Watching videos in free time has become an entertainment activity for many people. As a video app with huge user traffic, Xigua Video has many aspects worth learning from since its development. This article sorts out the development history and iteration path of Xigua Video, analyzes it from the perspectives of users, product functions, page design and interactive experience, and puts forward some optimization suggestions to share with you.

1. Product experience information

1.1 Product Information

1.2 Experience Information

1.3 Purpose of analysis

1. Briefly sort out the strategic development process and APP iteration path of Xigua Video;
2. Briefly analyze the functional structure and business process of Xigua Video;
3. Determine the classification and characteristics of Xigua users and provide typical user scenarios;
4. Starting from the APP itself, analyze the page design, user experience and interaction characteristics of Xigua Video, find areas for improvement, put forward optimization suggestions and provide page prototypes;
5. Learn how to write product analysis reports.

2. Product Analysis

In general, Xigua Video has experienced a gradual transformation from a PGC short video platform (Toutiao Video) → a PUGC short video platform → a PUGC comprehensive video platform, and its content has gradually covered various forms such as short videos, live broadcasts, and long videos.

Correspondingly, APP products have been constantly iterating and becoming more complete with the adjustment of positioning and the expansion of content forms, thus developing into the latest version today.

2.1 Initial period (May 2016-early June 2017): [Toutiao Video] — PGC short video platform

2.1.1 Product Development Overview

Toutiao Video (the predecessor of Xigua Video) was officially launched in May 2016. Its content is mainly PGC short videos. It is positioned as a short video platform for personalized recommendations. It recommends videos through algorithm analysis of users' browsing volume, viewing history, and length of stay. With the help of the successful model of Toutiao's recommendation algorithm and the opportunity of the explosion of the short video industry, Toutiao Video quickly gained user recognition; and its investment of billions to support short video creators has led to a rapid increase in the number of videos and content on the platform. By June 2017, the number of users had exceeded 100 million and the DAU had exceeded 10 million.

2.1.2 Product iteration

During this stage, [Toutiao Video], as a short video product of Toutiao, launched a large number of product functions, basically solving the basic functions that users need to use a video APP. Its main version iterations and update instructions are shown in the figure below. It is not difficult to find that in addition to basic design optimization, this stage focuses on optimizing user experience.

1. The optimization of video playback smoothness and clarity allows users to watch videos more smoothly, solves the problem of audio and video out of sync for some users, and provides a variety of clarity options.
2. The revised login page shortens the time it takes for users to log in. Users can log in with one click, and can then upload and download videos, follow accounts, and post comments.
3. The launch of the Discovery Channel gives users space to explore more videos, solving the problem of users not knowing what to watch. This is also the basic model of short video apps.
4. The launch of offline caching and barrage functions has optimized the user experience. These two functions are also the basic functions of today's video apps, and also lay the foundation for future product iterations and business expansion.

2.2 Growth period (June 2017-December 2017): [Xigua Video] — PUGC short video platform

2.2.1 Product Development Overview

Riding on the strong growth in the early stage, Toutiao Video renamed its brand as [Xigua Video] on June 8, 2017, changed its logo and gave a new slogan [Give you fresh and beautiful], embarking on the road of brand renewal and iteration.

According to Zhang Nan, the person in charge, the reason why Xigua Video was upgraded to an independent brand is to have a clearer brand recognition in the short video industry. After the name change, Xigua Video has been focusing on its short video business from aspects such as supporting original creators and completely upgrading the original creator platform. At the same time, it launched the 3+X monetization plan, including platform sharing, buying while opening, live broadcast function, watermelon production and many other contents, and established a 2 billion joint production fund to help platform creators monetize. In October of the same year, the number of Xigua Video users exceeded 200 million, making it the largest PUGC short video platform in China.

2.2.2 Product iteration

During this period, although the product has been iterated, the core functions have not changed much. The main changes are experience optimization (bullet screen function upgrade, continuous video playback, search function optimization) and function iteration to attract users (short videos, support for uploading system videos).

It is worth noting that [Short Video] was given a separate TAB position, which also shows the changes and efforts that Xigua Video has made to secure its position as the leading PUGC short video platform during this stage.

In addition, after users follow an account, they will be recommended other related accounts, and the videos uploaded by the user will be recommended to other users. On the one hand, it can accurately push content to ordinary users, and on the other hand, it can also provide creative motivation for creators.

