Conceptual Project
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Conceptual Project
·

Conceptual Project
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YouTokens

Designing a point-based system to boost engagement between Creators and their viewers

Explore prototype

Year

2023

Platform

Web/Mobile

Type

UX/UI Conceptual Project

Role

Sole Researcher and Designer

TLDR;

The stagnation of YouTube Gaming can be attributed to a lack of engaging viewer experiences. By leveraging insights from research, benchmarking competitors, and iterative design, the YouTokens feature aims to bridge this gap. It offers immediate engagement and feedback, creating a personalized, enjoyable, and inclusive experience for creators and their viewers. The proposed solution aligns with user, business, and technical goals, providing a path towards revitalizing YouTube Gaming's growth in the highly competitive live streaming industry.

INTRODUCTION

WHY HAS YOUTUBE GAMING HIT STAGNANT GROWTH IN A BOOMING INDUSTRY?

The YouTube Gaming sector entered the booming live streaming industry with promising growth potential. However, it has faced stagnation despite initial success in the year of 2020.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

ASSUMING THAT MAJORITY OF USERS ARE EXPERIENCING FAMILIARITY BIAS

I conducted research through various methods. Initial attempts to gather user feedback through online surveys yielded limited response rates. However, a breakthrough occurred when I delved into YouTube's lively comment section, uncovering valuable insights from prominent streamers. Further insights were obtained through 1:1 interviews with 4 streamers who have been streaming for at least a year, and 3 viewers, all aged between 18-35, highlighting the importance of interaction and community in the live streaming experience.

Each user can influence the attitudes and behaviors of one of another..

Through this process, I was able to see how each user can influence the attitudes and behaviors of one of another. Both users expressed how important it is to have a higher level of interaction, because it:

Creates a more personalized and enjoyable viewing experience
Has a perceived Value on streamer's content

Creates a more personalized and enjoyable viewing experience
Has a perceived Value on streamer's content

Fosters a sense of community
It allows viewers to actively participate in the streamer's content and feel like a part of the community.

Fosters a sense of community
It allows viewers to actively participate in the streamer's content and feel like a part of the community.

IDENTIFYING THE GAP IN VIEWER EXPERIENCE

YouTube Gaming LACKS a rewarding and inclusive viewer experience

YOUTUBE GAMING LACKS A REWARDING AND INCLUSIVE VIEWER EXPERIENCE

By synthesizing the research findings using the affinity map method. I discovered that the current solutions are focused on monetization tools for creators that limit viewer interaction to donations, hindering engagement and personalization. The interaction ritual chain theory revealed the significance of audience participation in fostering emotional energy and greater involvement.

"Participation in rituals that allow individuals to be performers will lead to higher levels of emotional energy and greater involvement."

Source: Wang M, Li D (2020) What motivates audience comments on live streaming platforms?. PLOS ONE 15(4): e0231255. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231255

"Participation in rituals that allow individuals to be performers will lead to higher levels of emotional energy and greater involvement."

Theme 1: Engagement

100% of Viewers and 75% of streamers agree that engagement is lacking on the YouTube gaming Platform vs Twitch. Streamers have looked into other alternatives that they've used on Twitch such as 3rd party integrations, however these integrations aren't suited for YouTube just yet.

Streamers want to provide a rewarding experience to thank their viewers for the support
Streamers and viewers brought up a point based system, such as loyalty points and channel points

100% of Viewers and 75% of streamers agree that engagement is lacking on the YouTube gaming Platform vs Twitch. Streamers have looked into other alternatives that they've used on Twitch such as 3rd party integrations, however these integrations aren't suited for YouTube just yet.

Streamers want to provide a rewarding experience to thank their viewers for the support
Streamers and viewers brought up a point based system, such as loyalty points and channel points

Theme 2: Exclusivity

Both streamers and viewers want an inclusive interaction
viewers can’t always show support through money donations. They want to be entertained and receive a reaction from the streamer without having to “drop a cent”

Both streamers and viewers want an inclusive interaction
viewers can’t always show support through money donations. They want to be entertained and receive a reaction from the streamer without having to “drop a cent”

Theme 3: User Adoption

Streamers knew that moving to YouTube was the best option long-term for them due to the monetization tools however changing their viewers habits has been hard because they prefer a more delightful and familiar experience
Both also mentioned that chat feels "unnatural" for them, no emotes or other integrations.

Streamers knew that moving to YouTube was the best option long-term for them due to the monetization tools however changing their viewers habits has been hard because they prefer a more delightful and familiar experience
Both also mentioned that chat feels "unnatural" for them, no emotes or other integrations.

How Might We allow immediate engagement and feedback that creates a personalized, enjoyable, and inclusive experience for creators & their viewers?

MARKET RESEARCH

Twitch and Trovo dominates in viewer experience

A competitive analysis revealed that YouTube Gaming falls short in comparison to competitors such as Twitch and Trovo, who excel in providing robust engagement tools. Understanding the strengths of these platforms helped shape the goals for creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) which I named YouTokens.

