lower right corner of your screen. Finally, from here you can upload and choose your background.
Virtual Backgrounds for Teams
Virtual backgrounds for BombBomb Team users will be uploaded and selected by Team Admins. If you’re a BombBomb Team Admin, you can use the BombBomb Google Chrome Extension or the BombBomb web application to log in to your BombBomb account. From here, your Dashboard will automatically open.
Click on the “Team” tab at the top of your BombBomb account. Then, select “Content” from the left panel on your screen. After that, click “Virtual Backgrounds.” Finally, upload and select the background you wish for your team members to use.
Note: All background images must be a portable graphics format file (.png) or image file (.img).
Behind the Scenes of Creating Virtual Backgrounds
The process of developing BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds entailed more than the addition of the background option itself. Much like the process for developing BombBomb Video Captions, the VX team considered several variables to build a product that performs well and meets the expectations of BombBomb customers.
To create virtual backgrounds the VX team…
Conducted Customer Interviews
Extensive interviews with our customers provided insight into overall interest. They also helped us understand our customer’s expectations for user experience (UX) design and webflow development. Throughout these interviews, we began to understand that our customers wanted options for more privacy and consistent, professional brand messaging.
BombBomb always relies on customer feedback to create apps, extensions, and features. Check out a few more of them here.
Completed a Competitive Analysis
Analyzing our competitors and their virtual background features helped us see what works well versus what doesn’t. Doing this also gave us more insight into the demand for virtual backgrounds outside of our existing customers.
Evaluated Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
Whether we should write an API or leverage an existing program came down to both time and cost. Ultimately using an existing API was more cost and time-effective.
In addition to the interviews, analysis, and evaluation, the creation of this BombBomb feature focused heavily on UX design. The UX design of a product considers functionality, ease of use, attractiveness, and so much more. Some of the questions we considered were:
• Should BombBomb Team users have the ability to upload backgrounds?
• Where should this feature reside in BombBomb?
• Which BombBomb accounts should have access to virtual backgrounds?
• How do the BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds look?
• Should we provide users with backgrounds or offer the option to upload their own?
Discover BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds
The needs of our customers will always be the top priority when adding new features to our software.
The BombBomb VX team relied on customer interview results, competitive analysis, and focused on UX design elements to create virtual backgrounds. And ultimately these aspects of the design process contributed to the overall success of BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds.
In addition, the choice to use an established API substantially sped up the entire building process. And because of this decision, we could integrate virtual backgrounds into our current system. This helped us respond to our customers’ demands more quickly.
As a result of these efforts, the VX team created a feature that provides privacy, professionalism, brand recognition, and even some creativity for our customers with BombBomb Virtual Backgrounds.
Still not using BombBomb for video messaging? Try it free for two weeks here!