2.3 Transition period (January 2018 to present): PUGC comprehensive video platform

2.3.1 Product Development Overview

After entering 2018, the growth rate of Xigua Video has accelerated significantly. By February 2018, the number of users exceeded 300 million, the average daily usage time exceeded 70 minutes, and the average daily playback volume exceeded 4 billion. However, it also faces problems such as stagnant DAU data (maintained at around 40 million in 2018), regulatory requirements for rectification, and insufficient differentiation in content competition.

As a result, Xigua Video gradually focused on the live broadcast and long video fields, and launched the live quiz show "Millionaire Heroes", which became all the rage. In August of the same year, Xigua Video announced that it would invest 4 billion yuan in the next year to produce mobile native variety shows, officially entering the long video field. The first program was "Top Mission" hosted by Wang Han. In October, Xigua Video once again upgraded its APP and brand, aiming to encourage more diversified content creation and continuously extend the content scope to include live broadcasts, self-made variety shows and other video content areas.

On January 17, 2019, the president of Xigua Video announced the new brand positioning of Xigua Video: a comprehensive video platform that aggregates diverse cultures, aggregates the content ecosystem into more than 500 categories, and focuses on original production, starting to work towards a PUGC comprehensive video platform. It then launched a series of micro variety shows: such as "It's okay if you don't do well in the exam? , "We Live in the 80s", "Uncle's Restaurant", etc. Although they have good star resources, the programs themselves have not attracted much attention. As a newcomer in this field, Xigua Video is still in the process of trial and error and still needs to make up for its shortcomings.

According to data released by Xigua Video in 2019, it has 350 million users, 50 million daily views, and a usage time of up to 80 minutes. Compared with 2018, the number of users increased by 50 million, the usage time increased by 10 minutes, and the growth rate tended to slow down. Behind the growth is not only the visible hand of self-produced variety shows, but also another invisible hand is at work.

Xigua Video has been low-key in its copyright procurement, covering different categories such as movies, TV series, variety shows, children's programs, including TV variety shows, animation, etc. However, its copyright purchasing strategy is not radical. The copyrights of movies and TV series it purchased are mostly classic resources (such as "Bright Sword", "The Return of the Condor Heroes", etc.), not new content.

But in 2020, this process began to become radical. Whether it was acquiring the exclusive broadcasting rights of "Lost in Russia" during the Spring Festival, or buying the exclusive network broadcasting rights of "The Voice of China 2020", it showed its ambition to promote user growth and advance long-video content business.

2.3.2 Product Iteration

During this stage, Xigua Video continued to optimize the user experience, such as changes to personal homepages, upgrades to video clarity, support for two-finger control of video page size, the launch of the automatic resume function, etc.

For creators, high-quality authors are easier to be discovered by users, and the wallet page supports cash withdrawal functions, which brings creators more exposure and convenient operation; at the same time, it also improves the editing function when publishing videos, making it easier and faster for users to shoot and publish videos.

More importantly, as mentioned above, Xigua Video expanded into the live broadcast and long video fields during this period, so the APP also launched a live broadcast function and repeatedly optimized functions related to the live broadcast experience (such as reporting, lottery functions, fan group functions, and the full opening of live broadcast permissions in the later stage, etc.); as for long videos, the APP launched the [Screening Room] page, which classified movies, TV series, variety shows and other content into this module, and supported the display of videos in the same series and the playback mode of series simulcast.

From the update notes in this regard, it can be seen that Xigua Video is constantly enriching and supplementing its video content, and has launched many movies, TV series and self-made variety shows.

2.4 Conclusion

Looking back at the development history and product iterations of Xigua Video, we can find that the APP needs to carry more and more content formats, and needs to pay attention to short videos, live broadcasts, and long videos at the same time.

In addition, as a platform that is not only for watching videos but also encourages more and more users to post videos, it is necessary not only to optimize the operating experience of PUGC creators, but also to take into account the user experience of ordinary users.

Therefore, judging from the current development direction of Xigua Video, the APP should distribute video content more reasonably based on the development of its operating activities, while optimizing and coordinating the user experience of platform users (including creators and ordinary users), and develop in a more balanced direction.

3. User & Scenario Analysis

3.1 User Analysis

There are two main categories of Xigua Video users, namely content demanders (ordinary users) and content creators.

