Introduction

Our team embarked on an exciting journey when we were chosen to work on a streaming redesign project sponsored by the industry through UXGO. The project brought us the opportunity to collaborate closely with YouTube's project managers and design stakeholders, aiming to revolutionize the way users manage their subscriptions and interact with their favorite creators.

Stakeholders

Leon Zhang
Schawnery Lin
Michelle Kim
Jason Lee

The team

Ahmad Assabbagh
Fuyao Liu
Eric Yu
Jingyuan Xu

Time line

Oct- Dec 2022

My role

Define redesign goal Research
Wireframe
Usability testing
Visual design animation

My contribution to the team

Played a pivotal role in compiling and integrating both quantitative and qualitative research, a step crucial for the exploration and development of innovative designs.
My efforts were instrumental in creating wireframes, diagrams, and prototypes, which served as foundational tools for discussions and testing.
Worked jointly with experts from various disciplines to guarantee effective solutions.

Design solution overview

Our initial focus was refining the subscription top bars, a key element of the YouTube experience. We introduced a feature allowing users to pin their favorite creators to the top bar, making it easier for them to access content from creators they love. Additionally, we devised a new flow that allowed users to customize their subscriber lists, offering a more efficient way to organize their subscriptions. To further enhance the experience, we improved the tag selection feature, enabling users to filter subscription flows based on categories.

Showcasing the design

Problem overview

Together with the project managers, we pinpointed the main areas of concern for YouTube. It became evident that the subscription feature needed a complete overhaul due to a decline in user engagement with subscribed channels. We used this issue as the foundation for our research.

Problem Statement

"How might we bring more engagement to Youtube subscription?"

Deep dive into the problem

Survey

To gain a deeper understanding of user experiences with YouTube's subscription features, we utilized Google Forms to gather data. We received 28 responses, which revealed that our targeted users are typically subscribed to at least 20 channels and fall within the age range of 18 to 50.

sample of the surveys questions that we send

91%

Users subscribed to more than 20 channels spend more than 5 hours on Youtube.

60%

Users who have multiple interest(more than four categories).

64.2%

Users watch subscription content more frequently.

68%

Users will use subscription notification of their favorite content .

We found out of the data from the surveys :

Interview

Complementing our survey efforts, we conducted in-depth interviews with six YouTube users to investigate their challenges in managing their YouTube subscriptions. Users shared their experiences and feelings about the current YouTube subscription system during these interviews.

We specifically focused on understanding how subscribers manage their subscriptions, watch content, and receive notifications. These interviews also highlighted their pain points and difficulties, giving us valuable insights into areas needing improvement. This qualitative approach allowed us to gather detailed feedback that complements the broader data collected through our surveys :

key insight 1

The chaotic design of the subscription section decreases user engagement.

key insight 2

A user's interested categories affect how important it is for them to manage their subscription content.

key insight 3

Users could not search for their favorite channel through the subscriptions bar; instead, they would type the channel's name in the search bar.

"I'm actually not using the subscription section as much because the amount of content and the channels I'm subscribed to will result in a pretty chaotic subscription section .Where it results in I don't exactly know what I'm looking at" - participant1

"I could not search for their favorite channel through the subscription bar ; instead, I would type the channel's name in the search bar" -participant2

Persona

Following our research and insights collection, we created a persona from the research to analyze users' experience with various subscription features, highlight their goals and needs, and provide a reference point for our design decisions.

Journey map

We also developed a journey map for this persona, showing moments of frustration in their user experience. This process was pivotal in addressing pain points and making informed recommendations.

HMW statement

After collecting the insights from our research and delivering them to the project managers, we reframed the problem statement to guide us in enhancing YouTube subscriptions through design.

Redefine the problem Statement

"How might we empower active users who are subscribed to many channels to access their desired content more conveniently by organizing their subscriptions?"

Design Process

Ideation

Our team and stakeholders held a brainstorming session. We used a 2x2 Matrix to visualize and prioritize ideas based on their potential impact and practicality, considering scalability, automation, and manual processes for the YouTube subscription. We also did another session based on the reframed problem statement to generate ideas rapidly. These sessions helped us develop ideas to make it easier for users with multiple channels to access their desired content by organizing their subscriptions more conveniently.

Rapid idea from HMW

2 by 2 metric brainstorming

Three design ideas, prioritized by accessibility and efficiency, were selected to guide our design choices.

User flow

Following our ideation from brainstorming, we defined three flows: managing favorite channels, custom filters, and adding videos to the group.

Wireframes & design system

Following the design exploration phase, where we created wireframes to evaluate these ideas. Using the design system, we then developed our prototypes.

wireframes & design system

User testing

Prototype testing was carried out with six users to pinpoint areas requiring redesign and to ascertain whether the newly introduced features were in harmony with the existing ones.

All the team members are conducting user testing sessions with the participants.

Improvement on the designs

Final Design

We showcased the users' happy paths, demonstrating how those features work in an ideal situation and how they will help users manage their subscriptions and access their desired content.

Adding channel to an existing group

Give users the ability to better organize their subscribed channels so they can find their desired content smoothly and more conveniently.

Favorite

Adding the channels will make them appear on the top bar of the main subscription page where users can access their favorite channels more conveniently.

Subscription management from video page

Add the channel to Favorites or customized group from the video page which gives users the ability to add their subscribed channels to groups outside of the main subscription page.

Customize filters on the subscription page

Add or Remove filters from a list of recommended ones or custom groups created by the user, allowing users to view videos of specific categories from their subscribed channels.

Delete or rename group

Rename or delete a group user created which gives users more ways to customize the groups they created.

How to measure success?

Reflection & Nextsteps

I have collaborated with various UX designers, enhancing my design thinking and communication skills. I have become goal-directed and process-driven, adept at solving ambiguous challenges, which has significantly shaped my approach to design.

Next steps for the project?

Ensuring the effectiveness of changes through further testing is key to meeting user needs on YouTube. This includes integrating redesigns with existing tools and exploring new features desired by users. Additionally, enhancing user experience across various YouTube sections remains a priority.