Kuaishou short video product analysis!

Short videos have become a part of our daily lives. Kuaishou and Douyin are the two major short video giants. The author of this article has conducted an in-depth experience of Kuaishou's short video products and dug out some small details from them. Let's take a look together.

This article mainly analyzes the version changes and the detailed settings of Kuaishou in short videos.

1. Product Introduction

1. Product positioning

Judging from the introduction in the app store, Kuaishou highlights the following points: interesting videos, multiple people in the same frame, interactive live broadcasts, support for original creations, and beauty filters.

Kuaishou’s slogan is “embracing every kind of life”. Combined with the above promotional focus, the positioning of Kuaishou and Douyin is not much different. Based on the user experience, Kuaishou highlights "every kind of life" and recommends content with greater differentiation and a stronger sense of life .

2. Logo

Figure 1 Logo

A red background with a small camera icon. The chart highlights the recent hot topic, the Olympics. Compared to black, red is more passionate and implies a prosperous life.

3. User Distribution

Figure 2 User search distribution (data from Baidu Index)

Compared with Douyin, its penetration into non-core cities will be deeper.

4. Functional structure diagram

Figure 3 Kuaishou’s overall functional structure

As the first page entering the app, the featured page is one of the main traffic entrances. The second major traffic entrance is the homepage.

2. Featured Page Function Analysis

1. Gesture operation

(1) Video switching

Figure 4 Gesture operation of the featured page

The first left swipe displays the sidebar of the blogger’s other videos. Except for some pinned videos, the videos are sorted by upload time. The more recent the upload time, the higher the position. Users can swipe up and down the list to quickly view other videos of the blogger.

As a user, there are two situations when I swipe left:

• First, if the current waterfall video is part of a complete video and I am interested, I will want to check out the other parts.
• Second, because the current video is interesting, I want to check out more videos from this blogger.

The advantages of the Kuaishou solution are:

First, it shows the current video without any obstruction, which is of certain value in some specific videos. Second, it allows users to quickly flip through other video covers and select other content they want to watch.

In the first case, from the perspective of the video uploader, a content is divided into several parts, and the time of uploading the work should be continuous.

Therefore, Kuaishou’s solution provides a good experience when facing the first situation. In the second case, compared with Douyin's operating procedures, Kuaishou's solution is more direct, and it also leaves a subscription function at the bottom of the page.

The disadvantage is that some people may open the side pull-down bar and pull it down to enlarge the entire video. Next time when they want to view the blogger’s content again, they need to open the side pull-down bar again, which will increase the operation cost.

Wouldn’t it be better to keep scrolling down to view the videos of the same blogger without entering the homepage? This is debatable.

If it were me, I would probably check the user's behavior path, including the number of times the sidebar pops up and collapses in succession, the number of times the sidebar pops up and the video keeps sliding down, the number of times the sidebar pops up and collapses and then slides down and up throughout the entire process, and the number of times the user swipes left twice in succession, to determine whether this design needs to be considered.

Douyin’s solution is to directly enter the blogger’s homepage and comprehensively display the blogger’s information, including fans, likes, introduction, geographical location, college, recommended products, fan base, etc.

The advantage is that this provides more points to impress and attract users, and also gives a certain amount of exposure to recommended products, or a certain amount of exposure to other promotions in the introduction. The number of fans, school or location, the cover often gives people a more comprehensive impression.

In addition, the three-column video display below gives users room to choose. Bloggers show more works, and users can choose their favorite content based on the cover. In this way, the possibility of subscriptions will increase greatly.

The disadvantage is that some users may have a bad impression because they are not very interested in the blogger's information. If you are looking for other related content, this method will increase the operating costs to a certain extent, and it is not as simple as Kuaishou's solution (let's see if the two sides will learn from each other in later versions. If they are unified, that method will be the best. If there is no unification, each has its own merits, hehe!).

1.2 Pause

Figure 5 Pause function logic

The pause function of Kuaishou is designed, firstly, to increase the unobstructed area, and secondly, to highlight the progress bar for easy operation. There is no point in saying more, here are the pictures.

Figure 6 Pause, comment, share

2. Share

As shown in Figure 6, the share button will become a dynamic WeChat symbol when one of the following two conditions is met: the first is after the video is played once, and the second is after 15 seconds of playback (roughly measured).

The advantage is that, thanks to Tencent’s support, Kuaishou’s content can be well shared on WeChat, and the dynamic display of WeChat symbols also encourages users to share. The dynamic settings are also very clever. The intention of both settings should be to ensure user interest to a certain extent.

People with similar interests will share with each other, so there is a high probability that the shared content will be liked by the people they share with. This will help attract new customers, bring back customers, and promote activation. There are so many benefits, I feel sorry for TikTok. (The latest version of TikTok doesn’t seem to change. It seemed to change to QQ before, but I may have remembered it wrong.)

