INTRODUCTION

Solo student project for DesignLab UX/UI Bootcamp

My Role

Timeline

80 Hours

Amazon Prime Video, also known as Prime Video for short, is a subscription based video streaming platform and rental service. The service distributes film and television primarily from Amazon Studios or licensed to Amazon. In addition, the service also hosts contents from other providers, add-on content, and video purchase and rental services.

Background

Due to its affordability and convenience, online video streaming services have been more popular than ever. As of 2023, 85% of US households have at least one video streaming subscription. Sharing engaging content is a way to connect friends and family, and although users can share media through other platforms, there is no native feature for this. The addition of social interaction could potentially enhance the experience of the platform for users who thrive in communal environments.

Assumption

RESEARCH

User Interviews

To understand and define the challenges users are facing when sharing movies and shows on online streaming services, I conducted user interviews to assess what may be of help. I conducted interviews with 5 participants who fit the target demographic. Interviews were conducted over Google Meet and in-person.

After conducting interviews, I found some notable information to be considered. This includes:

  • Participants emphasized that they find it tedious to navigate various platforms when sharing shows/movies.

  • Commonly used method of sharing media includes sharing clips from the movie/show. However, certain clips t may not exist on other platforms or are difficult to find.

  • Watchlist feature isn’t popular amongst participants. Although some express that they would use it more if the feature was a collaborative experience.

Surveys

To evaluate insights from a wider audience pool, I conducted a research survey to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data. The survey included the assumption and purpose of the study and was shared amongst family and friends on social media.

Common occurences I found were:

  • The process of presenting tv shows and movies to peers takes too long and involves too many steps.

  • Users found it difficult to convice their peers to watch a certain show or movie through descriptions alone

  • Watch parties is an interest among many participants

Competitive Analysis

To become familiar with the current market and have a better understanding of what the current market has to offer, I analyzed four popular technologies surrounding this goal. I compiled the competitor’s background, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Intresting features and points I found include:

  • Collaborative features with friends and family such as playlist making and threads encourages a communal environment .

  • Interactions such as saving and liking posts not only invites interaction, but helps with organization of content.

  • Privacy settings is universal with social media, but privating individual posts as opposed to a whole profile is worth consideration.

DEFINE

Affinity Mapping

To make better sense of the data I gathered, I used affinity mapping to capture observations that stood out to me. By grouping notes that have similar content, I can synthesize my data through these patterns. This content will be used to make HMW questions and persona.

Common patterns that I found interesting are:

  • Many participants feel that they can not optimally depict the essence of a show through words alone.

  • As reels are getting more popular, participants enjoy watching these videos that keeps their attention for short bursts of time.

  • Many partipants expressed the desire to be able to see other users comments on specific scenes or episodes.

Working off my affinity map, I created how might we (HMW) questions to infer and hypothesize user’s needs. These insights derived from my research and will serve as the foundation for my personas.

HMW Questions

Personas

In order to design a product that meets user’s needs, I created a persona based on my research findings to represent target users. I went with a persona who who isn’t able to be home often due to work and relies on social media to interact with friends and family. This persona values convenience, time, and privacy when using social media. The persona was referenced throughout the design process to ensure that the product remains user focused.

IDEATE

Task Flows

Upon addressing user needs, I devised a set of task flows to help define the necessary wireframes needed for prototyping. These flows provide a linear path for the project’s design to follow.

Wireframes

I designed wireframes from low, mid, to high fidelity. The low fidelity wireframes were done on pen and paper to have room to explore iterations at a lower cost point. From there, the mid fidelity wireframes were designed to have more clear structure and the high fidelity wireframes encompassed the full design. Since this is adding a feature to an already existing brand, I used Amazon’s color palette and typography. Throughout the process, flows and personas were referenced consistently to ensure that the design remains user focused.I find that low-fidelity is generally the most difficult as you can go through so many potential options. High fidelity wireframes are the most enjoyable as I have a stronger idea of where the product is headed so I can focus more on the larger details.

TEST

Usability Testing

After creating a prototype in Figma, I conducted usability testing on a set of task flows with various participants to gather the following information:

  • Understand user’s ease of navigation on the app

  • Detect potential pain points that users may face while using the app

  • Evaluate time and effort spent completing core tasks

Based on the test results, I can conclude that while this feature has natural organization and flow, there are iterations that need to be made to ensure users can complete all tasks with ease.

  • Redesign the buttons to be more clear with labels and relatable icons

  • Adding a visual preview when clipping scenes so users can see what they’re clipping

  • Add titles to pop up cards to help users navigate the flow

FINAL DESIGN

Iterations were completed after testing to improve both minor and major faults in the usability of the product. Upon iterating my design, the I found the following aspects to be enhanced:

  • Improved ease of navigation through concise labeling of elements.

  • Reduced confusion of element function through intuitive visual representation.

  • Improved the overall experience of clipping scenes with visual aids.

CONCLUSION

As this is the first project where I focused on adding a feature to an existing product, I gained new insights on the work required for this type of design. The experience of this project taught me a few lessons:

  • Working with components

    Although I dabbled in components before, I wasn’t confident when using it. During this project I worked with my mentor and studied how to properly use components and layouts in Figma. Although I’m still not confident, I now have a deeper understanding of how component relationships work and will be improving these skills in future projects.

  • Overlays in prototyping

    The prototype produced heavily relied on overlays for a realistic experience. This method of creating overlays reduced the overall time I would have spent producing each respective screen.

  • As I would like to polish my designs further, I have considered some next steps that I want to take:

  • Prototyping TV frame

    Because many users are on their TV when using streaming platforms, I designed screens for how the product would look on TV but due to technical limitations, I was not able to present the product. I’m hoping to explore options for this in the future.

  • Watch parties

    In my research, many users expressed their interest in being able to watch movies and shows with their friends. Adding a feature where users can watch in a group setting with other subscribers would be emphasize the goal of social connection.