PROJECT GOAL
Bell Media is home to news and entertainment streaming services such as Crave, TSN, CTV, CP24 and more. The content on their platforms are video-centric which require a functional video player. 
We received negative app store reviews regarding the player functionality as it was simply not up to par with our competitors such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. The goal was to improve the user controls and visual design of the video player to increase user satisfaction and reduce negative app store reviews.
🔥 How might we improve the user controls and visual design of the video player to increase user satisfaction and content consumption?
MY ROLE 
• 
Researched core user problems through app store feedback, surveys and usability testing.
• Created high-fidelity wireframes and worked with developers to build a POC for usability testing.
Implemented feedback from testing and work with visual designers to hand-off designs for Dev/QA.
DISCOVERY
During my initial discovery sessions with stakeholders, I learned that there were 3 different types of player views that we needed to design for; on-demand videos, live streams and advertisements. Here are some examples of what the player used to look like. 
Video On Demand Player
Video On Demand Player
Live Player
Live Player
RESEARCH
To understand why our player was not up to par with competitors,  I looked at existing research and uncover user pain points through more traditional research methods. 
App Store and User Survey Insights
We took a look at what our users were saying about the current player through our iOS and Android app reviews. The main concern from users was that basic functionality is missing and bugs within the player would not allow them to watch their episodes in full duration. Some even mentioned that the UI was less than average.
User Survey Insights
The goal of the survey was to uncover video watching habits and features they wanted and didn't want. While the app store feedback provided user pain points, the user survey helped me understand those frustrations in depth. 

1) 70% of users expressed their most used features were missing. Some of the most common features (i.e. List of Episodes, Rewind 10 seconds, Skip to next episode and Closed Captioning) were said to be the most used features that were missing, especially when compared to our competitors. 
2) Users that watch TV Shows, movies and documentaries are consuming mostly long-form content, making up 95% of users. We needed to prioritize video player features that were consumed by long-form content users. Educational tutorials, lifestyle, and recipe videos are consumed by short-form content users (60%) and live content users watched news, sports making up 40% of users. 
Usability testing 
Users often say one thing and do another. I conducted a small usability test with the existing player to uncover issues related to functionality. We also asked them to look at some competitors such as YouTube and Netflix which helped us gain better insights.
IDEATION
I started sketching various player ideas that I thought we could pusue.
TESTING THE FIRST ITERATION OF PROPOSED SOLUTION
I started by creating high-fidelity wireframes of possible solutions based on all the research and feedback. The image below displays one of the first working iterations of the player. I worked with a developer to get a POC created. Not all functionalities were working, but we wanted to test this with users validate some of the design decisions. In-person usability tests with 10 users were conducted to validate our concept.
I went back to the drawing board and iterated the designs based on the feedback from testing. I collaborated with visual designers to polish the final designs and we provided our Design-QA results to the developers. 
• User satisfaction: Less negative App Store reviews and follow-up feedback through a survey.
• Increase video-starts: Add features such as Up Next, Skip Intro, Episode List to maintain longer view periods. Up Next has proven to increase video-starts and will be helpful for Ad revenue as well.
THE OUTCOME
We removed unnecessary features we had added to our proof-of-concept and simplified the overall player. Once the experience and features were finalized, I worked with visual designers to create a Design System, which included a new set of icons, typography, and overall brand design and gave the player a new look.
TAKEAWAYS
Watch what users do, not what they say
In this case, considering how users held their phones in their hand when watching videos helped guide a lot of the design decisions.
Scalable layouts go a long way
We made sure to include developers throughout our decision making process. This helped us identify our technical limitations right away but also ensure that our current layout works in the long run when more features are added.
Less is more
Users will always want additional features, but less is more when it comes to reality. With the launch of the new player, we received some great feedback in the app store. 

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