The Problem
SmugMug users (professional photographers, families, event shooters) needed a way to share galleries privately with specific people. The existing options were blunt instruments: a gallery could be public, password-protected, or hidden behind an unlisted link. None of these prevented a recipient from simply forwarding the link or password to someone else. For photographers sharing client proofs or families sharing personal moments, that lack of control was a real concern.
The Solution
We introduced a new access level: “Only People I Choose.” Gallery owners could enter specific email addresses, and only those people, after verifying their identity through a SmugMug account, could view the content. Each recipient received a unique, non-shareable link tied to their account. If forwarded, it simply wouldn’t work for anyone else.
For recipients without an existing SmugMug account, the invitation flow guided them through creating a free guest account, keeping the barrier to entry low while maintaining the security model. A dedicated “Shared with Me” page gave recipients a single place to find and manage all galleries that had been privately shared with them.
Challenges
The core technical challenge was building granular access controls that integrated cleanly with SmugMug’s existing authentication and gallery permission systems without creating a confusing matrix of overlapping settings. The access model needed to scale (a professional photographer might share hundreds of galleries with thousands of unique recipients) while keeping the interface simple enough that non-technical users could set it up in seconds.
The invitation and account creation flow also required careful design. Every extra step risked recipients abandoning the process, but skipping verification would undermine the entire security model.
Impact
The feature shipped to SmugMug’s full user base and was well received. Users reported increased confidence in sharing personal and professional photography, knowing that access was genuinely restricted to their intended audience. The feature reinforced SmugMug’s positioning as the privacy-focused alternative in a market where most platforms default to public sharing.
Professional work, SmugMug Inc. · Oct 2014 – May 2015