Watch Party: Ultimate Co-viewing Experience for Fans!

Overview

The Watch Party feature for ILT20 Season 2 lets cricket fans watch matches together, no matter where they are. This feature includes live text and video chats, so fans can cheer, discuss, and celebrate every moment with their friends and family, making the viewing experience more social and interactive.

Role and Responsibilities

Role: UX Designer

Responsibilities:

• Designed the Watch Party feature for iOS, Android, and PWA platforms.

• Worked closely with Product Managers, Developers, QA Engineers, and Visual Designers to create a smooth and engaging user experience.

Team Members:

• Swantika (UX Writer)

• Megha, Atharva (Visual Designers)

• Harshad Khanna (Reporting Manager)

• Soumik Solanki (Product Manager)

• Developers: Chenngappa (iOS), Manoranjan (Android), Surya (PWA)

Context and Problem Statement

Last year, we introduced features like "Play and Win 2023" and "Key Moments" for ILT20. This year, we wanted to make watching cricket even more exciting by answering the question:

"How can we make watching cricket matches online feel as fun and interactive as being in the stadium, and let users watch matches with their friends?"

Research

Methods:

 Looked at what our competitors were doing (competitive analysis).

Key Findings and Insights:

Competitors had issues like unclear messages, broken flows, and complicated user experiences.

From our research, we established key principles for our design:

1. Simplicity: Keep it clear and easy to use.

2. Ease of Access: Make it simple from start to finish.

3. Flexibility: Build it to adapt and grow.

4. Scalability: Ready to handle lots of users.

Workshop and Design Strategy

Workshops:

Due to a tight schedule, we didn't hold formal workshops. Instead, we gathered ideas from team members and other designers throughout the project.

Design Strategy:

We explored many ideas to create an immersive experience. Our approach was to test and improve ideas quickly rather than aiming for a perfect design right away.

Process

User Flows and Wireframes:

Onboarding:

•  Users discover the Watch Party feature via a nudge on the timeline or the Watch Party tab.

Creating a Watch Party

•  Users enter a nickname, agree to terms, and create a Watch Party.

• They can invite friends, manage permissions, and start the party.

Joining a Watch Party:

• Users enter a nickname and party code, manage permissions, and join the party.

Error States:

• Users get friendly messages to help them if something goes wrong.

Visual Design and Prototyping:

• Worked with visual designers for illustrations and icons.

• Created prototypes for different devices using Figma.

Feedback and Iterations:

Addressed technical constraints, tweaked designs, and simplified flows based on feedback.

User Testing

Methodology and Participants:

Tested the feature with 16 employees from different teams within ZEE.

Key Findings:

• Users easily found the feature but suggested more nudges and banners.

• Onboarding was smooth for everyone.

• Users requested better illustrations and animations.

• All users successfully created or joined a Watch Party.

Solution and Outcome

Final Solution:

• Delivered a functional Watch Party feature for all the platforms which went live on Jaunary 2024.

• Some features were deferred for the next phase due to technical constraints.

Metrics and Results:

• Increased watch time by 26%

• More new registrations upto 20%

• Viewership increased by 8% and engagement was higher than previous season

Retrospective

Successes:

• Great collaboration across teams.

• Completed the project on time despite having time constraint.

Improvements:

• Better communication of requirements and tech constraints.

Key Takeaways:

• Efficient use of ZEE’s design resources saved time.

• Simplifying approaches reduces complexity.

• Early involvement of all team members ensures smooth progress.

Future Enhancements:

• Expand Watch Party to other content types

• Implement deferred features in the next phase.