Watch Party Application

Student Project

Project Brief

Netflix is a premium video-streaming service that provides TV, movies, and original content to its users. Because of Covid-19, there has been an increase in viewership by 72%. Although they have had an increase in Netflix usage, the original content has been underperforming. This case study aims to implement social features to engage users and increase viewership for original content.

The Challenge

Netflix’s original content has been underperforming. The problem is getting users to engage with the original content that Netflix has on its platform. Netflix would like to implement fun social features that will help with engagement with their original content and have users interact with each other.

Scope of Project

2 4 30+
Weeks Team Members App Screens

Tools Used

Figma Zoom Google Forms

The Design Process

Discover

User Interview Questions

Zoom Call 15-20 Minutes 3 Participants

1. Can you please tell me your age, occupation, and interest?
2. How has the covid-crisis affected the way you consume content or experience movies and television?
3. How are you currently consuming online video content?
4. I heard you mention mobile, can you tell me more about why you prefer mobile?
5. Can you tell me about the last time you finished a really interesting show or movie and told your friends and family about it?
6. Can you tell me about a time when you were chatting with friends while watching a movie or TV show?
7. According to the survey your preferred streaming platform is “Netflix”. What makes it stand out compared to the others?
8.What do you like about your in-app viewing experience?
9. Tell me about any frustrations you have during your in-app viewing experience?
10. What does a social streaming experience look like to you?

Quantitative Research

We sent out a survey using Google Forms to screen users that regularly use streaming platforms. We wanted to understand who our core demographic was and what streaming platform they used the most. A total of 20+ people responded to our survey.

Analysis of Responses

After we received our responses from our survey we analyzed our data.

Gathering Insights

We gathered insights to better understand users of the Netflix platform and streaming services in general. We found that Netflix was a familiar and easy to use platform to most of our users.

“I think that it would add value to my viewing experience if there was a social feature.”
“It would’ve been nice if there was another way to seamlessly enjoy the experience without any interference.”
"Netflix is well-known, easy to use, familiar to me.”

Competitive Analysis

We did a competitive analysis with competitors that implemented features similar to NETFLIX by using the features list method.

Define

User Persona

We created a user persona that reflected the target users. After analyzing data from our research we were able produce a fictional user and identify their needs and goals. Billie represents the majority of our users which are Gen-Zers' that spends most of their time on social platforms via mobile and stays connected with family and friends virtually.

Ideate

Empathy Statements

We took our insights and formed empathy statements to help us with the process of brainstorming design ideas. Having a good understanding of the user's needs and goals was important to our design decisions.

User Flow (Future State)

In the brainstorming process we thought of how the user will navigate the mobile application. We created a future state user flow to have a visual blueprint of what the flow would look like.

Design

Designing Sketches

As a team we produced several sketches to mimic the flow of the users actions in the mobile application. In doing this, we were able to visually understand what issues could arise in the process.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

After the insights we learned from the sketching phase we created our high-fidelity wireframes. We made sure to implement specific features we heard from users.

Design System

Color& Typography

High-fidelity UI Design

After testing our wireframes with users we made some changes to the design and implemented those changes into our mobile application. This design incorporated Netflix's color, typography, and part of their original mobile app design.

Onboarding

Watch Party

Chatting Feature

Trivia Game

Mobile Application Prototype

We created a prototype to reflect the flow of the application and to test interactions with users. We use this opportunity to understand the problems that could arise while users go through specific tasks.

Test

User Feedback

We used our prototype to conduct a series of usability tests with our target users. There were three participants and tests were closely observed by team members. The feedback we received gave us the opportunity to improve on the user's experience and to continue iterations on the design.

Positive Feedback

  • Was not hard to find the watch party icon.
  • Would use this if it was real!
  • Really easy to use.
  • Thinks the concept is interesting - personally for him, he probably wouldn't be engaging with friends while watching a movie.

Negative Feedback

  • Text size in watch party onboarding is too small.
  • Maybe change the naming convention of "information" - maybe change to "how to".
  • Didn't know what the illustration was - expected there to be instructions for how to play the game

My Reflection

This project gave me the opportunity to understand how to dive deep into how consumers think and what they look for in products. I worked with three great team members that brought unique design ideas and helped to facilitate good user experiences. I learned to really listen and give myself the space to make mistakes. Also, I learned to express my design ideas confidently in front of my peers.

Next Steps

Our next steps are to continue implementing features that could help Netflix original content and improve viewership. Also, we will improve and iterate on existing social features to make it more accessible.