HOOQ Live Channels Experiences on iOS and Android
This was a project I worked on back in 2018. My role was a product designer and prototyper. The process took about 2 months which includes design, stakeholder buy-in, and implementation.
Problem and context
Our research showed that majority of HOOQ subscribers, who are in Indonesia, primarily watch on mobile—these peak streaming periods align with rush hours. This tells us that they’re watching on HOOQ as they’re commuting.
Apart from on-demand content such as movies or series, we wanted to explore how people might engage with more diverse types of content such as current events—like the news, weather, and sports; or even low-stakes programs such as short clips like recipes.
Measuring success
We’d observe how this new category of programs would contribute to the overall streaming minutes of the HOOQ platform. At the same time, something to keep track was whether these live channels might cannibalise on the streaming minutes of the on-demand catalog.
Content provider challenges
We work with a number of content providers with varying data models—for example, Content provider 1 might provide only a linear feed. Content provider 2 might have a linear feed and enables catch-up content—this means after a segment of live video airs, it’s saved and viewers can watch it at a later time. Lastly, Content provider 3 might have a linear feed and catch-up content grouped by programs and its respective episodes. This made the catalog broad but also challenging to streamline.
In summary, we had 2 content types to work with:
1. Linear feeds - live streams that users can watch just like what you’d see on your traditional TV.
2. Catch-up content - saved programs associated with a channel that users can watch on-demand.
User interactions
Recognition
We know from research that there are channels that users are familiar with, like their favourite local channels. At the same time, our content providers also have channels that might not be as popular but with potentially interesting content that users might engage with if they are able to discover them. We intended the interface to find a balance that allowed recognition of popular channels while providing some context on what the other channels might have to offer.
Option 1: Simple logos
Option 2: Logos overlaid on creatives
Channel surfing
A bottom sheet pattern that conveyed details on what the user is watching was used. It was important to prototype the mobile interactions at high fidelity to get proper contextual feedback based on what the actual product might end up looking like. Some micro-interaction details I added to the prototype was emulating static in between channel intervals to mimic channel surfing on a television.
Watching catch-up content: non-episodic
Below is the prototyped interaction I designed to surface the catch-up content available for this channel together with the live feed.
Watching catch-up content: episodic
When displaying episodic content, I made use of the existing episode-list-view we already use in the on-demand catalog. This was intended to provide familiar patterns for users.
Discovery points
On the navigation bar, the live channels would have its dedicated section but since a lot of our play events still come from Discover (home) feed, it’s worth testing out some feed-based rails upselling this new offering.
Outcomes
What went well?
High streaming minutes for local channels
Increase in DAUs and MAUs
What didn’t go well?
Only 3-5 local channels contributed to overall linear streaming minutes
DAUs and MAUs didn’t go as high as we would have wanted
We couldn’t implement catch-up content effectively yet
There is definitely opportunity in terms of this content offering. The initial outcomes were only based on a short period of time and it would have been worth measuring a longer set of data to yield more conclusive results. Unfortunately, HOOQ has ceased operations in 2020.