Analysis of competing products of Douyin, Weishi and Kuaishou

Watching short videos has become people’s main entertainment activity, and happiness can be spread in just a dozen seconds. Short video platforms such as Douyin , Kuaishou, and Weishi have developed rapidly in recent years and have become a pool of traffic.

1. Industry Background

1.1 Definition of short video

Short video is a short video, which is a way of disseminating Internet content. It is generally a video of less than 5 minutes in length that is disseminated on new Internet media.

1.2 Market size of short videos

1.3 Short Video Market Structure

1.4 Domestic short video activity ranking

1.5 Short Video Industry Chain

1.6 Producers of short videos

2. Competitive product selection

2.1 TikTok

2.1.1 Introduction to Douyin Products

Douyin is a music-based short video social software that can be used to shoot short videos. The software was launched in September 2016 and is a music short video community focusing on young people. Users can use this software to select songs, shoot short music videos, and create their own works. A short video APP owned by ByteDance.

2.1.2 ByteDance’s Financing and Investment

2.1.3 Douyin Product Manager

2.1.4 Douyin’s product positioning

2.1.5 Toutiao Product Matrix

2.2 Kuaishou

2.2.1 Kuaishou Product Introduction

Kuaishou APP is affiliated to Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co., Ltd. The predecessor of Kuaishou, called "GIF Kuaishou", was launched in March 2011. It was originally a mobile application for creating and sharing GIF images. In November 2012, Kuaishou transformed from a pure tool application into a short video community, a platform for users to record and share their production and life.

2.2.2 Kuaishou’s Financing

2.2.3 Kuaishou’s Product Positioning

2.2.4 Kuaishou’s Product Matrix

2.3 Micro-viewing

2.3.1 Weishi Background

Tencent Weishi is a short video product under Tencent. Users can not only browse various short videos on Weishi, but also share what they see and hear by creating short videos. In addition, Weishi has also integrated with social platforms such as WeChat and QQ, and users can share videos on Weishi with friends and social platforms.

2.3.2 Weishi Product Introduction

2.4 Product Overview

2.5 Distribution Logic of Tik Tok and Kuaishou

3. Product Analysis

3.1 Strategic Level

3.1.1 Product Positioning of Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi

UGC content products with multilateral relationships. By continuously generating content during the user process, more users are attracted to watch, personal image and institutional brand communication are built, and consumption is generated in the entire closed loop.

The social attributes of the three products:

• Tencent Micro Video is a tool product with strong social attributes (compared to Kuaishou and Douyin). Tencent is best at social networking. In the early stages of promotion, it used WeChat and QQ, two major social tools, which provided great help in the growth of Weishi users. It also imported the relationship networks of WeChat and QQ into its messaging module, strengthening the social attributes of the Weishi tool.
• Tik Tok is a general social product that extends from its tool attributes. Compared with strong social products such as WeChat and QQ, Douyin is more of a social performance based on a strong operation strategy (presenting content through algorithms on the recommendation page). Users interact more in the comment area and add friends through recommendations in your mobile phone address book. Now Tik Tok is transitioning towards stronger social attributes.
• Kuaishou is a weakly social product that extends from its tool attributes. Compared with strong products such as Weishi and Douyin, Kuaishou only has basic functions such as users' comments, forwarding, liking and following of videos.

3.1.2 Product Gun-Shaped Thinking

(Theory from Tzu Siyuan)

Market:

Tik Tok, Kuaishou, and Tencent Weishi: Market Segments

Drive type:

Douyin, Kuaishou, and Tencent Weishi: Operation-driven

Product stage:

Douyin, Kuaishou, and Tencent Weishi are all transitioning from growth to maturity

Current strategy:

TikTok: Defensive strategies

Kuaishou: Optimization strategy

Tencent Weishi: Optimization strategy

3.1.3 Product Life Cycle

Tik Tok: It is in the stage of commercial connection and commercial cognition.

Kuaishou: The user base is moving towards commercial links; group cognition is moving towards commercial cognition.

Weishi: It is in the stage of user base growth and group awareness.

3.1.4 Summary

Douyin: Douyin’s design is based on music and short videos, focusing on short videos that young people are interested in. It is a short video that helps users express themselves and record their beautiful life. Tik Tok recommends videos of interest to users based on intelligent algorithm recommendations. Currently, it is driven by operations and is in the transition stage from growth to maturity. As the number one short video company in the country, its current strategy is to adopt a defensive strategy and start trying various commercial monetization methods.

Kuaishou: It was originally a mobile application for making and sharing GIF images. In November 2012, Kuaishou transformed from a pure tool application into a short video community, a platform for users to record and share their production and life. It transformed from an early tool-type product into a UGC short video community, and later added intelligent recommendation algorithms to form a short video platform based on intelligent recommendation to record life. Currently, it is also driven by operations, and is in the transition stage from the growth stage to the mature stage. It ranks second in short video in the country. The current strategy is to optimize the strategy and try commercial monetization.

Tencent Weishi: Tencent actually started to develop short videos very early on, but it was abandoned for some reason. Later, when short videos such as Douyin and Kuaishou became popular, the short video "Weishi" was "resurrected". Later, with Tencent’s powerful social capabilities and resources, Weishi was quickly pushed into the third place in short video platforms, and it invested in short video platforms such as Kuaishou. Currently, Weishi is trying to catch up and compete for the top spot in short video. Currently, Weishi is in the user growth stage and has begun to try some forms of commercial monetization.

Summary: Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi are the three giants of domestic short video, and they have powerful resources behind them. If other short video companies want to get a piece of the pie, they can start with differentiation. For example, Meipai starts with photo beauty and filters to build its own core competitiveness in short videos.

3.2 User groups of short videos

The overall trend is younger, with second- and third-tier cities being the main stage, and the penetration effect in the sinking market is significant.

3.2.1 Tik Tok User Groups

This is mainly because users under the age of 35 account for nearly 70%, and the sinking effect is obvious, with users in low-tier cities accounting for 56%.

3.2.2 Kuaishou’s User Group

This is mainly because young users under the age of 30 account for more than 70%, and they are still mainly in low-tier cities.

3.2.3 Weishi User Group

This is mainly because young users under the age of 30 account for more than 55%, and they are still mainly in low-tier cities.

3.2.4 Analysis of Differentiation among Tik Tok, Kuaishou, and Weishi Users

Although Douyin, Weishi, and Kuaishou are all products in the short video track, there are still differences in their product positioning. Douyin is a music short video community focusing on young people. It targets young people in first- and second-tier cities, adheres to the "fashionable and trendy" positioning, and creates a 15S music short video social network. Weishi is a direct competitor to Douyin. Users can log in with one click through their WeChat and QQ accounts and simultaneously share the short videos they have shot to their WeChat friends, Moments, QQ friends and QQ Space. Kuaishou is a short video community platform for users to record and share their production and life. Compared with the trendy and youthful positioning of the first two, Kuaishou targets a wider user base, and the content and subjects it creates are closer to the lives of ordinary people. From the above, I have drawn the following conclusions: Douyin, which is young and trendy, focuses on "content"; Kuaishou, which is real and down-to-earth, focuses on "people". Weishi focuses on "traffic diversion" and seizes the markets of both.

