Case Study | UX Research

Identifying key product features and creator tools that enable or hinder content creation among female users

Background

Objectives

  • Identify the product features and creator tools that enable or hinder content creation for female creators

  • Explore how the platform caters to different content preferences and how well it can leverage formats, themes, and engagement drivers to deliver as a content platform vis-à-vis competition

A content creation and short-format video streaming platform has found that its female creators in India face challenges in using its features and creator tools, and this may hinder their content creation process compared to competing platforms

Approach

  • Group discussions (4-6 female participants) with aspiring and regular content creators

  • Live demonstrations and screen-recording of the creative process and use of creator tools

Outcome

  • A comprehensive benchmarking of creator tools across each stage of the process: recording, editing, adding audio, adding effects/transitions etc.

  • Creating a plan to encourage better engagement with content, engagement between viewers and creators, engagement between viewers

  • Outlining steps to be taken to bolster the social engagement on the platform - creation of a social identity on the platform, and enable more virality through engagement

Project scope

Methodology

8 qualitative focus group discussions conducted with female content creators

Each discussion included components to understand:

  • Content consumption habits and preferences

  • Type of content created

  • Content creation aspirations

  • User experience with content creation tools - perceptions and past experiences + live exploration (with screen capturing)

  • Concept testing - reaction to existing marketing campaigns

Sample

Centres: 2 cities in India

Age groups: 18-35 years

Usership:

  • Mix of regular creators and aspiring creators across different platforms like Instagram, YouTube/YouTube Shorts, and other local platforms (Moj, Takatak etc.)

  • Use of aforementioned platforms as well as third-party apps for content creation

Duration

Approx. 2 weeks (4 days of fieldwork + 8 days of analysis)

#1 | Engagement Drivers

Engagement is not just communication between the viewer and creators, but also between different users on the platform

Across the multitude of actions users can take on a platform

A diagram showing different types of social media interactions categorized by privacy and group size. It includes four quadrants: Likes, which are public and individualistic, limited to interactions from viewer to creator and visible to other users; Comments, also public and collective, allowing support and participation; Saves, private and individualistic, helping keep content for revisiting; and Shares, private and collective, enabling sharing and engaging with content in groups or DMs.

Two critical elements in the client’s platform — at the intersection of Individual-Collective, and of Private-Public — limit engagement

Lack of individualized profiles

Profiles, not just accounts, help the user create an identity on the platform. It helps users find and communicate with friends and other connections.

No in-app sharing

Likes and comments aren’t enough to drive engagement. Users need a shared, but private space to engage with each other on the platform.

Short-format video platforms exist not only as a platform for content, but within the larger world of social media

Engagement icons created by Eucalyp on flaticon.com

Short-format video platforms cannot exist in isolation, active engagement with the content requires capitalizing on her existing social networks.

  • Public engagement without the social elements means there is reduced engagement and personal involvement with content.

  • Virality relies on sharing and engaging over content with her friends and connections. It also allows her to be a more active participant in the latest trends.

  • In-app sharing to other users in DMs and groups allows her to engage with the content away from the scrutinizing eyes of the public (and her judgemental social/family circles).

Psychology icons created by Freepik on flaticon.com

A profile must reflect her identity, not just her content. It must display aspect of her life and personality beyond what is considered ‘content’ - posts, stories, highlights etc.

  • Users must be able to find and communicate with each other on the platform

  • A platform that is content-only (such as YouTube and other OTT streaming services) is often shared among users in a household, or shared across devices (phones, laptops, TVs etc.)

As a creator, the absence of these features has a bearing on their confidence to create, and their ability to grow

Posting into the unknown

Without familiar connections, users do not know who their audience is, or how to reach them. Having friends and social connections on the platform guarantees some engagement, and could provide the initial traction needed for the content to go on and reach new audiences.

Hard to promote content

Without sharing on one’s profile, or in-app sharing with other connections, it becomes difficult to promote content organically. Sharing external links on other platforms (like WhatsApp) often feels forced. It is met with limited engagement and does not promote virality (sharing across wider and wider networks).

Everyone creates content

The familiarity of seeing friends and connections post on social media lowers the bar to entry for content creation. Content creation is not necessarily just for ‘professional’ creators.

#2 | Creator Tools

Evaluating the creator tools across major platforms and third-party tools for each stage of the content creation process

Recording | Editing | Audio | Effects | Text | Analytics

Recording

Makes content creation easier

  • UI that replicates or draws from familiar places like the phone camera app, or popular social media

  • Use of hand gestures to control the recording

  • Allowing for picture-on-picture by simultaneously recording with both front and back cameras on the phone

Makes content creation harder

  • A noticeable difference in camera quality or recording modes on the app

  • Lack of clear communication when reloading the camera screen after recording (instead of moving into the next stage: editing)

Editing

Makes content creation easier

  • The ability to load longer clips and choose the best and most relevant portions

  • The ability to pick an image from the gallery as the thumbnail for the content - not restricted to a frame from the content

  • Allows users to replicate trends by loading templates from popular content

Makes content creation harder

  • Restrictions are placed on the length of a raw clip that can be uploaded for editing

  • The edited clips sometimes get saved over the original file.

Audio

Makes content creation easier

  • This helps users navigate straight to the portion of the songs that appears on trending content

  • Finding popular songs easily through the search function

  • Being able to use audio from any trending content - not just songs, but any funny or interesting audio, remixes, mash-ups etc.

Makes content creation harder

  • Copyright restrictions result in limited use of music (for eg., 60 second limit), or result in removal of audio or the content

  • On some platforms, the clip cannot be paused and continually plays every time an adjustment is made, making it harder to sync audio and video

Effects

Makes content creation easier

  • Easy to identify and understand the visual effects from its thumbnail

  • Stickers that appear on screen for a particular moment instead of throughout the video

  • Some third-party apps allow users to add transition effects, which is often absent as a built-in feature

Makes content creation harder

  • Being able to add effects over a recording gives users the flexibility to make changes during the creative process

  • Having only a basic selection of default filters and effects to choose from

  • Being unable to adjust the effects applied, or to create and save customised effects

Text

Makes content creation easier

  • Use of popular phrases and prompts that follow current trends, or increase engagement from the audience

  • Matching the text to the content by selecting the exact shade from the content itself

Makes content creation harder

  • Some platforms have a character limit for the captions, which also limits the hashtags that can be applied

  • Text should appear and disappear for a certain amount of time, instead of being present throughout the duration of the video

Analytics

Makes content creation easier

  • Provides insight into the performance of content with details such as reach, views/swipes, engagement, remixes etc.

  • Allows creators to better understand their audience, and tweak their strategy accordingly

Makes content creation harder

  • With the exception of YouTube, there is limited analytics provided

For new and aspiring creators, the barriers to entry must be small — and the pathways for growth must be clear

Helping creators jump on trends

Viral trends come and go by quickly. Helping creators identify and create content quickly helps them participate and grow as new creators.

Using trending audio, editing templates from popular content, captions and prompts that maximize engagement helps a great deal.

Audience analytics helps understand their needs

There are many content creation tools available on the platform, as well as on third-party apps. But analytics is an insightful tool to help new creators understand who their content is reaching best, and the type of content that connects with their intended audience.