Free movies without sign-up
Challenge
Users usually search for a movie streaming source that can offer them a wide variety of choices. However, not so many Vietnamese people are willing to pay for the service. Instead, they tend to google movies or shows on the Internet and end up landing on a site that doesn't seem to offer them good quality streaming services.
Goal
This application offers a free online streaming service for specific shows/movies without requiring any accounts signed up. Premium content is also provided for paid service.
01
Discover
In 2019, the monthly average income of a Vietnamese person in urban areas was 7,000,000 Dong. With such a pretty low amount of income, Vietnamese people were sensitive to fees because they believed it was associated with financial burden.
Competitor Analysis
The dashboard on the home page provides data for the collections follow-up. In 99% of cases, they will start an account by working on a queue.
The quadrant diagram shows there are 2 value sets that users might care about most:
The price: whether it is a free streaming service or how much they have to pay...
The variety: whether the app has a huge number of films with different genres...
User Research
During the discovery phase of my project, I conducted user interviews to get a better understanding of the problem. Interviewed users belonged into three cohorts:
Students (aged 16-22)
Office workers (single or married, aged 23-40)
Housewives (aged 40-60)
02
Analyze
In this phase, I synthesized all of the information and data gathered from the Discovery phase to determine themes and insights
Motivation
They find the trailer very interesting or have read the book and think its adaptation might be worth watching
They are curious when seeing their friends compliment a film via a post on Facebook or word of mouth
They want to watch a movie or show that features their idols
Community
Hearing friends or colleagues talking about films and want to discuss with them
They don't have a tendency to share anything about their favorite films on social media
They don't have a need to watch films with others because thay want to focus on the flots
Action
They have a tendency to watch a movie while doing something else (eating, doing household chores, or studying…)
They are willing to create an account if the process is quick and doesn't require too many steps
They always search for plots or reviews before deciding to watch a film
Expectation
They want to have a free streaming service with good quality
Some hesitated to pay since they wouldn't spend much time watching
They're fine with ads unless there are too many or they pop up in the middle of the movie
Personas
Based on the interviews and empathy mapping I set up three personas to refer to them throughout the entire product development process.
Customer Journey
I created the customer journey mapping to understand how customers find and interact with our service via their touchpoints. In this way, I will be able to see how to improve the experience for users.
03
Ideate
POV & HMW Questions
A person who struggles to find a suitable streaming source needs to easily access the app content because he is tired of searching for films on the Internet where most of the servers have errors or they don't have the content they want.
How might we create a smooth experience for users that visit the app for the first time?
How might we diversify the content?
How might we cope with the case when we don't have the movie they want?
Apart from those people who wants a free streaming source, some hesitate to pay for a monthly subscription since they won’t be able to spend much time watching as many as they want.
How might we satisfy the majority of users that ask for free streaming while still guaranteeing the revenue?
How might we encourage users who don't seem to watch films regularly to pay for the service?
A person might watch films in other apps or other streaming sources at their convenience.
How might we motivate users to choose our app over other streaming sources?
User Flow
When synthesizing the three personas, I realized that they all share one main flow. The thing here is they can watch a free movie without logging in and upgrade their account if they would like to experience more.
04
Design
Wireframe
To start this process, I began to sketch some of the main screens based on the user flow. This allows me to explore several concepts for the app layout. I then tested it with 3 participants to see if the solutions address both the user and business needs.
UI Design
Onboarding
How might we create a smooth experience for users that visit the app for the first time?
Allowing users to skip account registration as they might hesitate to sign up when they're not sure if the app has what they need.
Home Screen
How might we diversify the content?
One of the most challenging tasks when working on the Home Screen was that I needed to define the movie display logic so that a movie or a show wouldn't appear in multiple sections. This is meant to diversify our recommendation to users in which they can be offered a wide range of movies/shows without overlapped content.
Searching
How might we cope with the case when we don't have the movie they want?
The search suggests the most popular movie or show at the current time and expands the range of results that are not only from movie titles but also other criteria such as actors, genres, and so on... In case they can't find the movie they want, users can request unavailable films.
Movie Detail Page
How might we motivate users to choose our app over other streaming sources?
Allowing users to write film reviews and giving them reward vouchers
Providing a feature to share their favorite film cuts on social media (TBD)
App Monetization
How might we satisfy the majority of users that ask for free streaming while still guaranteeing the revenue?
How might we encourage users who don't seem to watch films regularly to pay for the service?
Free streaming is for some shows and movies. Users are not required to log in to watch this free content.
Monetization type combines subscriptions for premium content and displaying ads at the beginning of each free content.
Offering film renting for those that don't seem to binge on movies. (TBD)
05
Evaluation
User Feedbacks
I used the prototype to conduct a test with the users that I had interviewed. Participants were able to use the app with ease. They also provided some negative feedback, which helped me uncover opportunities to improve the overall user experience. Some of the points they would like to see for the enhancements include:
I'd like to remove some movies from "Continue Watching" but it seems like I can't.
I don't want to touch the search bar to be able to type keywords. Should be able to double-touch the magnifying glass...
It'd better suggest me some more movies as I have watched a specific movie and let me know that, maybe something like "Since you have watched Squid Game"
Future Concept
Gamification
Adding a function for users to write film reviews and giving them reward vouchers
Feedback on system recommendations
Adding a feature letting users provide feedback to see if they are interested in our film suggestions
Sharing movie cuts
Building a feature allowing users to share their favorite film cuts on social media
Push notifications
Adding Notifications requests
Lesson Learned
I realized that interviewing users brought so much value because I could gain interesting insights. There was a moment when I asked them if they inclined to share anything about the movie they liked on social media and all of the participants replied NO. However, when being asked what had made them decide to watch a movie, 4 of them shared that they tended to be curious if their friends or any cinephiles complimented the film on Facebook.
What I have learned from that experience is that we should distill insights from many perspectives. In the above example, sharing something about your favorite movie on social media can pique others' curiosity and motivation to explore it. Therefore, "sharing" should still be considered. Instead of completely discounting the feature, I asked myself: What if we make sharing movies much more interesting?...