Client: A+E Networks
Role: UX Designer and Researcher
Area of focus: Native mobile app design on iOS, Android, Roku & Apple TV
Design Team Members: Frank Marchese & Mikaela Tavernese
Accomplishments:
Establishing an internal & external user recruitment process
Redesigning complex end-to-end flows
Building in user tests into an agile workflow across multiple product teams
BACKGROUND
A+E Networks® is a collection of culture brands that includes A&E®, HISTORY®, Lifetime®, Lifetime Movies™, FYI ™, VICELAND®, and BIOGRAPHY®. Found in eight out of ten American homes, A+E Networks cumulatively reaches 335 million people worldwide and 500+ million digital users.
I joined the digital product team responsible for the TV Everywhere product at A+E Networks in the fall of 2015 as the in-house UX Designer and Researcher for emerging platforms. Designing for emerging platforms meant designing for OTT platforms (Apple TV and Roku) along with designing for iOS and Android devices. I joined the design team during the redesign of the app. Essentially, it is one app across four distinct brands.
A+E Brands we were working with
THE CHALLENGE
By the time I joined, most of the visual redesign work was already done and done very well. The team was waiting to build. (Read more about my experience here)
Being in-house, despite the visual design being far ahead the progress for building, testing the builds, and shipping remained slow (of course). As the first dedicated UX Designer + Researcher on the team, the challenge was to align the team on the value of UX every step of the way until we launched, so that we could increase video views and meet the business goals in an informed and meaningful manner.
Below a breakdown of the challenge at hand. We had to both consider the needs of the product as well as consider how to best establish a research process for internal testing and testing externally with real-world users.
THE OUTCOME
Based on user research and testing - the team identified four key interactions for the redesign.
Surface the content that the user is most likely to watch upon app launch
Create easier navigation of all shows on the home page through a visual and alphabetized show grid
Display with clarity what is available for the user to watch on the app for their desired series on the series page
Simplify video interactions so that the user experiences a smoother watch experience
THE PROCESS
Based on our analytics, we knew user watch patterns and data about how much time people were spending on content, but we did not have a way to understand individual user behaviors. Because of this, it was particularly important to implement a process to understand the ‘why’ behind user behaviors and user pain points.
Redesigning of the app also meant an opportunity for mapping out current end-to-end user flows, particularly for authentication into cable services and for single-sign on (SSO).
Step 1: Identify who we are designing for
We prioritized the Fast Follow Viewer because this represented the majority of people who came to the app - the person who downloaded the app to watch the latest episode of their show as soon as it became available for streaming.
Step 2: Conduct low fidelity user testing sessions
My team designed a series of low-fidelity tests to quickly validate or challenge our assumptions about people’s behavior when interacting with the app. We did everything from guerilla testing and interviews during lunch breaks, going to other departments within the office to test paper prototypes and scheduling longer test sessions with people to test out both static and high fidelity interactive prototypes.
Step 3: Visualize existing user flows and align on where we can reduce friction
I worked on end-to-end flows to identify dead ends, to figure out the functionality of the app from the back end and how it influenced the user experience so that we could provide a smoother experience, especially when it came to watching behind-the-wall video content.
Step 4: Figure out how to recruit external super-users for high fidelity user testing
I worked with my team to establish a framework for recruiting ‘super-users’ of the app across brands. This required working with the product owner and the developers on the team to create a logic for surfacing prompts for participation, creating surveys, doing in-depth analysis of the data that came back and funneling down to users who would later participate in our study. I served as the bridge between the team and users and was responsible for fostering a positive relationship and engagement with the users who were scattered all over the U.S.
Step 5: Create lo-fi visuals for optimal content placement
I created wireframes for different ways we can surface content to users based on usability tests we conducted in the office - this was particularly critical for smart tv user behavior.
THE LEARNINGS
Team dynamics and chemistry makes the world of a difference when working through a long and messy journey like an in-house redesign process. I learned the most from my Art Director who supported the value of testing early and taking user pain points into consideration every step of the way. The lesson here was that if you’ll be an advocate for the user, you need other advocates on the team who supports this as well.
Working on simultaneous product teams means the progress of the product will be at different stages - this can be both frustrating and exciting.
Real-life relationship building with users of a product is worth the effort of finding them instead of utilizing quick paid-testers for usability tests. Users are often willing to share a LOT about why they love or hate the product that they use regularly. Their thoughts and experiences helps all members of a product team. One of the best highlights for me on this project was getting the developers on the team to sit in on some of the remote user tests with real users - it was excellent for team cohesion.