3.1.1 Content Demanders (Ordinary Users)

There is not much difference in gender among Xigua users, but the proportion of males is relatively high, at 54.4%.

In terms of age distribution, users under the age of 40 account for more than 70%, among which users aged 31-35 and 25-30 account for a relatively high proportion, at 25.2% and 21.2% respectively. This shows that young and middle-aged people are the main users of Xigua.

In addition, users' city-level distribution tends to be low-tier cities, with users in second-, third-, and fourth-tier cities accounting for a total of 64.9%. However, the number of users in first-tier and new first-tier cities has been on the rise in recent years, with Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai and other cities being typical examples.

In terms of video content preferences, Xigua users most often watch film and television videos, highly approve of (like) game videos, and are curious about emotional videos.

In addition, according to the "2019 Xigua Video User Insight Report" released by Juliang Suansu, based on the user's attributes and preferences, Xigua's typical user groups are mainly divided into the following five categories:

1. Steel Runners—Men born in the 1980s in high-end cities (who like to watch car videos);
2. Female variety show party - post-95 high-end urban women;
3. Beautiful women—post-95s high-end urban women (who like fashion videos);
4. Young mothers - women born in the 1990s in high-end cities (who love videos about mothers and babies);
5. Foodie Girl Group—women born after 1995 in high-end cities (who love food videos).

3.1.2 Content Creators

In terms of video content, the top five are movies, games, music, food and variety shows. Among them, film and television, as the category with the largest video volume, maintains a rapid growth. The number of film and television authors has exceeded 1.1 million. "Dabaihua Benren", "Hanamachi Curator" and "Gu Amo AmoGood" are representatives among them, all of whom have a large number of fans.

There are 660,000 game video authors, a year-on-year increase of 66.1%. "Chen Dabai Game Commentary", "Lao Siji" and "Serious Uncle Jiang" are typical game video authors.

In addition, the number of music video authors has increased by 3.6 times year-on-year, exceeding 670,000, with "Beautiful Voice", "Northeast Guan Sister" and "Little Music Devil" as representatives.

The number of food-related authors also reached 670,000, a year-on-year increase of 95.1%; the number of variety show video authors was over 420,000. The main cooperation platforms included TV stations such as Hunan Satellite TV, Zhejiang Satellite TV, Jiangsu Satellite TV and Dragon TV, online video platforms such as Youku Video and Mango TV, as well as film and television production companies such as Canxing Production, Huanle Media and Qianzu Media.

3.2 Scenario Analysis

3.2.1 Scenario 1: Content Consumption

Xiao A, male, a 20-year-old college student. I like watching Hong Kong movies on Xigua Video, especially Stephen Chow’s movies, which I watch repeatedly. Later, as more and more films are launched on Xigua, I will also watch some of the newly launched films. Basically, you can search and watch movies through the [Screening Room] page. In some fragmented time, I also like to watch film and television clips. When I am interested in watching the full version, I will jump to the main film through the button below the video.

Xiao B, female, 24 years old, a working woman. I like to watch variety shows in my free time after get off work, but due to limited time I cannot keep up with the updates, so I will concentrate on watching videos on weekends. Since Xigua Video has fewer advertisements and more variety shows, I often use Xigua Video to watch variety shows. However, she gradually discovered that some popular variety shows could not be found on Xigua Video.

Xiao C, male, an 18-year-old college student, likes to play games. He follows many game creators on Xigua. In his spare time, he would watch their videos, learn some operating skills, and communicate with others by posting barrages. He feels very happy. However, as I follow more and more accounts, when my favorite authors post updates, it is difficult to find them in the author avatar column on the [Homepage], and I often have to swipe right to get there.

Xiao D, male, 34 years old, middle-level professional. I usually pay attention to digital and automotive content. During my breaks, I like to watch videos about cars and digital products on Xigua Video. I am considering changing my phone or buying a new car recently, so I am very interested in the review videos on the platform. Therefore, I not only follow the official accounts of brands, but also follow some high-quality original creators.

3.2.2 Scenario 2: Content Creation

Xiao E, female, 21 years old, likes to chase stars. She likes to edit some variety shows and dynamic videos of stars. She will not only post them on Xigua Video, but also on the star fan topic on her Weibo. Since the editing of this kind of video is not difficult, she can post several in a week. But gradually, due to lack of innovation and serious homogeneity, the number of views of the videos she released became lower and lower.

