Chrono
Project & Brief : Chrono
Chrono was a project made for my User Experience course at Centennial College.
Brief: Create an application that solves a problem that plagues consumers.
Chrono took on the ever-expanding space of long-form entertainment. Specifically livestreams and videos. Some common issues consumers seem to find among their current choices are:
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a lack of up to date controls,
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A lack of reactions/expressions (self-expression),
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difficulty finding content that relates to what they enjoy
Creators on these platforms commonly feel stagnant and face difficulty growing due to the algorithms in place.
The Process:
Empathize - Research
Using the currently available competitors (Twitch and Youtube), a study was conducted to see how to better satisfy the core audience of Chrono.
With Twitch:
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Only 10% of respondents were subscribed to a Twitch streamer within the past 3 months.
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30% of respondents did not know that VODs (Video on demand) existed on Twitch.
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90% of respondents did not know what reacting to a Twitch stream did.
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100% of respondents claimed the way advertisements were done led them to click on to a different streamer or to leave the site/application altogether.
With Youtube:
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70% of respondents had not watched a person live on Youtube in the past 30 days.
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70% did not know that you could set up notifications for livestreams.
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30% did not know where to find previously streamed content outside of re-uploads on separate channels.
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90% of respondents shared that they did not know how to find live content that interested them unless someone they were already following was currently livestreaming.
Define - The Path
With this research, 2 User Personas and a customer journey map were crafted.
Ideate - Logistics
Following the defining of Chrono's users, their pain points and motivations, an information architecture and various user flow diagrams were made to help lead the formation of the product.
First Mockup
Post-diagram creation, the first mockup of Chrono was made. This mockup made sure to keep monetization of the application in mind, favouring embedded ads over long, drawn out ads in every video. This was to prevent the issue faced by users on Twitch where long ads on entering a live stream resulted in 100% of respondents to exit the livestream.
Prototype - Low Fidelity
2-3 variations of low fidelity prototypes were made using Adobe XD and Figma. Interactable objects were blocked out with blue and the rest was kept in grayscale.
Below is the low fidelity prototype that made it to user testing.
Test - User Testing
Testing the low fidelity prototype came with many insights, some of the following issues were prevalent:
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Users could not reliably locate the profile button.
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Confusion regarding menus.
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Too many clicks to get to their objective.
High Fidelity Prototype
Due to user feedback and their difficulties with the original prototype, Chrono went back to the prototyping stage. In the end, quite a few things were changed. The biggest decision of which was moving the menu button directly under the user's profile picture. Livestreams were also made more evident at a single glance.
Iterating Until Perfection
After testing the prototype once again, testers were asked about the visual appeal of the overall product. Many of which answered that "dark mode" was preferred and that the original design featured too many colours outside of CTAs (Call To Actions).
Final Product
Due to how much media Chrono showcases, the final product solely has a "dark mode" version. However, if this platform were to ever go live, as an advocate for accessibility, I would push for the ability to switch between light and dark mode. This is due to the fact that dark mode can be hard to utilize for a variety of users.