Figure 7. Sharing interface

There are three levels: the first is sharing on Kuaishou, the second is sharing on other platforms, and the third is some related operations.

The advantage is clear structure and comprehensive functions. The downside is that there are no downsides. (The latest version of TikTok has also been changed to this style. The PM brothers on both sides have pointed out the direction for us and advised everyone to learn from their mistakes and not to make trouble for no reason!) It may be a bit inappropriate to put functions such as reporting in it, but considering the interface layout, of course we have to accept it.

Figure 8 Three ways of shooting in sharing

Video chain can seamlessly connect the original video and the newly shot video.

There are three ways to present the same-frame video: left screen (the original video is on the left), right screen, and quarter screen (TikTok can choose upper and lower screens).

The final effect of shooting the same style is completely the content shot by yourself, and the original video is only for reference (which should be very helpful for dance video bloggers). Different from the "Paitongkuai" in the music interface, the "Paitongkuai" in the music interface only provides the same background music.

3. Comments

Compared with TikTok, Kuaishou’s comments have an additional feature called “God Comments”, as shown in Figure 6.

The process of obtaining God's review:

Figure 9 The process of obtaining excellent reviews

In addition, there are also review experts. Kuaishou has made considerable efforts in the evaluation function. The purpose should be to build an evaluation area with an atmosphere, encourage users to leave more comments through titles and some rewards, and facilitate social interaction. The official takes the lead in organizing the activities, which not only promotes activity but also plays a big role in user retention.

For future improvements to the review function, these review experts can serve as interview subjects and test subjects before and after the improvements.

Douyin does not have this function, but its subsidiary Pipixia does. I guess the reason behind this is that they don’t want the great reviews to affect other people’s enthusiasm for reviewing. (Just a guess, wait for the next update.)

One of the conditions for Kuaishou’s best comments is that a video cannot have more than three best comments. The reason behind this restriction may be the desire to spread the traffic more widely. It is also possible that a threshold for great reviews is set to make the great reviews have a higher gold content.

4. Introduction area

Figure 10 Golden topic in the introduction area

The golden text highlights Kuaishou’s recent hot topics. This small design can highlight the topic and help the official promote some topics, such as Kuaishou’s new knowledge broadcast, etc. It also makes it easier for the official to guide the content. I wonder if the golden topic will have a bonus in popularity. It is speculated that the next step may be to promote Kuaishou original music.

5. Music

There is speculation that the main push for original music is because Kuaishou is aligning itself with Douyin and has added a vinyl record in the lower right corner to the new version. The biggest function of this may be to attract traffic to the music interface.

Through strategies such as free exclusivity and unlimited copyright settlement in the Kuaishou Musician Plan, more musicians are attracted to create and cover songs, thereby promoting the growth of music short videos and background music content.

Combined with the promotion of the official account, Kuaishou may want to convert the TV talent show model to short videos, and use some exclusive activities to help some musicians grow, which in turn will play a certain role in user retention, activation, and attracting new users.

Retention may be achieved through live performances by some of the emerging musicians. Attracting new users and promoting activation may be done through promotion through charts on external music platforms (Tencent, Kugou, etc.). There may be Kuaishou original music charts on other music platforms in the future. Referring to the Douyin Music Chart within Douyin, it is very likely that Kuaishou will add the Kuaishou Music Chart to the search function.

Unreasonable interactions:

Figure 11 Kuaishou musician activity page

The return key returns to the previous activity page. You cannot return to the page where you can take the same photo with one click until all open activity pages have been returned. If the active page is clicked multiple times, you need to click back multiple times. It is recommended to use the return function to directly exit all activity pages.

6. Follow

Figure 12: Follow function

Both designs are intended to give users feedback after paying attention. On the featured page, the "Your Interest" logo will appear on the videos of subscribed authors.

Douyin will provide an entrance to view the author's popular works after a short delay after the first subscription. Allow users to skip the selection process and directly view the author's other popular videos.

7. Other functions

(1) Hot Tips

Figure 13 Bottom hotspot bar function

The hot video interface marks the total number of hot videos and the current video order. It is a very thoughtful design that solves users' anxiety about the unknown.

There is also a brief hotspot prompt when switching hotspots, ensuring that users can quickly filter their favorite content.

The hot spot bar below jumps to show different hot spots. Click to display the entire Kuaishou hot list. The hot bar at the bottom of the hot list shows a quick entry to the hot spots, which is very considerate.

At first I was wondering why clicking on the hot spot currently displayed in the hot spot bar did not locate the corresponding position in the hot list. It turned out that the entrance was at the bottom. Consider placing it at the top, in the center of the phone, so that people can find this function more easily.

