My role
Tools
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Pen & paper
Photoshop
Illustrator
XD
Goal
Take on a project from research to ideation
Duration
August 2020 - 2 weeks
Overview.
Bell Media launched Crave TV in 2014. It was a direct competitor to Shomi, a joint venture between Rogers and Shaw Communications. Shomi shut down in 2016, leaving Crave TV as the sole Canadian streaming service. Crave TV has exclusive rights to premium cable content like HBO, Showtime, and STARZ. Crave TV went through a rebrand in 2018.
The streaming wars have only gotten hotter these past few years. Netflix is often seen as the trailblazer, and Disney+ and HBO Max both launched within the past 12 months. There's also Amazon Prime, Apple, Hulu, and less notable competitors.
In an interview, Bell Media President Randy Lennox seemed to echo Netflix's strategy - get the rights to as much content as possible to boost subscribers and then make homegrown content (by partnering with U.S. companies).
The project.
I've been using Crave TV for some time now across different devices - web, mobile, and cable box. I noticed design flaws that made for a lackluster viewing experience. I wondered what other problems users encountered, and how I might solve those issues by improving Crave's user experience.
User research.
I knew my own experience, but was I representative of Crave's typical user or target demographic? If I was going to draft any solutions, I needed to know for whom I was designing.
I drafted a survey to gain perspective on users' behaviours - How long had they been using Crave? What made users sign up? What devices did they use to watch?
Secondary
research.
While I waited for participants to fill out the survey, I researched the Canadian media landscape to help inform the personas I was hoping to create.
2.7 million
Crave TV subscribers
Canadians spend 23% of their watching on sites like Netflix, Crave, and Disney+.
6.5 million
Netflix Canada subscribers
Women are more likely to stream (28%) than men (17%).
Streaming accounts for 35% of TV watching for the 18 - 34 age demographic.
Streaming accounts for 24% of TV watching for 35 - 55-year-olds, and 11% for those aged 55+.
User flows.
I've always been a big movie buff. Before Crave, I was using Shomi before it shut down. I wanted to audit my personal experience picking something to watch. I noticed some minor details that could be improved upon.
I'm greeted with a carousel that rotates through eight pieces of new content. The toolbar at the bottom lets me filter through TV, movies, My Cravings, and whatever is playing on Crave's OTT stations.
As I scroll down, I find more new content, with a repeat of Bombshell. I notice that Crave adds the number of films & TV shows within each category.
I finally arrive at my Continue Watching list, which caps at 10 items, but not before I see another recommendation for new content, a list of 25 with Bombshell, again, at the front.
There was so much content, I opted to search for my show.
I knew what I was looking for, and it was the first option to choose.
I'm brought the show's page, which gives me information about the show, including the premise and episode list.
When watching, I can fast forward, rewind, turn on subtitles, choose more episodes. These features are typical of streaming services nowadays.
I pressed the Info button where I saw more details of the show, including its plot and even its original air date.
Key takeaways.
1. Crave wants you to watch new content.
My Continue Watching list is buried within a sea of content. Additionally, Crave is recommending the same content again and again. Bombshell went for the hat trick.
2. The recommendations are redundant.
The Recommended for You list isn't shown here because I have to scroll past my Continue Watching list. Still, Crave is recommending new content regardless of whether it's relevant to my tastes. Oftentimes, it misses the mark.
3. There is information overload.
It felt like a chore to sift through 25+ items to find something new to watch. I feel like knowing the number of items in each category was a deterrent against discovering new content. We're all aware of the paradox of choice, or Hick's Law. Besides, my Continue Watching list caps at 10 items, (Miller's Law) It seemed counterproductive to show me 100+ shows and movies.
The survey responses would (in)validate these insights.
Survey Findings.
I kept the surveys open for just over a day. By the time I shut it down, I had 23 responses! Frankly, that was much more than I anticipated. For relevance's sake, I've included snapshots below, but you can view the full survey responses here.
This data told me that a majority of participants had subscribed to Crave a short time ago. It also became clear that Crave's value proposition is its exclusive rights to premium content like HBO, Showtime, and Starz. The cost was another incentive. Crave is owned and operated by Bell Media, and unlike Netflix, Bell could offer Crave alongside a larger cable package.
A majority of survey respondents were males (74%) aged 35 - 55 (61%). Respondents watched 1 - 2 hours of Crave content per day (91%), split almost evenly between watching alone (48%) and watching with their spouse and family (52%).
The pain points.