Xiao F, female, 24 years old, has a low level of education. I have lived in the countryside since I was a child, and I like to take pictures of my daily farming life. Initially it was out of interest, but due to Xigua's support for traffic in videos on agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and the simple and realistic style of his own videos, he gained many fans. Later, he opened a Xigua shop to sell some agricultural products. Thanks to advertising revenue and e-commerce sales sharing, she is gradually improving her quality of life through Xigua Video.

Xiao G, female, 22 years old, has a sweet appearance and sings beautifully. By chance, she became a host on Xigua, and she would do a live broadcast to sing every night, which attracted a lot of attention. Her fans were mainly men, but it became difficult to attract new users over time, and her income was not very stable.

Xiao H, male, 28 years old. As a high-quality content creator on Xigua, he will create some food videos regularly. Although the editing and production are relatively rough, he will keep trying new recipes. While learning to cook himself, he also teaches others how to cook. His language style is humorous and funny, so he is liked by many people. He considered signing an exclusive contract with Xigua, but ultimately decided to distribute it on multiple platforms, which was safer.

4. Product Function Structure and Business Process Analysis

4.1 Product Function Structure

The functional structure of Xigua Video APP (version 4.7.4) is divided into 5 major modules: Home; Screening Room; Release; Live Broadcast; Mine.

The five modules can be accessed through the tags at the bottom, including:

1. After opening the APP, you will enter the [Homepage] by default and display recommended short video content;
2. [Screening Room] Centrally displays long video content, such as full versions of movies, TV series, and variety shows. When you enter this page, recommended content is displayed by default;
3. Click the [Publish] icon at the bottom to directly enter the video shooting and selection page;
4. The [Live] module displays live broadcast content. When you enter this page, recommended live broadcasts are displayed by default;
5. [My] is a common function module in mobile APPs, which can manage information, records, works, etc., and can also enter other service areas. The specific functional structure diagram is shown in the following figure:

4.2 Business Process Analysis

As mentioned in the user analysis section above, Xigua users can be roughly divided into ordinary users and creators.

Among them, the needs of ordinary users are mainly to watch videos. From the perspective of pure usage path, users can:

1. Watch videos of authors you follow;
2. Watch videos of interest by channel classification;
3. Watch the corresponding video content by searching keywords;
4. And randomly watch video content recommended by the system. Afterwards, you can like, comment, forward, collect, reward, etc. Of course, different video formats will have different entrances and paths. In addition, ordinary users can also choose to become a UGC creator to share the videos they have shot.

Regarding creators, they can actually be further divided into UGC and PGC.

Among them, the largest is UGC, whose characteristics are that they are not only consumers of content, but also creators of content. However, the content they publish is mostly driven by internal motivations, such as simply recording life and sharing updates. They do not have the professionalism of video shooting and editing, the fixed update time, and the depth and richness of content like professional creators. As a result, most videos are highly homogenized and the quality of videos varies greatly. Naturally, it is difficult for them to get the traffic exposure support of the platform and be liked and paid attention to by other users.

However, some high-quality content and creators will naturally emerge, and they will gradually grow into PGC. Of course, PGCs may be working alone or supported by professional teams, namely MCN agencies.

However, no matter it is UGC or PGC, the process of using the APP is uniformly implemented through the [Publish] function. After review, the platform will distribute traffic based on various indicators (such as content, interactivity, number of fans, etc.). After several rounds of screening, high-quality content will naturally be displayed in a more exposed position (such as "Popular Authors" under the search page).

At the same time, the platform's recommendation system will recommend "content of interest" to ordinary users based on their interests and behavioral traces, thereby connecting content consumers and content creators. In addition, due to the rapid expansion of Xigua Video content, excellent film and television works (long videos) will also be given priority to be displayed on the corresponding pages. The following is a detailed business process diagram:

5. Product Page Analysis and Improvement Plan

As mentioned above, Xigua Video has been continuously polishing its APP as its content becomes richer, and has basically formed a product APP interface, functions and interactions that are in line with its positioning as a comprehensive video platform, and has presented the current version 4.7.4.

Whether it is the classification of video content or user experience, the overall performance is good and has reached a relatively balanced state. However, this article still does not involve the specific APP page display. After all, no product is perfect and still requires continuous trial and error and iteration. This section starts from the product page, experiences and analyzes some functions and interactions, and hopes to provide some suggestions for the later improvements of Xigua Video.