3.3 Scope Layer

3.3.1 Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weishi mind map

Tik Tok:

quick worker:

Micro-view:

Function comparison:

Tik Tok: 5 modules including home page, region, photo and video upload, message and me. The homepage includes: live broadcast, follow, recommendation, search, like, comment and forward, etc.

Kuaishou: 6 modules: discover, follow, same city, more, take photos and upload videos, search, among which discover, follow, same city are higher than take photos and upload videos, search, and more. The findings include: following, recommending, searching, liking, commenting, forwarding, etc. ,

Weishi: 5 modules: home page, channel, photo and video upload, message and me. The homepage includes: follow, recommend, search, like, comment, forward, etc.

The same function has different importance:

• The function of uploading photos and videos - the uploading function of Douyin and Weishi is very outstanding, while for Kuaishou, the level of this function is relatively low.
• Live broadcast function - Douyin's live broadcast function is placed on the homepage (level one), while Kuaishou's is placed in the personal center (level two), and Weishi is placed in the 6th sub-column in the channel sub-level, and you need to swipe to find it, which is hidden deeper than the first two levels.
• Message function - Douyin and Weishi both display messages as a separate tab, at the first level, while Kuaishou places messages in the personal center (second level).
• The second of the five tabs on the Tik Tok homepage is for recommending videos based on the user’s geographic location (region), and it changes. The second of the five tabs on the Weishi homepage is the channel, and the content section is fixed. Kuaishou has three first-level tabs. The one based on geographical location is located at the lower one. The area displayed is "Same City" and its scope is larger than that of District.

3.3.2 Comparison of main functions of Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi

• By comparing the above picture, we can see that Kuaishou has the most functions, followed by Tencent Weishi, and Douyin has relatively fewer functions. In addition to the basic core functions, we can see that Kuaishou has game center, life, learning, karaoke and other functions. In order to increase user growth, Weishi has added red envelope tasks and pre-booking functions. Tik Tok has added a mini-program entrance to divert traffic to other applications. Mini programs cover all types of products under ByteDance.
• Douyin, Weishi, and Kuaishou, in addition to the core functions of photo uploading, following, recommendation, messaging, and live streaming, have created their own unique product features based on the content of their own product matrix, such as Douyin's mini-programs; WeChat's channels; Kuaishou's life and games, etc. They all seek change in the sameness and continue to explore in the change.

3.4 Framework Layer

3.4.1 Home Page

Browsing mode comparison:

From the above analysis, it can be seen that the browsing modes of the three are almost the same, and they all adopt full-screen loop playback mode. Kuaishou has several points of differentiation:

• Swipe right to see a thumbnail vertical version of the video list, while Tik Tok and Weishi both take you to the author's homepage.
• Kuaishou will scroll and display user comments on the current video, and a [Pause] icon/progress bar will appear when clicked (for videos longer than 30 seconds). After understanding Kuaishou’s product positioning, these two differences are easy to understand. Kuaishou pays more attention to "people", and these "people" are not just those who watch videos, but also those who shoot videos. Therefore, swiping left to display the creator's video list weakens the cover guidance of the video, which increases the exposure of the author's work and allows viewers to browse in an immersive way. Tik Tok focuses more on video quality, so if you want to watch other videos of the author, you must click on the author’s homepage, see all the video covers and then choose. Of course, in addition to this, it must be related to the operational strategy behind it (there is a Douyin store on the homepage, which can accelerate the author's monetization).

3.4.2 Home page layout comparison

• Kuaishou’s navigation adopts Android’s MD design specifications, placing the navigation at the top and using drawer navigation to hide other functions. This is related to Kuaishou’s early user positioning. After all, it focuses on the sinking market, and users in third- and fourth-tier cities tend to use Android phones. Following MD specifications is a very good choice.
• Swipe left on Kuaishou to switch to the author's works list (thumbnails). This makes users more immersed and increases exposure for the creator's other works. As for Douyin and Weishi, swiping left to go to the author's homepage is equivalent to guiding users to follow the author, increasing the creator's exposure and is more in line with their operational philosophy of cultivating Internet celebrities/KOLs.
• Weishi places function icons such as likes, comments, and shares at the bottom of the video. This layout is really a bit mysterious and awkward, and it is very, very easy to click on it by mistake. Moreover, for users who are used to Douyin and Kuaishou (although they have only been optimized recently), it is very uncomfortable. You are here to grab other people's market, so why increase the user's understanding cost here? It is recommended to change it to the right side as soon as possible (unless the boss of Weishi thinks that functions such as likes and comments are not important and just wants users to watch the video carefully and immerse themselves in it).

3.4.3 Home page layout comparison

• Douyin and Weishi have maintained the same gesture operation, but Kuaishou's operation is different from the previous two. A single click on Kuaishou switches to the progress bar/pause icon, which goes against the user's habit of watching videos. When we watch mainstream videos such as Tencent Video, Youku Video, iQiyi, and Xigua Video, a single click will pause the video.
• Swiping left on Kuaishou brings up a list of videos. There is nothing wrong with the design of the video list. Youku app also has such a list display when switching to the next episode, which is a left-swiping operation. This design does not match the actions and purposes of users who frequently use Weishi and Douyin. There is no good or bad design. Any design that follows the user's operating habits is a good design.

3.4.4 Home page function details comparison

On the first screen, Tik Tok and Weishi only have one display mode (full screen), while Kuaishou defaults to palace format (Kuaishou also has full screen).

Advantages and disadvantages of palace style and full style:

Advantages of palace format: four videos can be displayed on one screen, giving users more choices. The disadvantage is that the more choices you have, the more energy the user consumes. This is especially painful for those who have difficulty making decisions. In addition, when you click on the palace format of Kuaishou, you will directly enter the video details page. Switching videos is more difficult than swiping up the screen. According to Fitts's law and the theory of the comfortable area of ​​the screen occupied by the hand, switching videos in a grid format is more difficult than swiping across the screen.

Photo upload function:

Both Tik Tok and Weishi use the “camel” tab, which has the following characteristics: uploading videos/pictures has a higher priority than the remaining four tabs (in line with the theme of UGC short videos). However, Tik Tok uses a floating style, which is one of the differences between Android and iOS standards. This style is used on the homepage. Advantages: Taking photos and uploading photos/videos is very important, which is consistent with the product (UGC). But the disadvantages of this style are:

Block part of the video content;

When the background is pure white and cannot be distinguished from the background;

Interface layout:

• The interface layout of Douyin and Kuaishou is basically the same. Avatar, favorites, comments, and sharing are all on the right, and Weishi is in the middle. Douyin’s music is at the bottom, Kuaishou’s music is on the left, and Tencent does not put music on the homepage.
• Kuaishou and Weishi display user comments on their homepage, but Douyin hides them.
• The Tik Tok icons are all the same size, except for the difference in color. In addition to the difference in color, Kuaishou icons also differ in size.

The icon of Weishi is the same as that of Douyin, only differentiating in color but not in size.

Task bonus:

Weishi has added a new red envelope task to increase the product's call rate and interactivity.

Live streaming entrance:

Tik Tok displays the live broadcast entrance on the homepage, and nothing else.

