My project 3 concentrated on YouTube's Android application launch screen. The image below shows the launch screen without a user logged in. The interface shows a sponsored video first and then a list of popular videos based on all user views. If a user is logged in, the video list changes from popular videos to recommended videos based on the current user's views. There is a search button at the top right and a menu button at the top left which will reveal categories, channels, etc. My opinion is the recommended video feature fails Hoekman's "Unnecessary Test". Question 3 asks, "Is the task this feature supports vital to the activity this application supports?". These recommendations can compliment the application but to show them on launch is not vital.
If a user turned on a TV and a list popped up with a commercial and then recommended shows based on history, they would almost never watch the commercial and 90% of the time they would close the list and open the guide or change to a particular channel. These recommendations can be accessed in the application but placing them on the launch screen is just noise which can not only slow the use of the application but also create a 'filter bubble' limiting the exploration of the application.
This is a very interesting post for many reasons. I have an android phone, and have even noticed before when I had an iPhone, that YouTube's mobile application is very poorly designed. I had always been annoyed that the main emphasis of the app seemed to be on random sponsored videos that usually had nothing to do with what I wanted to view. As a matter of fact even the videos that YouTube would recommend for me often were irrelevant to me. I completely agree that the task of showing recommended or sponsored videos is certainly not "vital to the activity of the application" and therefore fails Hoekman's unnecessary test.
ReplyDeleteWere there any other aspects of YouTube's mobile application that you thought were examples of poor design? I feel as though the developers did a very poor job with the mobile app and have even found myself becoming so frustrated with it that I often use substitute apps. I think perhaps the biggest flaw in the app's design is the search function; besides for the fact that it is small and on the side, making it hard to find, the results that it returns are usually irrelevant and always different than what you would find if searching YouTube's website on a computer. It makes no sense to me whatsoever that the search queries on youtube.com and on the YouTube mobile app function differently.
Josh, thank you for commenting on my post.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is part of the reason for these lists of "recommended" or "popular" videos is advertising. You Tube needs these video lists to slip in a few sponsor videos. I get that the service is free and advertising is necessary for Youtube to operate but the ads should not compromise the quality of the application. The image that I posted of the Android app shows a sponsor video taking up almost 50% of the 8 inch display.
Another aspect of Youtube's design that is poorly designed are the ads they play before the selected video. The ads can be skipped after about 5 seconds and, again, I understand that they need to make money. However, kids love to watch YouTube and I have seen ultimate fighting ads before kids videos. These ads need to be tailored to the content of the video.