Due to the author's limited ability, I was not able to analyze all pages, functions, and interactions one by one. I only analyzed the pages that I was interested in and experienced. At the same time, I gave some optimization suggestions and page prototypes based on my own ideas.

5.1 [Home]

Open the Xigua Video APP. After a 5-second splash screen ad, you will be taken to the [Home] page by default, and the video list under the "Recommended" channel will be displayed by default, as shown in the following figure:

Overall, the search bar, as one of the most commonly used functions by users, is placed at the top of the page.

Below it is the channel classification column. Click on each channel to enter the corresponding video partition. You can see that the default top five channels are Follow, Recommend, Movie, TV Series, and Short Video.

The accounts followed by users are located at the top of the page and are given a larger space. When an account followed by a user is updated, an emphasized "filled circle" will appear on the account's avatar to remind the user. Clicking on the account's avatar will take you to the author's homepage.

In addition, there is the video list, which occupies the largest space on the "Recommendation" page and displays basic information such as the account's avatar and nickname. Users can click on the video to play it, and can also perform a series of operations such as likes, comments, and favorites.

Finally, the bottom is the main function navigation area. Click on the corresponding function to enter the corresponding interface. The overall page is concise and the information is clearly expressed.

Optimization suggestions:

Although there are no shortcomings in the overall page layout, the author still wants to make a small suggestion, which is to add a user's avatar in the upper left corner of the page (to the left of the search bar), and click the avatar to jump to the [My] interface.

That is, the settings of Station B are as shown below:

reason:

Just like Xigua’s value proposition, it encourages and advocates users to share their lives and encourages diversified content creation, which is to cultivate and strengthen users’ awareness of self-expression. Therefore, it is very important for both ordinary users and professional creators to have a way to map their identity on the Internet and feel self-expression and respect. The avatar, nickname, and personal signature all convey a certain identity and self-awareness of the individual. Placing the user's avatar in the upper left corner of the page can enhance the user's sense of satisfaction and respect, and thus enhance the user's favorability towards the platform.

In addition, clicking on the avatar to enter the [My] page has become a method that users are very accustomed to, which is easily accepted by users and fits the current interaction method.

5.2 Search bar function

Since the search bar at the top exists not only in the [Home], but also in the [Cinema] and [Live] modules (as shown in the figure below), and clicking the search bar in the three modules will lead to the same search page, we will analyze them together here.

As shown in the figure, the pages of the three modules and the search interface entered from the search box of the page are captured at the same time.

First of all, it can be found that the "system recommended content label" in the search box on the [Home], [Cinema], and [Live] pages does not scroll in turn to display different content like platforms such as Tencent Video, but is basically a fixed "XX | XX" content and format, which will only change when you re-enter the APP.

In addition, it has been observed that the recommended label contents of the three search boxes are different. The recommended label of [Homepage] is relatively more related to the user's most recent behavior, [Cinema] is more related to the user's recent (a few weeks ago) behavioral data, and [Live Broadcast] is a combination of the two. This speculation comes from the author's experience (I have watched several Louis Koo movies and police and gangster films in recent days, and watched Running Man a month ago).

Secondly, after the user clicks to enter the search interface, the label of "Quickly Select Content" under the search box is consistent with the content label in the previous search box. This is actually a guide for user behavior. The user can directly display the search results page after clicking the corresponding label.

For example, in Figure 5-1-b, clicking on “Running Man Season 4” will display the search results. Finally, the search interface is consistent overall, with content distributed in two columns. It has a record of search history, as well as recommended content such as guesses you might want to search, TV series, movies, popular authors, etc., all of which can facilitate user operations.

Optimization suggestions and reasons:

Change the content and format of the recommended labels in the search box, that is, adopt a carousel format, display the next content every 3 seconds, and cancel the "XX | XX" format, only display "XX", and display category labels after each content, such as "The Voice of China 2020 [Hot]", "Hong Kong Police and Gangster Movies [Recommended]", etc.

reason:

Although the recommended contents of [Homepage], [Cinema Room] and [Live Broadcast] are different, the recommended search function should cover various forms such as personalized recommendations and hot searches. On the one hand, it can give users more choices and a better experience. On the other hand, it can also play a role in promoting and directing the content that the platform promotes in a certain period of time. Adding tags such as [Popular] and [Recommended] can make information transmission clearer and guide users to search and watch.