3.4.2 The second tab

Geographical location analysis:

The second tab, Douyin and Kuaishou, both recommend content based on the geographical location of the city (Douyin uses districts as the smallest unit while Kuaishou uses cities as units), while Weishi has fixed module content with more content categories. (It is speculated that Tencent Video’s variety shows and self-made video content will be integrated into it, which is also the advantage of Tencent Video’s resources).

First screen layout analysis:

The video displays of Tik Tok and Kuaishou are different.

• Tik Tok (first screen) uses a waterfall flow design that is aligned left and right, up and down, while Kuaishou (first screen) uses a waterfall flow design that is offset left and right. Although Weishi also has a waterfall flow design, it has an activity page and you can swipe left and right to switch videos.
• live streaming. Tik Tok and Kuaishou both have live broadcasts on the waterfall flow page, click to enter directly. And there are distance markings.

Position Switch:

Douyin can switch geographic location, but Kuaishou cannot.

Search function:

Kuaishou and Weishi both have search functions on this page, but Douyin does not.

Aligned and waterfall and misaligned waterfall analysis:

The misaligned waterfall flow of Kuaishou will give people a visually messy feeling. The complete page that can be seen on one screen is not as aligned as that of Douyin. When sliding down, people's vision has to move repeatedly. Looking at the Kuaishou design style for a long time will make the eyes more tired. In comparison, the style of Douyin (first screen) is better. As for the staggered waterfall flow after sliding, it is speculated that the staggered waterfall flow allows users to watch the video carefully from left to right, reducing the contrast of the video and increasing the frequency of opening the video.

Live broadcast recognition:

Douyin’s indicators are displayed in the form of labels, which are more recognizable, while Kuaishou’s indicators are weaker in color and relatively less recognizable.

Interval between upper and lower videos:

The interval between the upper and lower videos of Douyin is shorter and has a black background, so the difference is more obvious. However, the division between the lower videos of Kuaishou is wider, resulting in a large amount of white space. In comparison, the display will be relatively less.

Avatar comparison analysis:

The TikTok avatar is located on the video. Although its area is small, it will block the video range to a certain extent. The Kuaishou avatar is located in the video and the blank space each occupies half. In terms of video blocking, Kuaishou is better. However, the background image of Kuaishou is white. If the user’s avatar has a white background, it will not be easy to recognize.

Distance information:

Douyin’s distance information and avatars are together, which is more reasonable in terms of information aggregation, while Kuaishou’s distance information and avatars are separated on both sides, which is not as intuitive as Douyin. In addition, in terms of the recognition of distance information, Douyin is more eye-catching, while Kuaishou is relatively weaker.

3.4.3 Photo upload

Item Analysis:

There are 5 tabs at the bottom of Tik Tok: Take a photo, Shoot 60s, Shoot 15s, Album, and Live Streaming. There are four default tabs at the bottom of Kuaishou: photo, video, live broadcast, and karaoke.

Weishi has five modules: character usage, photo taking, local upload, smart templates, and video red envelopes, which are completely different from the other two.

Duration of video shooting:

• Why is the default time for Tik Tok 15s and Kuaishou 11s?
• Why does it take 60 seconds to shoot on Douyin and 57 seconds on Kuaishou?
• Kuaishou supports 5 minutes, and Douyin actually also supports it, but it just hides it deeper. Why?

The path to upload a 5-minute video on Douyin: Homepage - My - More - Settings - Feedback and Help - How to upload a 5-minute video - Click the link (Format requirements: It is recommended to use mp4 format, webm size not exceeding 4G, resolution is 720p (1280X720)). There are no additional requirements for Kuaishou 5 minutes.

The reason is guessed:

• The definition of a short video is within 30 seconds. Data shows that most short videos are within 15 seconds. Compared with Tik Tok's 15 seconds, the fewer resources consumed while achieving the same effect, the better. After all, bandwidth is also a considerable expense.
• The longer the video an author posts, the higher the creative requirements are for the author and the longer the author needs to spend, so the platform tends to guide authors to post shorter videos to increase the number of videos on the platform.
• Compared with Kuaishou, Douyin has a larger number of users. For the same video volume (number), the shorter a video is, the lower the bandwidth cost.
• Tik Tok will post a 5-minute video that is hidden a little deeper. It is also possible that my skills in the 5-minute video are not as good as those in Kuaishou. It is also possible that Tik Tok users do not have a strong demand for posting 5-minute videos. Adding search paths can screen high-quality authors to a certain extent.
• Tik Tok will gradually unlock this function based on the number of fans of the author if the content lasts for more than one minute.

consistency:

Tik Tok's flip, speed off, filter, beautification, countdown and more (flash, anti-shake)

They are all icons plus text, and the consistency is better. Kuaishou’s flip and flash only have icons, while speed change, timing, and countdown have icons + text. The consistency is poor.

Tik Tok: The three buttons on the bottom tab are: Props, Start, and Album. The left and right icons are pictures, which show good consistency. But Tik Tok’s are: magic, beautification, start, music, and album. Moreover, the consistency between pictures and icons is poor.

Space layout:

The overall icon of Tik Tok is relatively small, leaving more space for viewing. Kuaishou’s icons are numerous and complex, making the overall space look crowded and visually weak.

Importance and frequency:

The column for taking photos in the Douyin interface has 3 functions, while Kuaishou has 5 functions. The three functions of Tik Tok are symmetrical with large distances between them, making them easier to select with your hands and less likely to cause accidental touches. The five functions of Kuaishou appear crowded when put together, and users are more likely to touch them by mistake.

Bottom tab function:

Douyin is about taking photos, 60s, 15s, photo albums, and live streaming; Kuaishou is about taking photos, videos, live streaming, and karaoke. The different functions are album-k song. The design of Tik Tok is to put 15s and 60s videos on the same level as taking photos, photo albums, and live broadcasts, so the length of the video is very important. Kuaishou videos are at the same level as taking photos, live streaming, and singing karaoke. Specifically, 11s, 57s, and 5 minutes are one level lower than taking photos, live streaming, and singing karaoke.

3.4.4 Messages

Item Analysis:

Tik Tok and Weishi message notifications are quite similar. Douyin’s features include fans, likes, @my and comments; Weishi’s features include likes, fans, private messages and friends.

• fan. Entering the fan list on Tik Tok will show all your fans and recommend you to follow based on your friend relationships. (For example, having mutual friends or people you may know).
• The like functions and content of Douyin and Weishi are similar. The deeper hidden path of Kuaishou’s Likes is: Homepage-More-Personal Center-Likes. It is obviously more difficult to find likes on Kuaishou than on Douyin and Weishi.
• Tik Tok’s @我 is for users to @ their friends when posting videos, with the purpose of reminding important people to watch. Increase user interactivity. In Weishi’s video, @me is hidden in the message notification in the upper right corner, which is relatively deeper. Not conducive to user interaction. When a Kuaishou user posts a video and @sends it to a friend, the friend only receives a message in the notification section, and there is no separate version. Relatively speaking, it is not as strong as Tik Tok and Weishi.

Function Importance Hierarchy:

In Tik Tok, messages are the first level, and fans, likes, @my, and comments are the second level.

In Kuaishou, messages, updates, and private messages belong to the same level. In Weishi, messages are the first level, and likes, fans, private messages and friends are the second level. Among the three products, Douyin and Weishi have the same messaging function, while Kuaishou has weakened the messaging function.