The most common pain points I found were:
1. Content - Some respondents felt like there wasn't enough content from which to choose. Others felt Crave kept suggesting new content over their Watch List. Similarly, some were fed up with seeing content for which they didn't subscribe. The search function wasn't very robust, either.
2. Technical shortfalls - Respondents were upset with long buffer times, the lack of surround sound support, and the lack of 5.1 video encoding.
3. Device support - Users can add up to five devices to stream Crave. However, most respondents found that it wasn't enough. Indeed, the survey results showed participants using their mobile, desktop, cable box, and smart TV apps, among more devices.
One consistency was that participants expected Crave to function like Netflix. This is Jakob's Law in effect, which states that "Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know."
This was a challenge. What could I do that Netflix hadn't done already? I relied on the survey data to direct my efforts.
The persona.
The survey participants did not closely reflect my secondary research. Instead, we got Rob. He often watches Crave with his family as a wind-down from a busy working day. Sometimes, he wants to find something new to watch but usually defaults to continuing shows he's been watching recently.
Problem Framing.
Before I started sketching wireframes, I had to analyze the data in front of me, which included examining my assumptions and crafting deeper insights.
Assumption: Users are using Crave to find new content.
Reality: A 2018 study by UserTesting found only 29% of participants watched something the service recommended.
Insight 1: People use streaming services to cover the vast gamut of content. Therefore, these services are content repositories.
Insight 2: The search function is crucial to organizing content.
Many of my survey respondents said that content was the main reason for their subscription while also bemoaning the lack of content. I reasoned that participants were talking about a lack of content personalized to their tastes. Still, secondary research shows that users don't typically rely on the service's recommendations, anyway. I realized that there was a delicate balance between finding new content and continuing to watch other content. Rob wanted a bit of both, with his Watch List as a priority.
How might we questions.
Within the three overarching pain points, there were more minute problems within. So, I drafted How Might We questions to optimize my prototyping efforts.
Problem 1: Content - Prioritizing new content over Watch List.
Problem 2: Technical shortfalls - Sound & video quality is subpar.
Problem 3: Device support - Device limit is too little.
Prototyping.
When I began sketching wireframes, I had to be cognizant to keep both the user goals and business goals in mind. I also used Behavioural Economics (BE) principles to guide my brainstorming. BE was a framework we used while I worked at Metrolinx. Its premise - that humans are not always rational actors in decision-making - appealed to my curiosity for understanding why people do what they do. BE has a strong application to UX Design.
Wireframes.
Problem 1: Content - Prioritizing new content over Watch List.
What if we redesigned the visual hierarchy to help users jump back into their content?
What if we minimized the top carousel for new content and showed the Watch List on the same screen?
What if we capitalized on the concept of loss aversion and promoted content that was leaving Crave?
What if we sorted our content repository into two options that Rob could choose?
Problem 2: Technical shortfalls - Sound & video quality is subpar.
What if we added a signal bar to show connection strength?
What if we put the onus on Crave to fix a problem?
What if we added a game while the video buffers a la Google Chrome's dino game?
Problem 3: Device support - Five device limit is too little.
What if we added notifications to highlight any changes?
Next steps.
Going forward, I'd like to make these wireframes into hi-fi prototypes so I could do usability testing. As always, I would need to draft a strong research plan. I would want run tests with users who fit Rob's characteristics.
I'd also like to build more user flows for different tasks, like adding more devices to a user's account.
My secondary research involved understanding Crave's strategy and business goals, which led me to researching Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and other competitors. I believe Crave needs to better situate themselves within the media landscape. Netflix is seen as the disruptor while Disney+ has a massive content library. If Netflix is the future of content, and Disney capitalizes on its nostalgia, then what's left for Crave? That's where Business Design could be valuable. Having a Value Proposition Canvas or Business Model Canvas for Crave could help their long-term strategic efforts.
Lessons learned.
My personal goal for this project was to carry out a project from research to ideation. But these projects are living documents, and I intend to revisit them. I often trap myself into thinking I need to solve every problem. Of course, thinking like that enlarges the scope of the project and it can become complex and unmanageable. I remind myself to do one thing very well instead of multiple things subpar. It's the eternal struggle of the generalist.
The media landscape is changing rapidly. While we've been experiencing convergence culture, the growing pains associated with such convergence is, in TV's case, fragmented design systems. (Smart) TV manufacturers often have proprietary OS software. Throw in a smart cable box or a Chromecast, and people can watch Crave through three different ways, and it's unlikely they'll be interacting with the same, or even similar, interface. My family's Smart TV from 10 years ago doesn't have the same UI as a more recent TV.
That's why I think Crave (and the media & entertainment industry in general) could benefit from a service design approach.
