Video collections on iOS
Client: NBCUniversal (all brands)
Platform: iOS
Responsibilities: User journey, prototype
Purpose: To keep viewers engaged with NBCU’s video offerings, and have them discover new shows between brand apps.
Results: Increased engagement between brand apps; increased video watch time by 15%.
User testing sessions at NBCU demonstrated that many viewers had difficulty finding new shows and didn’t realize the full breath of the company’s streaming portfolio. I lead an initiative to cross promote brands on iOS by creating video collections. The outcome would satisfy viewers’ desire to binge content while keeping them engaged in the NBCU portfolio.
To sell the concept, I created a prototype of interactions in the SYFY app. Please take a minute to watch!
Design breakdown:
On the home screen of the SYFY app, there’s a section called “Featured Collections.” The stacked design of this module distinguishes it from other video content on the screen. Here, previously undiscovered content would surface based on the user’s watching habits. Other brands could place their video collections in this space for users to watch without having to abandon one app for another.
When the user taps on a collection, the video player is launched. They see a peek of the next video below, indicating that there is more content in the queue. The first video will autoplay to the next, and so on. The user can also manually swipe up/down from one video to another. This creates a seamless viewing experience, similar to an Instagram feed, that allows the user to keep watching with minimal effort.
If they are short on time, the user can save a collection to their Watchlist for later viewing.
Once the user has completed the last video in a collection, they are presented with an endcard that autoplays to the next collection from another brand. If they have played through all collections, they are presented with a list of recently added SYFY episodes to watch. This is an integral part of the philosophy of “no dead ends,” where there is always more content presented to the user so that they stay engaged with NBCU apps.
