The third Ironhack project at the UI/UX Design BootCamp is about creating a new feature for HBO Max in his mobile version

Overview

The need to add the functionality of playing series or movies simultaneously between two or more people was identified. Currently, the users cannot share what they are playing with other users. This functionality is intended to give the user the possibility of playing any series or movies simultaneously with their friends.

The challenge here is to identify the correct way to show the new functionality to the user, replicating their current user interface and inserting the new function in an organized and natural way, without modifying any aspect of the current design. Let's go to the research, starting with the learning phase where we will see all the context of the problem and the results of the investigation.

The Product

HBO is an on-demand video subscription service owned by Warner Media, which was released in 2020 as a renewal of the old HBO Go platform, bringing content together for the first time from Warner Bros., HBO, DC, Cartoon Network, and more.

The market

Globally, there is a greater than 50–50 chance that you have a subscription to a streaming service, and approximately 56% of the population has at least one, according to the global survey conducted in 18 countries on May 2021 by Finder.com

Only in Spain, 57% of the population uses at least one streaming platform. Being HBO Max the third in popularity above Disney +.

To determine the target was necessary to accomplish a survey, we also use this survey for quantitative research and set up in-person interviews for the qualitative research.

The objective of the survey was to identify how users currently view streaming content simultaneously and what motivates them to share the content with other people.

The interview was answered by 52 users of at least one streaming platform. Of which 63.5% of the users were in the age range of 25–34 years.

The user

After all the information was collected, we decided to address a specific target on which we focus all the research. HBO Max users with ages between 25–34 who frequently watch content in the company of other people.

We realized that the user not only prefers to watch the content accompanied but also that they wait for that person, the main reason according to the survey is that the other person likes the same content (75.9%).

Other reasons for the minority are the coexistence because they prefer the company and be able to comment on the content during or at the end of the reproduction.

With the results obtained and having interviewed 32 users about sharing content on streaming platforms, it was possible to make an empathy map to capture the needs and feelings of the user.

Problem Statement

HBO Max users in the age range 25–34 years old need a way to share the content they want to view simultaneously with other users, as they currently feel limited of having to wait to physically be with that person.

This leads us to ask ourselves: how can we design functionality that allows the user to reproduce content simultaneously with other users without affecting any aspect of the current design?

When we saw the current user flow of HBO Max, we came up with a possible way to introduce the new functionality and we tested it with 6 users from which we obtained insights that allowed us to ideate a proposal that we understand will satisfy the user's needs.

Value proposal

Design a feature (Watch party) that allows the user to share the content they want to view with other users on HBO Max

The initial idea was tested with 4 users, this allowed us to have feedback on how to improve the idea according to what the user expected, for which a user journey was defined, and we were able to identify which aspects of our initial idea did not meet the user's expectations.

In general, the user likes the idea of being able to share the visualization of a series or movie with someone, but they feel a bit confused with the previously established flow (see the graphic above).

For example:

1. Understand that before choosing a movie they must have chosen a partner because the content to share must be something that all of them like.
2. They have doubts about how to invite that other person.
3. They would like to be able to react and interact during the movie to simulate the conversation that would take place in person.

The MVP

Watch Party is a feature that allows the user to share content simultaneously with other HBO Max users.

Initially, it will be accessible from the playback screen so that the user will first choose the content they want to watch, and then they will be able to send invitations to share the content.

The first thing we are going to see is the main flow of the feature. Then we will see the results of testing the prototype two times with users

Main flow

Testing Prototype (1st iteration)

User's feedback

• The users want to be able to form teams previously, because in their mental model, first, they have to choose a partner and then together choose a movie or series

• The users need feedback when sending invitations because the system was not confirming the action

• Live interaction during content playback (messages, reaction with emojis, etc.), because they would like to be able to react and interact during the movie to simulate the conversation that would take place in person.

Testing Prototype (2nd iteration)

User's feedback

• Be able to pause or resume the content regardless of if the user is the host of the Watch Party or an invited user.

• Generate an invitation link, to have other ways to invited to Watch Party.

• Push notifications, so the system will keep the user updated. The notifications were integrated like an answer to an observation about how the user will know that another user invited him to Watch Party.

• Identify recently invited users, in that way they could see who has accepted an invitation previously. This is useful when searching for a user to invite them to a new Watch Party.

Feedbacks like generating an invitation link, live interaction, or being able to form teams previously, are very useful observations but maybe for the next step.

Final prototype

Host flow

Next steps

• Test the MVP and iterate according to the user's feedback

• Validate the possibility to share content through a link generated in the application, could be the way to facilitate the process for users

• Test the idea to add a feature for interaction during content playback (messages, reaction with emojis, etc.), because some users ask about it, could be interesting to validate the functionality of this possible feature