Background
In recent years, short video content has seen a surge in popularity, and various products are vying for a share of this market. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LINE, Facebook, and others continue to develop short video features. While Dcard already has a feature for posting images and videos, it has not undergone significant optimizations to align with the current short video trend and evolving user habits. Hence, the initiation of this project.
Challenge
In addition to improving the viewing experience, increasing the quantity of video content is also a significant challenge. A conducive discussion environment and more engagement can provide users with a sense of accomplishment, encouraging them to create more video content. Leveraging algorithms to ensure more people see these videos can, in turn, create a positive feedback loop.
Goal
- Enhance the Atmosphere of Dcard's Video Content
- Many existing users primarily associate Dcard with text content. We aim to optimize the processes for both "publishing" and "viewing" video content.
- Users should be able to create and share videos directly, rather than inserting videos within articles.
- Increase the Quantity and Duration of Video Consumption on Dcard
- After watching one video, users should seamlessly continue watching more, increasing the quantity of video content consumed on Dcard.
- Through algorithms, we aim to allocate more traffic to video content, intending to amplify the impact of this traffic, enabling users to consume not just a single video from the list but continue watching more videos in succession.
- The app currently has six tabs, and there are four scrolling tabs. Given that this is in the early experimental phase of the project, we won't be adding a new video tab directly in the near future, to avoid creating an additional prominent entry point.
- The "video post" UI height is three to four times that of the "text post," occupying a significant portion of the first section on mobile. As a result, the algorithm will intentionally reduce the number of videos displayed.
My Role
Wireframe、Mockup、Prototype
Research
We took reference from products such as Facebook, Zhihu, Weibo, Reddit, Twitter, and others. Our main observations included :
- How text, images, and videos coexist, and the positioning of video content within the product.
- The presence of a video section, how users access it, and the process for transitioning.
- The video duration, types, and how the content affects the interface presentation within existing products.
- Lastly, we examined the UI interfaces and interactions related to page transitions.
Creating an analysis document and discussing directions with the product manager：
While the nature of these social platforms is somewhat similar to Dcard, the content on these platforms varies significantly.
Dcard predominantly features short videos ranging from a few seconds to 1 minute. The existing video content types are not yet well-defined, so we continue to consider the direction of our experiments.
Optimization 1: Adding a Continuous Video Playback List
As mentioned earlier, we couldn't add a new tab or incorporate video content recommendations into the main feed. Hence, we introduced the Continuous Video Playback List to provide more visibility for video content without disrupting the viewing experience for other content. We can also conduct related experiments within this video list while minimizing its impact on the text post feed.
Mockup & UI Flow
Homepage → Video Posts in the Recommendations List → More Video List (New in this Update)
The reasons for using a dark mode in the video list are:
- To provide users with a better viewing experience during extended video sessions, reducing eye strain. Dark mode also visually focuses attention on the video content.
- Another point is to make the transition from the "Homepage List" to the "More Video List" more distinct, increasing user awareness of the difference between the two.
Automatic Playback of the Next Video:
Prototype Video - Android Ver ： This project heavily focuses on the dynamic interactions of the interface. Therefore, we continuously modify the prototype and discuss details with the engineers to ensure that the interactions meet the desired standards.
The process of navigating from the homepage to the video list Try Prototype 👇🏻
Optimization 2: Adding Notes to Video Posts and Adjusting the Interior Page Style
We observed that many users choose to use the "Post Article" format to share video content, often adding a short text comment for context.
- In 2021, there were over 9000 posts that used the "Post Article with Embedded Video" format (with less than 100 characters in the text). In contrast, there were only 25 posts per day using the "Post Video" format.
- Therefore, if we assume that we can encourage users who currently use the "Post Article" format for videos with minimal text to switch to the "Post Video" format, this could significantly increase the number of video posts.
The process and post style for "Article" and "Video" posts are as follows :
Optimized Version
Try Prototype👇🏻
Result：
→ Total video exposure increased by 5%. → Total video view duration increased by 7%. → Video posts increased by over 100 posts on average per week. → Overall site total page views decreased by 1.5%.
Next Step