Cancel the display of the "Quick Selection Content" label under the search box in the search interface.

reason:

Even though this kind of display makes it easier for users to click and select, it feels redundant. Because when the user does not actively input, recommended content will be displayed in the search box, and the user can also jump to the search results page by directly clicking the word "Search" on the right side of the search box.

In addition, from the distribution of content on the search interface, there are "Search History", "Guess What You Want to Search", etc., but there is no clear classification for "Quick Select Tags". Users can click on the recommended content under "Guess What You Want to Search", "TV Series", and "Movies" to quickly reach the video results they want to watch. Of course, the premise is that the algorithm recommendation results under "Guess what you want to search" are accurate enough, which requires the platform to optimize the algorithm recommendation.

The optimized page example is shown in Figure 5-1-g below:

5.3 Channel Category Column

The channel classification column is not unique to the [Homepage]. Other main function pages also have channel classifications. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis is conducted in this section to find out the shortcomings and put forward optimization suggestions.

First of all, [Homepage] has the most channel categories. In addition to "Follow" and "Recommendation", there are also long video sections such as "Movies" and "TV Series", as well as short video sections such as "Games" and "Campus", covering a wide range of video formats and types. Click the "More" icon on the right side of the category bar to jump to the full channel display and management page (Figure 5-1-h2). Through the "Edit" function (Figure 5-1-h3), users can customize management channels, choose to delete/add channels, and freely sort channels. The "Follow" and "Recommend" functions are restricted by the system and cannot be changed, which gives users room for management and selection.

Secondly, the channel classifications on the [Screening Room] and [Live Broadcast] pages are more concentrated. Since [Screening Room] is an independent long video area, it currently has multiple channels such as "Recommendation", "Good Voice", "Movies", "TV Series", "Children", "Documentary", "Animation", "Variety Show", and "Hollywood". The [Live] page has multiple channels such as "Recommendations", "Games", "Music", "Countryside", "Life", "Media", and "Know Car Emperor".

In addition, since there are not many channel categories, users can browse more channels by swiping right on the channel bar, so there is no custom management channel function like [Homepage].

Optimization suggestions and reasons:

Cancel the "Movies" and "TV Series" channels in the [Homepage] and add a "Popular Movies and TV Series" channel.

reason:

As shown in the functional structure diagram of this article, the content displayed on the [Homepage] is mainly short videos, including 26 channels such as "Games" and "Music". However, due to the change in Xigua's positioning and the expansion of content boundaries, it has taken movies, TV series, variety shows, etc. as the focus of the long video field, thus giving "Movies", "TV series" and "Variety shows" (such as "The Voice") display positions on the [Homepage]. Among them, movies and TV series are the most frequently watched categories by Xigua users, and their default position is after "Recommendations" (Figure 5-1-j1). However, this overlaps with the channel classification in the [Screening Room] that focuses on long videos, which can easily confuse users (Figure 5-1-j2).

By comparing the "Movie" channel page in the [Homepage] and [Cinema], it can be found that the two are basically the same in content layout, whether it is the scrolling window recommendation, filtering function, or the special area and recommended film area of ​​the movie list page, there is basically no big difference. However, the content of the [Homepage] will be closer to current affairs and hot topics. For example, when the male protagonist of Black Panther passed away, the [Homepage] immediately launched the "Black Panther" movie and a special section to review the male protagonist's works, while the "Movie" channel of the [Screening Room] did not take this action.

In addition, the "Movie" channel page of [Screening Room] is more comprehensive and exquisite. For example, the default area classification includes not only popular lists but also upcoming film areas.

The "TV Series" channel pages in [Home] and [Screening Room] are basically the same, but the "TV Series" channel page in [Screening Room] is still more comprehensive, with various theater sections and a list of TV series "recommended for you".

Therefore, it can be seen that the main goal of the movie and TV series channel in the [Homepage] should be to provide users with a quick entry, which can not only play a role in diversion, but also recommend more relevant content to users. This is mainly because the default entry after opening the APP is [Homepage], which has more exposure. Therefore, following this logic, we cancelled the "Movies" and "TV Series" channels in the [Homepage], but added a "Popular Movies and TV Series" channel.

This change can make the channel settings of the [Homepage] more streamlined, eliminating user confusion, and at the same time pay more attention to the promotion of high-quality content. For example, when Xigua acquires the copyright of popular movies and TV shows, or when making a collection of some popular areas, it will be more accurate and direct. The problem with this move is that it may make existing users feel uncomfortable, so it still needs to be evaluated and verified. However, this idea may help Xigua integrate the content of short videos and long videos.

