- ROLE
Sr. Product Designer
Managed 1 Designer
Comedy Central
- COLLABORATED WITH
Product Design
Product Development
Engineering
Brand Creative
Brand Marketing
UX Researcher
- DATE
- 2016-17
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HOWS & GOALS
HOW DO WE LEVERAGE SHORT FORM CONTENT AS A WAY TO INCREASE ENGAGEMENT AND FREQUENCY?
Comedy Central shows were being skewed to a younger audience so we thought we could support this goal from a content perspective.
The hypothesis was that if we provide users engaging short form content it would lead to increased time in app and more return visits.
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HOW MIGHT WE FIND A WAY TO WATCH SHORT FORM CONTENT QUICKLY AND EASILY?
We wanted users to get into viewing a piece of content as soon as they opened the app.
With curated clips to pique interest the idea was that a viewer would watch the clip then swipe up to view the rest, watch a full episode or discover a new show.
PERSONAS & SOLUTIONS
PARTICIPATED IN A WORKSHOP TO IDENTIFY OUR TARGET PERSONA AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
The Comedy Central marketing/brand teams had done ethographic research which narrowed down our target user’s behaviours, habits, emotions.
We settled on a persona who ranged in 18-24 years of age, was an avid viewer of video on their mobile phone, loves to be entertained and looks forward to discovering new content to impress friends.
THE TODAY SCREEN
The home screen featured a snapchat style interaction with swipe-able looping clips programmed daily by the content team. Different variants of the card would either take a user to the longer featured clip, the full episode or the full season of a show.
The swipe interaction pattern was popular with our target users and we could leverage it to showcase our short form content.
THE END CARDS
Once a viewer was done with the daily clips they were shown an end card with a random cheeky message, propmted to start over or have the option to be notified of new content.
Most apps will ask a user up front if they want notifications and sometimes it feels jarring.
We felt this increased the probability of opting in.
VIDEO PLAYER & SHOW SCREEN
The video player and show screens supported our main interaction and were kept simple and clean with a focus on the content.
Viewers could continue exploring content, favorite the show or simply swipe away to continue watching clips on the today screen.
COMEDY CENTRAL BRAND CREATIVE
Comedy Central had just launched a redesign and were very protective of the execution on all platforms, especially in one of their main viewer touch points. Earning trust from the brand team was critical to move the project forward.
We worked hand in hand to make sure they were satisfied with how we represented the brand in the app.
PROTOTYPE
The video player and show screens supported our main interaction and were kept simple and clean with a focus on the content.
Viewers could continue exploring content, favorite the show or simply swipe away to continue watching clips on the today screen.
PERFORMANCE
THE SWIPING SWEET SPOT
Content on the screen revealed that 6-8 videos were too much for a user to get through and only averaged about 2-3 swipes across and swiped up 1.5 times to finish watching the clip, watch full episode or explore a new show.
Also, during user testing viewers needed to be prompted or nudged to swipe left.
We were also considering the length of the clip and the time to punchline.
WE BUILT IT AND THEY ENGAGED
There was an increase in interactivity of 25% with the new app navigation up to 70%. Previously 55% of visits engaged .
Shows is the most accessed navigation item by far. Of the two navigational choices (Swipe, or Nav), Nav is used most often.
THE PROGRAMMING CURSE
Without the support of The Nightly Show and Amy Schumer, in combination with the launch of a separate South Park app, there were fewer episodes on offer daily to be started.
LEARNINGS
THE POWER OF A PROTOTYPE
The prototype was instrumental in selling our vision across stakeholders and different departments across the business.
When I partnered with an iOS engineer to add real videos and improve the swiping behavior it was a game changer on so many levels.
TRUST YOUR GUT BUT VALIDATE AS YOU GO
We missed the opportunity to fully understand the impact and potential change in viewing habits early on.
Push for early usability testing once your happy paths and interactions become clear.
PUSH THE ENVELOPE AND STAND OUT
After all was said and done the app we built wasn’t the same as every other media app on the market. We introduced a new interaction and successfully rallied an entire network around it.
Things that were out of our control changed the company strategy and ultimately didn’t align our original set of goals.