A video streaming platform owned by Tencent
Duration /
May - August 2022
Type /
Internship
NDA
Skills /
Product thinking
UX research
UI design
Visual design
Usability Testing
The Rundown /
Background
Tencent Video is an online video media platform with 1.37 billion DAU (daily active users). The product is primarily designed to meet the needs of users who wish to watch videos online by providing rich content, the greatest watching experience, convenient login, a multi-platform experience, and quick sharing.
About the internship
Our team was in charge of the video platform's wireframe and structure. With the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, our main goal was to include a new part in the video platform to promote live events and highlights from the Olympics, as well as to increase user interaction through the happenings of the Olympics. I started by researching different users using a genuine database, then analyzing and picking eye-catching themes, building a core framework with the team, then brainstorming 39 ideas with four other designers. Finally, we created wireframes for concepts and developed proposals for the cross-functional team.
Reflections/
Impact
We delivered the structure to the product team and received positive feedback. The prototype was then evaluated by existing users, and it performed impressively at the end, with a 37% CTR (clickthrough rate) for user involvement. Furthermore, the deliverable is generic and can be used to develop any future content-oriented solution.
Key Takeways
1/ Be open to criticism
We had the opportunity to speak with our users in person as part of this project. They provided us with highly insightful comments. A user once said, "I don't like the design, it's nonsensical and confusing," in my presence. That surprised me at first, but I asked her what parts of the design she found irrational and which components she disliked, and it helped us a lot iterate on the final design.
2/ Each decision in design is made for a reason
I discovered that every choice, even for a very small and detailed design, had a justification. I learned to evaluate the users' performance of over 20 websites while designing the filter, trying to find out why it worked and why it didn't. My mentor also helped me understand a lot of the reasoning involved in this process, and she helped me in deciding which features were unnecessary and which pain issues should be my main emphasis as I moved forward. She explained the reasoning behind every choices.
3/ Effective communication and documentation are essential
Starting with some broad concepts and developing functional improvements after communicating and testing them with existing internal user feedback allows me to better grasp the demands of users. All iterative procedures are intended to produce a better result through learning from mistakes. This insight also gives me a better understanding of the production process priorities, with an emphasis on discovering better and fresh experiences and then supporting my explorations of better features in later iteration rounds.