Change the page content layout of the "Recommendations" channel in the [Homepage].

reason:

Recently, Xigua won the exclusive online broadcasting rights for The Voice of China 2020 and placed "The Voice" on the [home page], naturally in order to gain more attention from users. This, like the "Movies" and "TV Series" channels, will also have a certain impact on the short video content originally promoted on the [Homepage], but this method is understandable as a commonly used means. As Xigua's self-produced variety shows increase or it obtains the online broadcasting rights for more popular variety shows, this method can still be used to quickly reach the audience's field of vision.

At the same time, I found that when the "Voice of China" was launched, the "Voice of China" channel was not immediately placed after the "Recommendations" on the [Homepage], but occupied a more advantageous position as the program became popular. Perhaps Xigua has also considered the implementation of this point and it does not seem radical. After all, the "Voice of China" channel entrance and dedicated page have been added to the [screening room] in a timely manner.

Therefore, the author considered changing the page layout of the "Recommendation" channel in the [Homepage] for two reasons: First, the default entry when opening the APP is the recommended channel of the [Homepage], which has a stronger exposure advantage than other channels; second, at the product level, it can provide some new ideas when adjustments are needed when new content is launched on Xigua.

I have observed and experienced some other video apps. Take Tencent Video as an example. After opening the app, you will enter the [Home] Featured page by default (Figure 5-1-j5). Above it is a scrolling window mode, which recommends recently popular or newly launched content, including not only movies and TV series, but also many variety shows and some advertisements.

Clicking on movies and TV series will directly play the full version, while clicking on variety shows will play the "Highlights" Cut clip by default. Users can play the full program by clicking on the "Full Version" in the selection area (Figure 5-1-j6). Therefore, Xigua can learn from this method to better promote its current main variety show content, and of course it can also recommend film and television videos at the same time. Accordingly, the page layout under [Home] Recommendations needs to be slightly changed.

Then, based on the above two changes, a new page prototype is given:

5.4 [Home] "Follow" page

As shown in Figure 5-1-1 below, in the [Home] "Follow" page, at the top of the page is a list of avatars of the people the user follows. The user can swipe right to view more people he or she follows; below is a list of recommended videos. It is worth noting that these videos are not the "latest" videos released by the people the user follows.

Secondly, click on the corresponding avatar to enter the "People I Follow" interface. In this interface, the author's videos are sorted by time, with the most recently released videos listed at the front. Users can view the video homepages of other people they follow by swiping left and right. In addition, click on "Personal Homepage" to enter the corresponding author's personal homepage, which displays the contents of the "Video" column by default.

Optimization suggestions and reasons:

About the avatar column of the people the user follows:

1. Add a "most frequently visited" label to put the authors that users visit most frequently in front; when an author updates, the author's avatar should be placed in front, which means that the priority is still the highest.
2. Add a "All Following" function component to the right side of the avatar bar, and users can view and manage the people they follow after clicking it.

reason:

The main purpose is to make it easier for users to view the homepage/videos of their favorite authors. The existing way to view more followers on the "Follow" page is just to swipe right, but as the number of authors followed by users increases, this method is naturally not very convenient. In addition, displaying the avatars of the authors that users visit most frequently in front can increase the stickiness between the authors and users, and adding the "Follow All" function provides users with a quick entry to view and manage their followers.

Therefore, the optimized prototype of this page is as follows:

About the recommended videos under "Follow" on [Home]: Prioritize the "latest" videos posted by people you follow

reason:

The existing recommended videos on this page are videos posted by people the user follows, but they are not arranged in chronological order. Most of them are videos from a few weeks or months ago, and different videos will be displayed after refreshing. It is understandable that this approach can increase the exposure of the author's videos and allow users to view other videos of the author they follow, rather than just the latest content. However, from the user's perspective, users tend to watch all/most of the videos of their favorite authors.

In other words, as long as users form a preference and dependence on their favorite authors, they will spontaneously and actively watch other videos of the author. Well, since "Follow" occupies the front position of the [Home] channel bar, users will naturally expect to be able to directly see the latest videos of the author they follow after entering. Although users can also achieve this through other methods (such as clicking on the author's avatar to enter the "People I Follow" interface), relatively speaking, you can still see the latest content under "Follow" to be more direct and efficient.