Create a group chat feature:

Tik Tok’s group chat function is similar to WeChat’s voice, video, and conversation functions. It has instant messaging and social functions similar to WeChat. Kuaishou creates group chats in the form of interest groups, similar to QQ interest groups. Although they are both social users, their communication characteristics are different.

New message notification:

On Douyin, unread new messages are indicated by a small orange dot; on Weishi, “New Message” appears next to the most recent title. After reading, it disappears. In terms of recognition, Douyin is more recognizable and more reasonable. Kuaishou is directly divided into two categories: latest (unread) and read.

Recommend a friend:

Douyin and Kuaishou do not have the function of recommending friends on the message page, but Weishi does. The purpose is to use the social data of Tencent WeChat and QQ to increase user interactivity and stickiness.

Comment feature:

Tik Tok directly makes user comments into a separate module. Tik Tok is integrated into the news. Weishi users can also comment directly on messages (recently), which is very similar to Kuaishou.

Like function:

Both Douyin and Weishi have made likes an independent module, but Douyin ranks second and Weishi ranks first. Kuaishou is just a message notification.

Fans function:

Tik Tok ranks first and Weishi ranks second. Kuaishou is just a message notification.

3.4.5 My

Item Analysis:

Douyin and Weishi are at the first level, and Kuaishou is at the second level. The path is: Homepage - Update Center - User Avatar - User Information Details. Design reason: This design is determined by the navigation structure of Kuaishou’s homepage.

Add friends:

Douyin and Kuaishou put the adding friend function on the homepage, while WeChat puts the adding friend function in the message tab. The friend adding function of Tik Tok is divided into two sub-modules: friend list and friend discovery, and supports search. Kuaishou’s recommended friends and address book modules do not support search. Weishi only supports adding friends and authorizing QQ friend links, and supports search.

Geographical location:

Tik Tok and Kuaishou support the selection of geographic cities, but Weishi does not have this function on this page.

Likes, Follows, Fans, Friends:

In Douyin products, the four are at the same level of content. Kuaishou fans and attention are the first level, and likes are the second level content. In Weishi, following, fans, and likes are the first-level content, and friends are not included in this module.

Number of the same level:

Douyin has three at the same level, Kuaishou has five, and Weishi has two. The same function has different focuses. This is related to the product's design logic, resources, and advantages and disadvantages of future development.

Group Chat:

Kuaishou will display the group chat it created on this page, and Douyin’s group chat function is in the message tab. Weishi does not have a group chat function.

Release video:

Kuaishou has a function for publishing videos in the personal center, which will to some extent obscure the works that have already been published, and it is not reasonable to publish videos on this page. The reason for this design is that Kuaishou does not have a bottom tab, and the high-frequency and important function of posting videos is easily hidden, which is a disadvantage of this design architecture.

Set the cover:

Kuaishou and Weishi have the function of changing the cover, but Douyin does not.

wallet:

Weishi has a wallet function, and Douyin also has it, but the only difference is that Weishi is placed on the first-level page, while Douyin is placed on the second-level page. Kuaishou Wallet is placed in the more functions of the sidebar (deeper level). The different position indicates that the focus of the function is also different.

More:

Douyin’s other functions include: orders, wallets, my QR code, my collection, private works, mini-programs, creator service center, underage protection tools, settings, etc. Kuaishou mostly just sets top works. Weishi is mostly about: sharing homepage, my orders, settings, feedback, etc.

Youth protection features:

Tik Tok is in more sub-modules, the path is My-More-Minor-Protection-Tools. The path for Kuaishou is: Home Page-More-Teen Mode. For Weishi, go to: My-More-Settings-Teen Mode. Weishi has the longest path, while Kuaishou is the most obvious and convenient.

3.5 Interaction Layer

3.5.1 Tik Tok, Kuaishou, Weishi (mind map of uploading photos/recording videos)

3.5.2 Photo Process

The process of taking photos on TikTok:

Kuaishou's photo-taking process:

Micro-viewing photography process:

Advantages and disadvantages of uploading photos on Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weishi:

After selecting the props, Tik Tok will automatically configure music for the user to enter the next step (music plays automatically). You can change the music. Click next to automatically load it according to the user's geographic location. You can select your current location. There is a progress display during the publishing process (you can play videos of people you often watch during the publishing process to reduce the user's anxious waiting at this time), and it will play automatically after successful publishing.

Select Magic on Kuaishou and it will automatically go to the next step (without music). You need to add music manually (why doesn’t the default music play before?). Clicking the next step will also automatically load the location information based on the user’s geographic location, and the user can choose. Kuaishou’s releases load faster, and will automatically go to the homepage after successful release, but will play automatically. If the picture is published longer than the original, Kuaishou's format will make users feel anxious, which is better than Douyin's format.

Comparison of release time:

The loading time of Douyin Magic Camera is longer than that of Kuaishou. In addition, the loading time from clicking to post to completion is longer than that of Kuaishou.

3.5.3 Video Recording Process

Tik Tok video recording process:

Kuaishou video recording process:

Micro-video recording process:

Comparative analysis:

It takes 5 steps to record a video on Douyin: 1. Select props 2. Click record 3. Next 4. Publish 5. Publish successfully.

It takes 5 steps to record a video on Kuaishou: 1. Select Magic Wand/Beautify 2. Click Record 3. Next 4. Publish 5. Publish successfully.

There are 6 steps to record a video on Weishi: 1. Shoot 2. Select the magic wand 3. Click to record 4. Edit 5. Publish 6. Publish successfully.

The upload path for recording videos on Douyin and Kuaishou is shorter than that on Weishi, and there is one less step in video editing. In terms of efficiency, it is more convenient.

3.5.4 Comparative Analysis of Photo Interfaces

Music function levels:

The music change button on Douyin is located in the upper center. It is visually unclickable and can be easily overlooked by novice users. Compared with Kuaishou and Weishi, it is not very clickable.

Compared with the functions of Kuaishou and Weishi Music, Weishi's is better because Weishi has only 3 buttons in a row while Weishi has 5. Weishi is better in terms of accidental touches and efficiency.

The same function has different levels of importance:

• Flash function: Tik Tok and Weishi hide the flash inside more apps, while Kuaishou places it in a prominent position (the first icon at the top). Could it be that user groups have different preferences for flash frequencies? Most of Kuaishou's users are from third- and fourth-tier cities, so among the functions on this page, flash and other features are used more frequently?
• Countdown function: Douyin and Kuaishou both put the countdown function on this page, but Weishi puts it in More. The reason is probably that Tik Tok and Kuaishou cannot edit videos after shooting, so the countdown here can help users reserve time to prepare before shooting. The reason why Weishi hides the countdown in "More" is that after the user finishes shooting the video, Weishi must enter the editing page (optional), so it seems not as important as all the functions on the current page.
• Speed ​​change function: Douyin and Kuaishou both put the speed change function on this page, but Weishi puts it in "More". It is guessed that the Weishi page has many functions, and it would be too cluttered to put all of them on the page. Instead, all the functions are divided into first-level and second-level functions according to the user's video frequency and important lines. The countdown, flash, virtual frame, speed change, microphone, fixed-point stop are at a lower level than flip, filter, interaction, magic, shooting, and music, so they are unified and collected into more.

