EMPOWERING YOUTUBE LEARNERS

Introducing the Screenshot Feature for Enhanced Information Retrieval

YouTube is a popular video sharing platform with over 2 billion monthly active users. YouTube redefined the way we discover new information and learn new things, with educational content ranking among its top categories. YouTube is introducing new products that will allow learners to go deeper on subjects they are passionate about and creators to provide structured learning content. In 2022, YouTube launched YouTube Learning, an $20 million initiative to support users and creators who utilizes YouTube as a learning and teaching platform.

The ultimate goal of this project was to improve the user experience of YouTube Learning by introducing a new feature that can enhance and simplify the process of information retrieval, making the platform more useful for users seeking to learn new skills or find valuable information.

This case study details my individual project conducted during my UX/UI bootcamp experience at DesignLab

PROJECT OVERVIEW

ROLES

TIMELINE

TOOLS

4 weeks

Figma

UX Designer

PROBLEM

Users have found workarounds for information retrieval, suggesting that existing tools and features may not be meeting their needs in this regard.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

A screenshot feature on YouTube that allows users to easily capture, retrieve additional information and share with others from videos directly on the platform

Research Overview

To ensure our design solutions were user-centric and competitive, we undertook user and market research. User research helped us understand our target audience, their needs, and their pain points, guiding our design goals and processes. Market research provided insights into the competitive landscape, helping us identify successful strategies and areas of innovation. Together, these research efforts allowed us to create a product that effectively meets user needs while standing strong in a competitive market.

User research

  • Find insights into user behavior, specifically how users interact with YouTube as a learning platform. (Browsing habits, content consumption patterns, and specific features they find useful or lacking)

  • Validate and challenge our assumptions about user needs and expectations

    Market Research

  • Identify gaps or opportunities for differentiation. This knowledge allowed us to position YouTube Learning strategically and develop unique features that set it apart from competitors.

  • Identify emerging trends in the e-learning industry and the demands of users.

Evaluating the Competitive Landscape: Identifying Opportunities for Innovation

Competitive Analysis

LEARNINGS

In order to understand the e-learning landscape and identify opportunities for enhancing the YouTube Learning initiative, a competitive analysis was conducted on several major e-learning platforms and video-sharing platforms.

Platforms analyzed include Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Vimeo, and Skillshare.

The analysis focused on understanding their product offerings, business models, target audience, and key strengths and weaknesses relevant to user experience, information retention, and content sharing.

User Interviews

Uncovering user pain points

We conducted in-depth interviews with five daily, long-term YouTube users. These users spanned a variety of use cases, from casual browsing to focused learning.

The objective was to identify potential pain points, and how they currently overcome challenges related to information retrieval.

We also wanted to find insights into user behavior, specifically how users interact with YouTube as a learning platform.

  • Browsing habits

  • Content consumption patterns

  • Secific features they find useful or lacking

Post-interview, we employed affinity mapping, a powerful technique that allowed us to organize our user feedback into common themes, revealing patterns and relationships.

This method was essential in synthesizing our raw data into actionable insights, ensuring our design decisions were not based on assumptions, but on the real experiences and needs of YouTube users.

INSIGHTS UNCONVERED FROM USER INTERVIEW

Max, the Curious Learner

30 | Project Manager | NEW YORK

Max embodies the curious learner and information seeker who relies on YouTube to find answers to his questions and explore his passions and interests. He enjoys taking on new challenges and discovering new content on the platform. He usually takes down notes as he learn and he spends long time rewatching important contents.

  • Expand his skillset

  • Stay informed

  • Embark on new tasks

GOALS

  • Tedious learning (pause, rewind, separate note taking)

  • Hassle to gather relevant information after viewing

PAIN POINTS

  • Save and share information

  • Solve a problem/challenge quickly

  • Immediate access to relevant information

NEEDS

MOTIVATIONS

  • Improve his professional and personal development

BRAND AFFILIATIONS

How might we help Max access to relevant information without hassle?

To tackle this issue, we mapped out Max's user journey, enabling us to gain a comprehensive understanding of his entire experience. This exercise allowed us to identify potential areas of enhancement and pinpoint opportunities for introducing new features. Our objective was to streamline and simplify the platform's habitual interactions, ultimately providing Max with a more efficient and effective means of accessing, saving, and sharing vital information in a user-centered manner.