"People I follow" interface: add "Dynamic" column

reason:

The interface of "The People I Follow" is more like a divided independent video viewing area. Its layout and style settings continue a unique "byte sense". The disadvantage is that it is not very unified with the "white, simple" style of other pages. The advantage is that it builds a special area for users to "immersive experience".

The author found that this interface is actually similar to the video dynamic page presented after bilibili clicks on the UP main avatar in [Dynamic] (Figure 5-1-n). You can see that the [Dynamic] page of B Station is divided into two columns, namely "Video" and "Comprehensive". The "Comprehensive" column not only contains videos, but also includes text, pictures, live broadcasts and other dynamics.

Taking the "Video" column as an example, click the up master avatar under this column to display the video dynamic page of the up master. You can view the video dynamic page of other up masters by sliding left and right. However, since the personal dynamics of B station will display basic information such as the up owner's avatar and nickname, users can click on the avatar of the dynamic block to enter the up owner's personal homepage, while Xigua is achieved by clicking on the "personal homepage" at the bottom.

In addition, after clicking [Dynamic] on B station, the content of the "Comprehensive" column is opened by default. Entering the personal homepage of the up owner, the default display of "Dynamic", that is, the "Comprehensive" dynamic content, which allows the up owner's pictures, videos, live broadcasts and other dynamics to be displayed first. However, after similar operations in Watermelon, they are open to "video" dynamics by default, which shows that the two focus on encouraging original content is different.

In fact, Watermelon does not support the release and upload of dynamics such as pictures and texts. That is to say, most of the dynamics of Watermelon authors are "video" dynamics (with titles and other explanatory texts). Therefore, it is easier to implement to add the "dynamic" column. You can include the "video" dynamics. You only need to simply change the dynamic display method of the original author (add the author's avatar, nickname, video title, etc.). The biggest benefit of this change is that the "live broadcast" dynamics of Watermelon authors can also be included in it.

As shown in Figure 5-1-o below, when the authors who are following have live broadcast dynamics, the author's avatar in "Follow" will be displayed below the author's avatar in "Follow" to remind the user to watch the live broadcast. At this time, clicking the avatar will directly enter the live broadcast page. However, this interaction method does not take into account a scenario, that is, the author may be broadcasting live at this time, but recently he has posted a video update. Then, the user can only watch the live broadcast when clicking on the avatar at this time, but cannot watch the video update. The user needs to exit the live broadcast page and enter from other interfaces, such as [My] → "Follow" → Click on the author → Enter the author's personal homepage → View the video update.

After adding the "Dynamic" column, you can set the live link in the "Dynamic" column. After the user clicks on the avatar, the author's "Dynamic" page will be opened by default, and then click on the "Live Link" in the dynamics before entering the live page. In this way, users can also click on the author's avatar, etc. to enter the author's personal homepage to view other updates such as videos.

Based on the above description, a new page prototype is given:

In addition, there is also avatar bar of the authors who are following under the "Recommended" channel, so the above page design and functional interaction should also be followed, and will not be repeated here.

VI. Conclusion

Even though some optimization suggestions are put forward above, watermelon still has many advantages in terms of personal experience. I will summarize my feelings as follows:

• There are few advertisements, and the advertisements before long videos such as movies and TV series are only 15 seconds, and can be closed after 5 seconds.
• There are many classic films, and for people like me who like to watch classic Hong Kong and Taiwan movies and old dramas in the past, the experience is very good.
• The development trend is good. Although Xigua’s efforts in the field of homemade variety shows have not caused too much splash, as long as it continues to develop, there will always be a hit product, which will inevitably drive new user growth.
• With the idea of ​​short and long, we can find that there is an entrance to "watch the full version" below some short videos of variety shows. Most of these short videos are cut editing and promotion of mature variety shows, which can not only obtain advertising revenue but also drive the platform's long video playback.
• Video playback experience: Long press the screen to perform fast forwarding and fast reversing at 3 times the speed, which is very practical. Most of the existing video apps only support 2x speed. For users, express delivery rewind is to quickly reach the progress of the video they want to watch, and the 3x speed setting is faster and easier to use.

I am currently a product novices and have limited capabilities, so this article must have some logical, structural and other shortcomings. Reasonable corrections and communication are welcome.

Author: bryan

Source: bryan