The Problem
We’ve all been there: you’re bored at home, scrolling through TV shows and movies wondering what to watch. Maybe you look up “Top Ten Rom Coms” on Google, or phone a friend to see what they recommend. What if the process could be simpler? In other words, how can Hulu make it easier for the user to discover new shows/movies? Cassie Bailey, Nick Martinez, and I interviewed a few Hulu users to understand their experience.
Research
In to address the problem with Hulu, we conducted user interviews to gain insight into the typical user’s difficulties (basic feedback and ethnographic style). The users we spoke to were regular users of Hulu, although some preferred Netflix. When asked what they enjoyed about Hulu, some answered that it provided a wider variety of shows, while others enjoyed the ability to save their favorite shows to “My Stuff.” Most users disliked the busy layout and inability to quickly access the shows they wanted. Most notably, when users were asked how they found new shows or movies to watch, they all relied primarily on friend recommendations and social media. When witnessed navigating Hulu with little prompting, users had trouble finding their last watched show and finding something new that they were interested in. What if there was a way for users to find shows and movies easier without even leaving the app? We created mock-ups that re-imagine Hulu in order to solve this problem by adding a social dimension among other layout changes.
The Process
While devising a social component of Hulu, we used Spotify for inspiration. Similar to how Spotify shows “Friend Activity” in order to showcase the music your friends are listening to, we added a “Friend Activity” tab to the homepage of Hulu. The main goal of this social component was to allow users to rate shows, recommend shows, and see what others were watching.
The revised home page allows users to view their normal shows simultaneously with the “Friend Activity.” This way, they can either continue normal usage of the app or get inspiration from their friends. The “Friend Activity” shows what users are watching, as well as when they watched it. On the TV shows and movies themselves, the user can see their friends’ ratings (shown below).
Also, there is an added tab on the top navigation bar named “Recently Watched”, which would bring the user to a similar-looking home page, except it will be filled with a list of their previously watched titles in chronological order, so they can easily pick up where they left off. In our ethnological interview, users had difficulties finding the show they last watched with the old interface.
When the user clicks on any show or movie, a details page such as this will open with a view of the average rating for the title as well as a button that allows the user to submit their own rating. With the drop-down menu on the right side of the screen, the user will be able to view their friends’ ratings. In order to avoid the addition of the social feature causing users to modify what they watch due to its being shown to others, users can watch in incognito mode by switching the setting on above the title. This way, friends will not see when the user watches the show and it will not be public in their “stuff” — perfect for a guilty pleasure.
With the addition of the “My Friends” page, users are able to see in more detail what their friends have been watching. Here, the last four shows or movies a friend has watched are displayed, as well as their ratings for the programs. Users can add programs to their “My Stuff” page by hovering the cursor over a show and clicking the “+” button. Additionally, clicking on any a friend’s profile icon will take them to their page.
When looking at a friend’s profile, users have the options of looking at their friend’s “stuff,” who they follow, and who is following them. When the user selects “His/Her/Their Stuff,” they see multiple rows of programs. The first is the “Recently Watched,” which shows the last programs the friend has viewed. Additionally, friends can post to their page their favorite shows and movies. This is beneficial because users can see how closely they relate to their friend in taste.
Finally, when looking at a friend’s list of followers or the list of people they are following, the user can peruse to find more friends. When the user hovers the cursor over a profile photo, the “+” icon appears. Clicking this will send a follow request to that user. The user can also click on the names of other users to open their full profile.
Conclusion
The hope is that this re-imagination of Hulu would ease the stress of users we witnessed in interviews struggling to locate certain titles, discover new shows and movies, and navigate the interface smoothly. The added conveniences and exciting social feature makes Hulu more human-centered and allows the user to sift through a saturated platform using their peer group as a jumping-off point. Our redesign takes the verbal friend recommendation to a whole new level.
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