YouTube Shorts
Defining the exploration and search journey within YouTube Shorts
Feb - May 2023
UX Design
UX Research
1 Design Mentor
4 Design
Overview
At the request of an Interaction Designer at Google, our team at Berkeley Innovation was challenged to analyze and reimagine the search experience for YouTube Shorts.
I was the Design Mentor on this project. I oversaw the scoping of the project and reaffirmed design decisions while delivering insight and recommendations where applicable.
Although I did have the opportunity to lend my hand in research, ideation, and design, my consultants handled a majority of the designs related to the project. Therefore, this is intended to be a highlight of our output and work.
01// Final Recommendations
Pre-Browsing Form
Although Shorts is built on the back of YouTube's algorithm, we found that allowing users to explicitly select topics related to their interests while onboarding can generate a more personalized experience.
Dedicated Dashboard
An intermediary page for navigating YouTube Shorts creates a distinct transition from long-form content to Shorts. Users are presented with content based on their interests, their browsing blends, and
Browsing Blend
Playlists between friends that are regularly updated based on a combination of their interests. Users are motivated to discover new content and creators that their friends are interested in.
02// Research Summary
In order to develop a holistic understanding of users’ browsing experiences, we categorized our research goals into the following 3 primary centers of focus.
Our Goals
Understand user preferences and engagement on Shorts: identify deterrent features and gauge interest in browsing expressed and new topics.
Explore user motivations on competitor platforms and compare content exploration experiences between Shorts and competitors.
Identify browsing obstacles that deter users from prolonged engagement on YouTube Shorts.
The Approach
Our team dove into 4 popular short-form content platforms to better understand the current space.
We conducted interviews with 13 people to retrieve deeper insights into current incentives and browsing behaviors.
We sent out a survey (81 responses) to gauge general impressions and insightful responses.
User Personas
03// Reflection
Overall, this was a really fun project to work on. Although I did not have as much of a hand on the final deliverables, it was fulfilling taking the experiences that I had gained through Berkeley Innovation and my time at Brightline, and applying them when helping my team. If we had more time, these are some areas of improvement we would've loved to tackle.
Areas of Improvement
Much of our responses came from college students and we would've appreciated having more diverse responses.
We were only able to interview those who expressed interest, which may highlight characteristics that do not exist for others.
More time would've allowed us to interview more people as well as A/B Test our designs.