Suddenly I realized that there are many ways to play with hot topics. If the authorities intervene, they can reverse the flow of content and guide the topic. They can also inadvertently advertise products (such as the Polaroid challenge, this advertising method is quite useful and does not feel awkward. I've learned something).

(2) Collection function

Figure 14 Related collection

Figure 15 Independent IP collection (collection with more sets)

This function does not seem to be determined at the time of uploading, and seems to be the result of official secondary processing. (This function was not found when uploading on mobile phone or computer)

The main advantages are as follows:

From Kuaishou’s perspective:

• Facilitate the unified management of the platform and build a more complete collection system.
• Adding more high-quality medium and long videos to the featured pages in this form can also be regarded as one of the solutions for the layout of medium and long videos.

From the creator's perspective:

• Imagine a scenario where a user is interested in a short video and realizes that the video is incomplete. The official can prompt in the collection that it is being updated. Will this give creators the opportunity to get more subscriptions? Will it promote interaction between users and creators and reflect the role of the "Poke" function?
• The collection function also gives creators the opportunity to try more genres.

From the user's perspective:

• It is convenient for users to find videos of interest
• You can subscribe to collections to help users manage their favorite content

Both Tik Tok and Kuaishou have consistently not put longer videos on the first page of the app. It is speculated that they may hope to quickly understand users' preferences. Short content is also easier for new users to accept, which may involve psychological considerations. It is also possible that they feel that people who watch long videos go to Bilibili, and they want to give users a different experience.

(3) Others

Other functions are similar to those of TikTok, including guidance for popular videos, quick-view comics, guidance for selling products, positioning, the construction of the quick-view and quick-video ecosystem, etc.

The shortcoming is the lack of support from Meituan. Although it has begun to develop local life, the coverage is slightly insufficient, and there is a lack of rich group buying, package and other content.

3. Home Page

1. Home

Figure 16 Home page

The overall design of the homepage is similar to that of the content app, with detailed content classification.

Fixed channels include Follow, Discover, Same City, Live and Long Video. The rest are content segmentations based on interests, which makes it easier for users to find content that interests them.

When you swipe sideways from the featured page to enter the homepage, the first thing that appears is the Discovery Channel, which is similar to the first page you enter in earlier versions of Kuaishou. The reason for this design may be that they are unwilling to give up the advantage of two-column display, making it easier for users to choose the content they are interested in and easier to stay.

2. Sidebar

Figure 17 Sidebar

The functions of the sidebar are more inclined towards non-short video functions, including promotional activities, knowledge payment, life services, etc.

The small theater received good reviews. It is easy for me to immerse myself in the continuous videos. Although they are rustic, they are in line with Kuaishou’s positioning and original intention. With the support of such high traffic on Kuaishou, the enthusiasm for content creation can also be guaranteed, creating a good cycle.

It's just hidden too deeply. Maybe they want to make way for the new app, because the official introduction is to release a Duck Chasing app to integrate these dramas, but it seems that it has been removed from both platforms.

In addition, the exclusive part of the small theater is also one of the ways for Kuaishou to grab traffic. In the future, Kuaishou may invest in the filming of some high-quality web dramas and grasp part of the traffic through video copyrights.

IV. Summary

Compared to TikTok, which gives people the feeling of continuous outward expansion and traffic distribution station, Kuaishou currently gives me the feeling of constantly absorbing and integrating more sections into Kuaishou. It is like a treasure box that can meet the exploration of various dimensions.

Users can find everything they like, including movies, short dramas, shopping, learning, and more. This may also be the reason why many analysts believe that Kuaishou has higher user stickiness. (Two different development strategies, but they are essentially the same, both of which are expanding content and trying to combine various fields with short videos.

I don’t know whether Kuaishou will spin off into other products after its content becomes more substantial in the future. Personally, I feel that in the end, they may all end up in the same place and will all evolve into other apps. ）

Based on the above analysis, we can look forward to a music section with richer content and greater independence in the future.

In addition, the connection between Kuaikandian and Kuaishou is not particularly close. It feels that the text content and video content are not well matched and connected. This may be an area that can be strengthened in the future.

The software advertisements are also a bit awkward (there is one advertisement for about six or seven videos). For example, the previous plan of adding the promotion of the Zhuan Zhuan app to the short video plot may be used for apps like AiLiaoHuiWan (it is also possible that the effect was not good before and the plan was abandoned. It is indeed rare to see second-hand mobile phones being sold in short dramas recently... it is also possible that the promotion has expired).

Can the collection function be delegated to the uploading part, mainly the web version of the PC? (The official account said it was available, but I couldn’t find it…) Because the creators who post collections all have certain shooting, editing, and computer skills, it means that the official can simply provide guidance to make creators familiar with this function, and the learning cost is not very high.

The above is some immature analysis of Kuaishou. I hope my friends can give me more advice!

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