The same function is subdivided into different categories:

Countdown function: Douyin’s countdown is divided into 3s and 10s, while Kuaishou and Weishi are only 3s. I guess Tik Tok designed a longer countdown timer like 10 seconds based on user surveys and their familiarity with video shooting, so that users can do more preparation and increase the chances of successful shooting.

Send red envelope function:

Weishi has a unique red envelope function, which neither Douyin nor Kuaishou has. The reason is: on the one hand, the number of users of Kuaishou and Douyin is far greater than that of Weishi, and Weishi is in the stage of increasing its user base. Sending red envelopes increases user activity. Secondly, both Kuaishou and Douyin have fast versions, and the focus is on watching videos to increase activity and make money. Thirdly, in terms of business design, Douyin and Kuaishou did not design this function, while Weishi has the red envelope function on the homepage, and also has the red envelope system design logic in the personal center.

3.5.5 Comparative Analysis of Special Effects Interfaces

Special effects category:

• The special effects of Douyin include: popular, latest, role-playing, atmosphere, scene, headwear, novelty, beauty, transformation, game, and test, a total of 11.
• Kuaishou’s special effects include: popular, latest, cute, atmosphere, funny, dress-up, makeup, novelty, accessories, cute face, game, magic sound, AR, and record, a total of 14.
• The special effects of Weishi include: popular, latest, king transformation, cute, beautiful, trendy, atmosphere, creative, and funny, a total of 10.

In terms of category, Kuaishou > Douyin > Weishi.

Number of special effects displayed on one screen:

Both Douyin and Kuaishou display 15 videos on one screen (5 horizontally and 3 vertically). Micro videos are displayed in 4 rows, but 4 videos are displayed in one row, for a total of 16 videos. The number of Weishi is greater than that of Douyin and Kuaishou.

Comparative analysis of Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi floating frames:

Weishi’s floating frame design is better than Douyin and Kuaishou. Reason 1: The floating frame area of ​​Weishi is larger than that of Douyin and Kuaishou, so the area available for hand operation is larger; Reason 2: Weishi has 4 icons in a row, while Douyin and Kuaishou both have 5 icons. The area of ​​a single icon is large, and the space between them is large, so the probability of accidental touch is lower than that of Kuaishou and Douyin. In addition, the larger the icon, the easier it is for users to see it clearly, and the more likely they are to use it. Reason 3: Weishi displays 3.5 lines, half of which can guide users to scroll down and have other special effects. Tik Tok has exactly 3 lines, and novice users will think that there are only 15 special effects when they see this, which will reduce the usage rate of the remaining special effects to a certain extent. It just so happened that a small part of the third row of Kuaishou was blocked, and users mistakenly thought it was a problem with the Kuaishou software. So compared with the other three, the design of Weishi is better.

The start recording button on the special effects floating frame:

Both Tik Tok and Weishi are on the recording page. When you select the special effects pop-up box, the start recording button is blocked, but Kuaishou releases it.

The disadvantage is that when you slide down to view the special effects, the special effects in the middle will be blocked (the size of the play button is the same as the size of the special effects icon)

The advantage is: after selecting the special effect, you don’t need to click anywhere outside the floating frame to collapse the floating frame before clicking to record. More efficient.

Close Button:

When the floating frame appears on Douyin, there is no close button. Both Kuaishou and Weishi have it, but the functions are different. The close button of Kuaishou is not clickable, and clicking on this area only collapses the floating frame. However, the close button of Weishi is clickable, and clicking it directly exits the special effects selection page and returns to the initial page (this function is equivalent to closing the current page). The design of Kuaishou is easy to cause misunderstanding, as there are buttons but they cannot be clicked. The button of Weishi can be clicked when the user just wants to collapse the floating frame but it will close the entire page. It would be better to add a second confirmation to this direct closing of the current page.

3.5.6 Comparative Analysis of Recording Interfaces

Video recording status:

The progress of Douyin recording is at the top, and the progress of Douyin and Kuaishou both use the starting circle as a progress bar. The progress bar design of Weishi and Kuaishou is better than that of Douyin. Reason: When the user clicks Start, the visual center is on the Start button, but the progress of recording the video requires moving the line of sight upwards, which separates the relationship between the two and is not intuitive enough. Both started as progress bars, but Weishi is more intuitive than Kuaishou because the button of Weishi is large, easy to click, and has a low rate of false touches.

Comparison of the three copywriting during recording:

Douyin is just an icon with a check mark; Kuaishou is an "arrow" for the next step; Weishi is also an "arrow" for the finished shot. In terms of the comprehension of the copy, Weishi is greater than > Kuaishou > Douyin. The suggested text is: "Recorded" is more intuitive. In addition, compared with the "arrow" of Weishi, the "arrow" of Kuaishou icon is better because the "arrow" is more directional and targeted.

3.5.7 Comparative Analysis of Recording and Pause Interfaces

Remove video functionality:

1) Delete function comparison. Tik Tok hides the reshoot function very deeply, with only an “x” prompt in the upper left corner: Do you want to remove the current video? a. Reshoot, b. Cancel, c. Exit. Users are not expected to do this. Kuaishou and Weishi will delete this video more prominently, making it easier for users to delete it.

2) Delete interactive comparison.

TikTok puts reshooting and exiting on the same pop-up prompt, and there are 3 buttons on the page. The more buttons, the more energy the user consumes to make a decision. The harder it is to make a decision.

Kuaishou and Wei Video have made secondary confirmation for deleting this video, but the confirmation amount is different. Weishi is a pop-up frame design, with strong interruption and eye-catching prompts, which is a strong prompt. Kuaishou clicks to delete the video, and the text at the same location becomes confirmation and deletion, and the font size becomes larger. This design is a weak secondary confirmation. From the perspective of mistaken touch, Weishi's strong reminder is better. Kuaishou's design is better in terms of user operation comfort. I personally think that deleting videos is irreversible, so it is recommended to use a pop-up frame for such operations, which is more eye-catching and gives users time to think and reduce the mistouch of inertia.

Close button:

TikTok's close prompt: Should I remove the current video? a. Reshoot, b cancel, c. Exit. Click to exit and return to the homepage.

Kuaishou’s closing tip: Give up this modification? a. Cancel, b. Give up. Click Give Up and go back to the homepage.

Weishi's close prompt: Should I save the current operation to the draft box? a. Save, b. Don’t save, c. Close.

Comparative analysis: Weishi's design is better, because in the recording pause page, the closing button may be a mistaken operation, Douyin and Kuaishou exit directly, Weishi reminds you to save your work, which looks more considerate. After all, once you exit the work, it will be deleted and cannot be restored.

Red envelope function:

Since Weishi's red envelopes are not clickable on this page, is it more reasonable not to appear? The reason is: no interference to the user's visual situation will be reduced.

3.5.8 Comparative analysis of system completion interface

Return and exit when recording video:

TikTok, Kuaishou and Weishi are on the video recording completion page, click the "arrow" in the upper left corner to return to modify. However, Weishi clicked and photographed, it was a synthesis process. Click the "arrow" in the upper left corner for a long time before returning. The guess is that the process of splitting the synthesized video into 24 pictures in 1s, so it takes a long time to react.