PRDOUCT GOALS

Setting the goals for both user & Business needs to Create the MVP of YouTokens

From Research thus far, I was able to create a diagram of user's goals, business goals and technical goals. Having this laid out, helped me be mindful that I'm creating an MVP that is feasible to all three. This is when the Hooked model by Nir and Far, a concept that describes a user’s interaction through four phases to get them engage with your product was very helpful in how I was going to position this feature and the key metrics that I'd be looking for.

📈 Key Metrics

competitor differentiation
Customer delight
Improve customer satisfaction
Retention

📈 Key Metrics

competitor differentiation
Customer delight
Improve customer satisfaction
Retention

DESIGNING A NATIVE AND ENGAGING FEATURE

My goal was to create a feature that seamlessly integrates with YouTube and feels native to the platform.

To ensure seamless integration with YouTube, I adopted the platform's material kit and branding, creating a cohesive design. By mapping user/task flows and utilizing low-fidelity designs, I strived to maintain a native feel while considering optimal placement for the YouTokens feature within the YouTube Studio interface. The goal was to enhance engagement without compromising the platform's familiarity and ease of use.

SiteMap

Creator Flow

Complete Request

Viewer Flow

SiteMap

Viewer Flow

LOFI DESIGNS

FOLLOWING THE SITEMAP AND USER/TASK FLOWS

I started off with sketching to get the creative juices going and once I had a vision I started to bring those sketches into Figma.

New Feature Modal

Dashboard Lofi

Chat Lofi

Shop Display

Edit/Custom Reward

CREATOR'S SIDE

PROTOTYPE

To get the full experience you can explore the desktop and mobile prototype

I decided to prototype the viewer experience for usability testing as it holds a great significance in creating a delightful user interaction with the Creator that will have YouTokens enabled.

VIEW PROTOTYPE

TESTING AND ITERATION

An 80% Success Rate

I recruited five users to participate in testing the viewer experience of YouTokens. The viewer experience holds great significance in creating a delightful user interaction, especially since our primary users actively seek an elevated level of engagement with their viewers. Consequently, it was crucial for me to guarantee that secondary users have a stellar experience as well. In order to achieve this, I inquired about the participants' preferred devices for watching streams and provided them with the corresponding prototypes. This approach enabled me to collect valuable feedback, which I then utilized to enhance the viewer experience for our users.

all 5 participants said Gaining Points were missed, but users were triggered to click on YouTokens icon when it was highlighted red

Cyi felt that the icons were also way too small, he also expressed how he really wanted to see points gain as that was more rewarding to see. (Please note that in this video the icons were sized 32x32.)

Jessica described YouTokens as a monetary feature where you can purchase emotes. Although YouTokens is a currency, it is a point-based system and no money is involved.

FINAL

2 major changes to the UI for accessibility

Fun fact, Color perception changes across the visual field. It is best in the fovea and declines in the periphery. Sensitivity to red–green color variations declines more steeply toward the periphery than sensitivity to luminance or blue–yellow colors.. so instead of green, I changed gaining points to a blue color and bumped up the font.

Thorsten Hansen, Lars Pracejus, Karl R. Gegenfurtner; Color perception in the intermediate periphery of the visual field. Journal of Vision 2009;9(4):26. doi: https://doi.org/10.1167/9.4.26.

reflections

Thinking about the future…

Enabling membership only tokens

if you're a YouTube Partner, you can enable "allow viewers to earn tokens by ad watches"
An extension store where developers can build within YouTube's API and offer other engagement tools (this one is super tricky just because all the engagement apps built their products around Twitch, but I believe some have already started to make changes to adjust to Facebook gaming and YouTube gaming.) but we could monetize on those rewards by working with 3rd party integrations.
A More Dynamic Prototype - There were a lot of limitations with figma as I wanted to build the whole experience out from when the creator lands on their YouTube page & the new modal feature pops up to them actually getting it set-up.
Testing on the creator side - this relates to a more dynamic prototype but I did want to focus more on the secondary user as they'd be utilizing it more than the actual creator

CONCLUSION

Wow, I'm really amazed that I got across the finish line! At first, I was doubting myself in this project because I wanted to be “innovative” but what I learned is that when you do your research & understand why & how other businesses are successfully catering to the problem that you're solving for, you take that & you learn to make it unique. There was a lot that actually went into this project but I wanted to keep it high-level. Here are some things that I've learned along the way!

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING - I didn't do this at the very beginning & more towards the end, I know.. Alexus shake my head
Strategy is key - I actually couldn't think of a solution until I created project goals, I was very hesitant on what I should build but from research & understanding how YouTube is currently making money made sense to create a mvp that wasn't subscription based.
Trust the process - There were times I kept getting in lost with other frameworks, but design is iterative & not linear. As soon as I decided to make decisions that made sense to my project, it started to go smoothly for me.