Ideation

EXPLORING CREATIVE SOLUTIONS

Following the user journey roadmap exercise, we delved into the ideation phase, where we generated an array of innovative ideas to enhance Max's learning experience on YouTube. These ideas aimed to address the key pain points identified earlier and cater to Max's unique needs and preferences.

Prioritization

Focusing on Streamlined Information Retrieval for Learning on YouTube

Information retrieval involves various activities such as searching for relevant content, finding answers to specific questions, or locating products and services. In the context of YouTube, it could also include identifying key points within a video, quickly accessing related resources, or organizing video content for later review. For this project, we have decided to concentrate on enhancing the user experience of learning and retrieving information on YouTube.

Our chosen approach is to implement screen captures as a means to streamline information retrieval on YouTube. This screen capture feature aims to improve the learning experience by allowing users to quickly capture, save, and reference important moments in the video, ultimately making the information retrieval process more efficient and effective.

Lo-fi Wireframe

Visualizing a user centric experience

After narrowing down our focus to screen captures as the solution to explore further, we proceeded to the rapid sketching phase. This step aimed to quickly visualize the proposed feature, enabling us to iterate and refine our ideas before moving on to more detailed wireframes and prototypes.

During the rapid sketching process, we sketched multiple variations of how the screen capture feature could be integrated into the existing YouTube interface. We considered factors such as button placement, visual cues, and the overall user flow for capturing, saving, and accessing the screenshots. By doing so, we ensured that our solution would be both intuitive and efficient for users like Max who seek to retrieve information more effectively.

FEATURE ROADMAP

Mi-fi Digital Wirefames

We proceeded to create low-fidelity digital wireframes. This stage allowed us to lay the foundation for the user interface and visualize how the new feature would integrate with YouTube's existing platform.

UI Design

Bringing the Screenshot Tool to Life

This phase focused on refining the visual design elements of the screenshot tool and creating a high-fidelity, interactive prototype to showcase and test the feature.

  • Visual consistency: We ensured that the visual design of the screenshot tool aligned with YouTube's existing design language, maintaining consistency across the platform

  • Iconography: We designed custom icons for the various functions of the screenshot tool, making them intuitive and easy to recognize

  • Layout and spacing: We optimized the layout and spacing of the UI elements to create a clean and user-friendly interface, allowing for efficient navigation and interaction

Prototype

Uncovering Challenges through Prototype Testing

As a crucial step in our design process, we conducted usability testing with 5 participants, all of whom were frequent YouTube users. They were asked to explore and interact with the newly implemented features.

We applied a structured approach to interpret the data, assigning a criticality score to each task, signifying its importance. Next, we set an impact score for each issue that arose during testing, ranging from 'blocker' issues to mere 'suggestions'. We calculated each issue's frequency and multiplied it with the criticality and impact scores to determine its severity. This structured approach helped us prioritize design improvements and focus on the most crucial user needs and feedback

Icon recognition

Some users had difficulty understanding the purpose of certain icons in the prototype. To address this, we incorporated a guided onboarding tutorial to acquaint users with the icons and their respective functions.

Simplifying features

The initial prototype included numerous features that led to cognitive overload for some users. As a result, we removed the magic wand feature and used the onboarding tutorial to guide users on how to directly select objects or people in videos to obtain more information.

Streamlining note access

The journey to accessing saved content proved non-intuitive and challenging. To enhance the user experience, we added the option of enabling users to directly access and download notes from the video page itself, eliminating the need to navigate to their profile; however, users can still view their complete album in their profile. 

(a) Access screenshot library through user profile
(b) Iteration: New option to access screenshots directly on video

Next steps

Exploring Broader Applications and Enhancing YouTube Learning Experience

In the next steps, we can expand our exploration to other use cases of information retrieval, such as supporting travel research or helping users locate services more efficiently. Additionally, we can focus on further enhancing the YouTube learning experience by integrating features that directly impact the learning process.

This could include introducing interactive quizzes to reinforce learning, incorporating discussion forums to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing, and offering personalized recommendations based on user preferences and learning progress. By iterating and incorporating these additional features, we can work towards creating a more comprehensive, engaging, and user-centric learning experience on YouTube.