Comparison of the number of functions:

Douyin has 8 functions: selecting music, special effects, text, stickers, filters, editing, image quality enhancement, and automatic subtitles.

Kuaishou has 9 functions: beautification, soundtrack, special effects, cover, cut, graffiti, stickers, text, and image quality enhancement.

Weishi has 10 functions: one-click movie production, editing, music, text, stickers, frame background, filters, beauty, special effects, and sending red envelopes.

The same function has different priority:

For example, select music; Douyin will rank the selection music in the first icon, Kuaishou will place it in the second position, and Weishi will place it in the third position. It can be seen that the three products have different importance for music demands, and for the same functions, the amount of content supported is also different. For example: Douyin’s music music and volume are separate from two tabs, Kuaishou and Weishi are placed on the same page. For example, select text: Douyin's text function is the same as selecting special effects and stickers, while Kuaishou text is the same level as cutting, graffiti, stickers and image quality enhancement, which is obviously weaker than Kuaishou's level.

Convenience:

Compared with Douyin and Kuaishou, Weishi can quickly produce movies with one click, which is more convenient and simple.

3.5.9 Release interface comparison analysis

Save drafts and save local functions:

Both Douyin and Weishi have the function of saving videos on pages, and Douyin's draft storage priority is higher than that of Weishi. Weishi's local saving function has higher priority than TikTok's. Kuaishou only needs to go back to the previous level when you want to return to the previous level, a box will pop up: Do you want to return to edit? a. Return to edit, b. Save and exit, c. Cancel, and return to edit color is more eye-catching. I want to guide the user to return to edit. For the analysis of the scene of saving draft and saving local scene: For users, saving draft and saving local are completely different. First of all, you save drafts on the platform. When you log in again, you can prompt: You have unreleased videos, you can quickly view and publish videos, while saving local. When you need to upload and publish videos, Douyin and Kuaishou need to select albums to select videos to publish, and Weishi needs to select local upload. In terms of the convenience of the entire operation, the priority of saving drafts is higher than that of saving local. From the interface, Douyin's design style is better than Weishi. Kuaishou does not save the local area, but saves it directly to the platform.

Return to edit:

Douyin and Weishi return to editing, without secondary confirmation, they directly return to the editing page, while Kuaishou needs secondary confirmation, and the pop-up box prompts: Do you want to return to edit? a. Return to edit, b. Save and exit, c. Cancel. I personally think this operation is a bit too strong. The more humanized design is to automatically save the information that the user has filled in on the page. Since the user clicks to return, he should want to return to the previous one without editing, and does not need a pop-up prompt. This interrupts the user's operation process. We only need to carefully save the current content and support user modifications.

This is how Douyin and Weishi are designed.

Select cover and ending:

Douyin and Kuaishou are the default covers, and you cannot choose the cover by yourself. Weishi can choose the cover and ending according to the author's hobbies. Weishi's design is more user-friendly, and at the same time, it improves users' accurate recommendations in terms of user attractiveness and recommendations.

Add mini programs, personalized settings and sync to your friends:

Douyin has its own ecosystem mini program, which can enrich the content of the mini program; Weishi can directly share it with the circle of friends after obtaining the user's consent; Kuaishou's personalized design is the permission setting for the video, such as: allowing others to shoot in the same frame with me, allowing downloading of this work and the work to not be displayed in the same city.

3.5.10 Interface comparison analysis during release

Comparative analysis during release:

The progress in Douyin's release is a circle plus numbers; Kuaishou is also a circle plus numbers and copywriting; Weishi is a progress bar plus numbers and copywriting.

Comparative analysis: Compared with Douyin and Kuaishou, Kuaishou’s design is better. Reason: During the upload of Douyin, it has higher recognition and written descriptions, which is more intuitive. Weishi's design is better than TikTok and Kuaishou. Reason: Weishi is a floating frame and has a progress bar, which is located above the entire screen. In order to reduce interference, a translucent treatment was specially made. In terms of visual striking, Weishi's design is better than Douyin and Kuaishou.

Waiting for this period of processing during release:

During the release, Douyin is processed: Douyin can automatically play your video (you follow the author's video), and reduce the waiting time to stay on the page when the Internet speed is slower. Only after the release is successful, automatically switch to the video you posted automatically. This design is very user-friendly.

Kuaishou’s processing in publishing: Kuaishou is when you upload videos, etc., automatically jump to the homepage (the video of the author you follow), and it is not automatically played.

Weishi's processing in publishing: Weishi's processing is like Douyin, which jumps to the homepage and automatically plays the video of the author you follow, and the progress bar is not hidden. This design is better than Douyin. During the video watching, you always know the progress of uploading and publishing.

3.5.11 Comparative analysis of successful release interface

Comparative analysis of successful release:

• The successful release of Douyin is displayed in a floating frame form, and the black in Beijing is distinguished by white, which is more visually prominent. Users can click to view, but there is no close button, and they stay for 1-2 seconds and automatically close.
• Kuaishou's successful release is in the box where you post videos, visually not as prominent as Douyin and Kuaishou, but it provides an entrance to "shoot another one", providing a quick entrance for users to shoot videos again. This design improves the possibility of users shooting videos from an operational perspective.
• Weishi's successful release also adopts the form of a floating frame, but the color adopts a low saturation from the background, slightly different from the background design, and has an exaggerated close button. If the user does not close, it will also be automatically closed after staying on the current page for 1-2 seconds. Like Kuaishou, it guides sharing to WeChat and Moments to achieve the purpose of secondary dissemination. Such design is also determined based on the resources you hold. Compared with TikTok, there is no prompt to take another shot. The reason is that Weishi's entrance to film videos is on the tab at the bottom, and the entrance is very obvious, while Kuaishou's entrance is only in the upper corner, and the entrance is not as prominent as Weishi. In order to make up for its shortcomings, a quick entrance to "take another one" will be added.

3.5.12 User Experience Map

Douyin video recording:

Kuaishou recorded video:

Weishi recorded video:

Comparison of the operation steps and duration of Douyin Kuaishou Weishi's release of 60s:

analyze:

• Both Douyin and Kuaishou were completed in 12 steps, but the difference between Douyin and Weishi is more than 30 seconds. The main reason is that Weishi takes more time to upload than Douyin, which is roughly 5 times that of Douyin.
• Kuaishou has more time than Douyin, mainly because Kuaishou's operation requires 14 steps, which is more than Douyin's 12 steps. The performance of uploading videos between Douyin and Kuaishou is not much different, and Weishi is much weaker than both of the above.

Comparative analysis of Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi's 60s short video release (first paragraph)

Douyin and Kuaishou click on the homepage to take photos and enter the photo interface directly, while Weishi enters a photo mode selection interface and selects shooting before entering the photo interface. In comparison, there is one more step to operate than TikTok and Weishi.

Analysis: This is related to Weishi's powerful special effects design capabilities. Click to take a photo and enter the mode list, namely: recommended special effects (7), shooting, local upload, intelligent template 4 and major modules. In addition, Weishi's homepage photo entrance picture is the first special effects picture of the recommended special effects. Kuaishou and Douyin do not have so many modules.

