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Case study on Hotstar+
Background
Traditionally OTT platforms have been enjoying a certain userbase who were 17-40 yrs. (approx.) age group and updated(mostly) with new technology. But the pandemic has changed these statistics a little bit and added a new section of users on OTT platforms who were not tech-friendly. This case study identifies the struggle of a later added user base for Hotstar and tries to ease that.
Bug on Hotstar home page
I am a frequent user of Hotstar and during one of my binge sessions I found there is one bug with the logo header on the home page of hotstar. The replication scenario for the bug is as below:
Replication steps
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Go to Hotstar app in your mobile
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Scroll down on home page with your finger always on image icons
Actual
Logo Header is not being removed from home page
Expected
Logo Header should be removed as user scrolls down on home page.
Methodology
Empathize
User Interviews
Question
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How often do you watch Movies and TV shows on Hotstar?
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Why do you use Hotstar?
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How much time do you invest in finding a good show or movie on Hotstar?
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What prevents you from spending less time in choosing and more time on enjoying?
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Do you like to watch some random movie on Hotstar based on Hotstar’s recommendation?
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What are your criteria for selecting movie?Is it easy to find new content on Hotstar?
User Experience Issues / Pain Points
For my case study I interacted with a group of frequent Hotstar users to know about their struggles while using Hotstar app. I have pointed down the results below:
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Two basic features are missing on video streaming screen i.e. Brightness Control and Navigation to Season/Episode.
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Hotstar Specials tab is placed at the end of the Home Screen which is like Dominos offering everything on the menu as special dish and Pizza as sides.
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Home screen is too bulky and time consuming for “2 minutes noodle” era. For example, there are three tabs “Latest and Trending”, “Popular Movies” and “Popular Shows” whose content is so much intersecting that to an end it looks repetitive.
Brain Stroming
Brainstorming is a combination of informal problem solving and lateral thinking. The technique intends for participants to come up with eccentric ideas. Some of these thoughts and ideas are crafted into original and creative solutions to problems.
For this case study, I have segregated the answers given to the question asked and classified them into four aspects which have helped me to understand the root cause of the problem.
Define
User Personas
Concocting personas are a great way to gather data on users and prioritize the most important value propositions. On based of the the research and analysis gathered from our research
For instance, I have created 3 diverse personas for Hotstar streaming service.
Flowchart
While designing for hotstar app, it was important to consider the user flows to chart out how users navigate the app. Most of the time, it is complicated and chaotic but I have tried and used the existing UI in order to solve one problem of getting rid of unwanted genre.
Lo-Fi Sketches
Wireframing is an important part of the plan interaction. It acts like blueprints for mobile apps, they help in setting a foundation for your product and discover early on what works and what doesn’t. Below you will be able to find a few rough sketches of my to define the screens and its requirements.
Wireframing
Wireframes are rough sketches of an interface that are often used in discussions with stakeholders to communicate functionality and to rapidly encourage ideation and iteration. They also help with understanding the requirements at a deeper level, as it helps uncover edge cases.
Below it is demonstrated how an conversion from sketch to wire frame to prototype
Lo-Fi Sketch
Wireframe
Prototype
Lo-Fi Sketch
Wireframe
Prototype
Prototype
I made a conceptual prototype to address the immediate issues that came up during the research phase
Here's a link for the working prototypye