Comparative analysis of 60s short videos released by Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi (second paragraph)

Douyin has a 60s mode, and Weishi can only send 60s by default. If Kuaishou chooses to send 60s videos, it intelligently selects the 5-minute mode, which is why there are 2 extra steps to send 60s videos. As for why Kuaishou only has three recommended modes: 11s, 57s, and 5 minutes; Douyin has two modes: 15s and 60s; Weishi has only 60s modes, which has been discussed in previous analysis.

The reason for the guess is:

• The definition of short videos is within 30s. The data shows that most short videos are within 15s. Compared with Douyin's 15s, the less resources consumed, the better when achieving the same effect. After all, bandwidth is also a lot of overhead.
• The longer the author publishes videos, the higher the requirements for author creation, and the longer the author takes, so the platform tends to guide authors to post shorter videos to increase the amount of videos on the platform.
• Compared with Kuaishou, Douyin has a larger number of users. The shorter a video is, the lower the bandwidth cost is.
• TikTok will post 5-minute videos to hide deeper. It is also possible that because my 5-minute video is not as strong as Kuaishou's technology. It is also possible that Douyin users have a weak demand for posting 5-minute videos. Adding search paths can filter high-quality authors to a certain extent.
• TikTok will gradually unlock this function based on the number of fans of the author for more than one minute.

Comparative analysis of 60s short videos released by Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi (third paragraph)

Douyin and Weishi will automatically play when they are successfully released. Kuaishou needs to click. According to the user's operating habits, when you cannot finish posting videos, you will inertia check the videos you posted, so the automatic playback design is more in line with the user's operating habits.

3.6 Performance layer

Tik Tok:

(1) Style

The Douyin logo integrates the first letter "d" of the brand name with the notes in the stave score, and reflects the dynamic posture of "shaking" through artistic techniques. This artistic technique in logo design belongs to the "dislocation" in Glitch Art, and there are other styles such as dry waves, distortion, glitches, etc. This "displacement" form is close to the real scene we see on electronic screens. Its distortion and disturbed form make the logo design present a more realistic sense of liveness.

(2) Color

TikTok logo color value: #FE2C55, #00F7EF, #20081D

Tik Tok logo color: the main color is black, and red is added to the black to reduce saturation, making the original black look more flexible.

Auxiliary color: white. Background color: black. It is a very classic color scheme, similar to YouCui, VICE China, Jimu, and Black and White, more fashionable and cool. The notes of "Tik Tok" use cyan and red to form a superimposed shadow. The white notes under the contrast are like a luminous feeling. The beating and glowing light tubes are easy to associate with disco and psychedelics when combined.

(3) Page layout

Page layout, clear grid, coordinated proportional relationships. The design of the home page is reasonable, with balanced top and bottom, and it feels like it is top-heavy and light. The page layout is fully in line with the current Internet product design model, with reasonable layout and fresh hierarchy.

(4) Hierarchical expression

Douyin expresses it very well in the main and secondary hierarchical relationship of the page. It has hierarchical divisions on the page for different functions, and even at the same level, it tends to have weight.

(5) Icon

Douyin has not put the text and icons in place. Ion+text, plain text and pure icons are roughly divided into these three categories. The overall font is unified, and the font size, proportion and color ratio are very reasonable.

quick worker:

(1) Style

Kuaishou is mainly orange, and the easily recognizable "camera" logo clearly conveys that Kuaishou is a video software. Secondly, the solid color matching and the simple and clear design concept are more in line with the popular APP design matching in previous years, and are relatively brighter and cooler than those of Douyin. The overall color matching, white background and gray characters, the visual contrast is not strong enough. For modules such as attention and the same city, the white background and black characters are extremely difficult to identify.

(2) Color

The color values ​​of Kuaishou logo: FF5004, F4AB8F, FFFFFFF

Kuaishou logo color: main color orange, background color: white. This combination makes Kuaishou’s logo design simple and clear, in line with the current design and matching of the app. The color contrast of interface layout is relatively weak (relative to Douyin and Kuaishou). Orange is younger and more active than red, matching the youthful and cheerful atmosphere of the video.

(3) Page layout

Kuaishou's navigation adopts Android's MD design specifications, puts the navigation on the top, and uses the drawer navigation to collect other functions. This is related to Kuaishou's early user positioning, after all, it mainly focuses on the sinking market.

Users in the online cities use Android phones more often. However, it does not have an advantage in the current mainstream layout. Nowadays, a large number of apps use layouts similar to those of Douyin and Weishi’s bottom tabs. This design will help in the future

There are relatively advantages in expanding energy.

(4) Hierarchical expression

Kuaishou expresses the main and secondary hierarchical relationship of the page, which is not as good as Douyin and Kuaishou. For example, it is not as prominent as a UGC user, and it has certain functions for novices to find this function.

Difficulty, so in order to make up for the shortcomings in the design specifications, other pages of the app were forced to add a floating button to publish videos. This has an impact on consistency.

(5) Icon

Kuaishou still maintains the same icon design, most of which are icons and icons, but for the same functions of the product, some of them are only icons, such as flash icons, without text assistance.

Weishi:

(1) Style

The background color of Weishi is matched with a gradient blue and red color and a "play" logo in the middle, conveying a trendy feeling. However, the rich gradient color tones can easily cause visual fatigue, and this design is relatively niche, but it also conforms to their product positioning trendy and cool. The design of Weishi gradient has advantages in design comparison. Highlighting the characteristics of youthfulness, trendyness and coolness. Logo can be eye-catching enough in most apps, so the color purity is high enough, and the combination of gradient four colors can make it jump out of many apps.

(2) Color

Weishi's logo is the gradient of four colors of 483AFF, F043E8, FE3D74, and 1FAEFC.

Weishi: Red is its main brand color, and purple, blue and pink are its sub-brand colors. Weishi's pattern is a texture design extended from the shape of the logo. The design of the logo is more inclined to the preferences of young people.

The theme of Weishi's logo design is: reject similarity, find interesting, be loyal to attitude, dominate trends, restless era, extremely explosive.

(3) Page layout

Weishi's logo is the gradient of four colors of 483AFF, F043E8, FE3D74, and 1FAEFC.

Weishi: Red is its main brand color, and purple, blue and pink are its sub-brand colors. Weishi's pattern is a texture design extended from the shape of the logo. The design of the logo is more inclined to the preferences of young people.

The theme of Weishi's logo design is: reject similarity, find interesting, be loyal to attitude, dominate trends, restless era, extremely explosive.

(4) Hierarchical expression

Weishi expresses it in the main and secondary hierarchy relationship of the page, which is very good. It has hierarchical divisions in the page for different functions, and even at the same level, it tends to have weight.

(5) Icon

Weishi expresses it in the main and secondary hierarchy relationship of the page, which is very good. It has hierarchical divisions in the page for different functions, and even at the same level, it tends to have weight.

summary:

Overall, the visual design of the three is pretty good. Due to the early product positioning, Kuaishou's visual design is relatively simple among the three, unlike Douyin and Weishi. Compared with Douyin, it is obvious that Weishi is much more attentive than Douyin in terms of animation effects; the icon design gives people a more refined and unified feeling.

4. Business model & operation model

4.1 Business Model

Main revenue and cost split: Currently, advertising monetization is the main focus, and there is great potential for e-commerce, live broadcasts, games, etc. The profit model of short videos is similar. At present, it mainly uses advertising and live broadcast rewards as its main revenue. Douyin and Kuaishou will have more tendencies in live e-commerce (commissions) in the future. Weishi relies more on Tencent’s own resources, mainly focusing on advertising as its main revenue. In the future, it will gradually use live e-commerce as one of the important sources of revenue, because the live e-commerce model has been verified by Douyin and Kuaishou to be effective.

Comparison of commercialization between Douyin and Kuaishou:

4.2 Comparison of operating models of Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi

• Douyin has put a lot of effort into operations, making rapid progress and taking shape in a short period of time. Relatively speaking, Kuaishou's operations are more Buddhist, especially in the early stages, with almost no operations (CEO Su Hua: No star-oriented, no celebrity, no celebrity, and a "invisible" hand). In 2017, I felt the pressure from Douyin and began to officially start publicity and operation.
• In addition to relying on Tencent’s father to attract traffic, Weishi’s wisest move is to cooperate with CCTV’s large-scale evening parties. However, Douyin is not a vegetarian. It has entered the market from the side and reached cooperation with 25 central enterprises to successfully enter Douyin.
• In terms of profit model, Kuaishou and Douyin's profit model are almost the same, except that Kuaishou relies more on the 50-5 commission from the live broadcast rewards of anchors, while Douyin relies more on information flow advertising.
• In terms of profit model, Weishi seems a bit lagging compared with the first two. It should be still being searched. Even if you accept advertisements, it is just an advertisement for Tencent’s products. In addition, e-commerce monetization is also being incubated.

Comparison of the "Internet celebrity" economy between Douyin and Kuaishou:

Douyin and Kuaishou’s commercial resources and platforms:

4.3 Taking Douyin as an example, SWOT analysis of Kuaishou and Weishi

SO Strategy:

• Using powerful intelligent algorithms and effective operation model advantages, we will enhance the quality of content, and quickly occupy user groups and seize market share under the trend of short videos.
• Use the current huge number of users to improve the market competitiveness of the product itself in the short video field.
• Using the financial support of the parent company itself, we will increase operational efforts to improve the quality of product design, operation and UGC, PGC and other content.
• Taking advantage of the current favor of advertisers, we will continue to try commercial monetization methods.

WO Strategy:

• In the short video market, we optimize our own intelligent recommendation algorithm, optimize user life cycle management, establish user loss prevention mechanisms, and improve product competitiveness.
• Establish an operational architecture that is closer to users and optimize the distribution mechanism of short video traffic for your own products.
• Strengthen PGC operations, build a platform, and try to commercialize PGC authors and advertisers.
• Inspire more ordinary people to create content and accumulate social relationships.

ST Strategy:

• Using the advantages of technical algorithms and operational advantages, continue to increase product competitiveness, establish your own core advantages from functions, operation methods, etc. to seize market share, enhance the influence of products in end users, and create pressure on Tencent and Alibaba's products on the same track.
• Develop an algorithm review mechanism to avoid policy risks.
• Take advantage of its own technological operations and other advantages to seize a large amount of market share.

WT Strategy:

• Optimize the recommendation algorithm to improve user viscosity and establish technical barriers.
• Sink the market and seize users in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities.
• Join multi-traffic platforms to implement a foreign industry alliance policy to enhance its influence in the terminal.
• Improve the quality control mechanism and prevent relevant policy risks. Based on the current development stage of the product, select one of them as the development strategy to be implemented. During the actual analysis process, we will obtain corresponding conclusions based on different needs.

V. Conclusion

The development of TikTok & Kuaishou & Weishi at home and abroad:

Currently, the user penetration rate of Douyin and Kuaishou is relatively high, and the growth of domestic users is limited. Currently, the penetration rate of mobile netizens in first- and second-tier cities, third-tier and below cities is 40% and 46%, respectively, Kuaishou's penetration rate of mobile netizens in first- and second-tier cities, third-tier and below cities is 21% and 44%, respectively, and Weishi users' penetration rate of mobile netizens in first- and second-tier cities, third-tier and below cities is 20% and 30%, respectively. There is still a big gap between the first and second-tier cities, third-tier and below cities. Overall, there is limited room for domestic user growth in the future.

The second growth curve of Douyin comes vertically from domestic users’ deep cultivation and monetization, horizontally from product matrix linkage (Douyin Volcano Edition & Xigua Video & Toutiao, etc.) + internationalization, Kuaishou’s second growth curve comes vertically from domestic users’ deep cultivation and monetization, horizontally from new product incubation. The first growth curve between Douyin and Kuaishou comes from the rapid growth of domestic users. At present, the user growth dividend has gradually reached its peak. Both are seeking a second growth curve. Douyin's future growth comes more from domestic users' deep cultivation and monetization + product matrix linkage + internationalization, while Kuaishou's future growth will come more from domestic users' deep cultivation and monetization + new product incubation. Weishi is still in the stage of increasing user activity and attracting new people to promote vitality.

Tiktok's overseas version of Tiktok has achieved results in breaking through. In 2019, global downloads have jumped to fourth place, and entered the top 15 global game advertising channels in 2020, with huge future potential. Tiktok's overseas version of Tiktok was early on replicating successful domestic products and operation strategies, adopting centralized algorithm distribution methods, introducing celebrity Internet celebrities, vigorously promoting online and offline, and adjusting marketing strategies according to local conditions to meet local market demand. At the same time, acquiring Musical.ly to achieve product mergers. TIktok's overseas breakthrough has achieved results. In 2019, global downloads jumped fourth, with revenue reaching US$88.5 million in 2019, a month-on-month increase and six times year-on-year increase. Tiktok is expected to start the monetization and monetization process in 2020. The foreign kwai's share of time abroad is not high, and only in Brazil its share of time exceeds that of Douyin; Weishi's future Weishi can develop its market abroad, especially in Southeast Asia.

ByteShi has obvious traffic advantages. In 2019, the market share of mobile game buying channels may reach more than 50%. Through the "own channel to establish cognition - accumulate portraits of light games - harvest users with heavy games", we will gradually deepen the distribution and self-development of games. ByteDance's users' pan-entertainment content needs overlap with game users' needs. According to our calculations, ByteDance's market share in mobile game buying channels may reach more than 50% in 2019, and ByteDance's traffic advantage is obvious. ByteDance currently uses its subsidiary Chaoxi Guangnian as its base to plan for game research and development, distribution, operation, promotion and other fields. Through "acquisition + poaching", it has formed a team of more than 1,000 people in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. Adhering to the strategy of "building cognition through its own channels - accumulation of portraits of light games - harvesting users with heavy games", it has gradually deepened its distribution and self-development of games.

In the future, TikTok will become stronger and stronger in foreign markets, and Kuaishou and Weishi will also strengthen their occupation of overseas markets. At the same time, the three products will face challenges from giants (giants such as Facebook and youtobe).

Risk warnings for Douyin, Kuaishou and Weishi: policy risks, intensified market competition, insufficient monetization, and user loss risks.

Author: Designer's Car Rise Diary

Source: Designer's Car Rising Diary