Zee5 Video Player Revamp

Introduction

ZEE5 is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, run by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. ZEE5 has over 10 millions of daily active users on its platform.

Importance of Video Player for ZEE5 (or for any OTT Platform)

Zee5 is an Indian OTT platform where user come with single objective of watching movies, tv shows, web series and other content. So the primary function of the website should be a good Video Player, where a user can watch his favourite content with seamless experience. If the video player is not good, or lack basic functionality then there is high chance that user will not return.

Business Objective

1. Reduce customer complaints & increase app ratings
2. Upgrade to latest UI-UX for improving video playback experience.
3. Remove all inconsistencies across and within platform.
4. World class experience & prepare for ZEE5 Video Playback 2.0 for Q4

Device

1. Android (Primary, 29 M views in last 30 days))
2. Ios (13 lacs views in last 30 days)
3. Web Desktop and mobile (1.2 lacs views in last 30 days)
4. TV (3 lacs views in last 30 days)

Our Mixpanel data shows that 50% of user switch to landscape mode from portrait but we don’t have data in terms of Landscape vs Portrait in duration.

ZEE5 Target User Personas

User Research

We reached out to our User research team to conduct few user interviews and get some insights on the viewing experience of ZEE5. We interviewed 26 users from age 20–60 and from Tier 1,2 and 3.

Research Goals

1. Gain a deeper understanding of user behaviour while they consume content􏰁
2. What matters to keep users engaged􏰂
3. Motivators for what to watch
4. User pain points in viewing experience

User Insights

Competitive Analysis (Secondary Research)

Hotstar

1. Player is same for movies, TV shows & web series. Just added “Next episode” for TV shows and web series.
2. Hotstar(for mobile) use text labels along with icons for subtitles and settings, which makes it easier to understand
3. On web Hotstar show details on hovering icons
4. Player design is same for Msite and Android.
5. Hotstar does not show seekbar hover thumbnail.

MX Player

1. Left side slider design looks good
2. Drag arrow to view “Recommended movies” “Next episode” is very good
3. Playback speed option is there for Android, Website and Msite.
4. Player design is same for Msite and Android.
5. MX Player shows seekbar hover thumbnail.

Youtube

1. Youtube shows “Playback Speed” “Subtitles” “Quality” under settings, because other option available upfront.
2. Shows labels on hovering icons
3. “Next Video” option is available just next to “Play” icon. On hover it shows the thumbnail & heading.
4. Shows seekbar hover thumbnail.

Netflix

1. Gives brightness control option
2. Gives lock screen option
3. Netflix shows seekbar hover thumbnail.
4. Playback speed option is available

Amazon Prime

1. X-ray feature, gives information about the cast shown on the screen on tap.

ZEE5

1. Does not show thumbnail when hover seekbar.
2. No playback speed option available for web
3. Android and Msite designs are different
4. Nothing happen when hover icons. No label available either. Makes it difficult to understand.
5. No next or upcoming video option available
6. 3 Taps to change quality or subtitles

ZEE5 Video Player

Features Analysis

We list down all the features available on premium ott platforms and compared those with ZEE5.

This comparison was done on Android device>Touch state>Landscape mode

Major problems identified

After conducting user interviews and competitive analysis we analysed that we are way behind from our competitors in video player.

Features which were available but not designed properly

1. Upfront controls (Phase 1)
2. Upfront information of Selected audio and Video quality (Phase 1)
3. 10 Sec forward and backward (Phase 1)

Features which are missing

1. Lock mode (Dropped)
2. PIP Mode (Phase 2)
3. Brightness control (Dropped)
4. 10 seconds forwards/backward (Phase 1)
5. Thumbnail preview when sliding seekbar (Phase 1)
6. Episodes options for TV shows and web series (Phase 1)

Android App

Website

New Player

We gathered our interview insights and competitive data and divided the feature into two phases. We covered most of the features in phase 1 only.

New Android Video Player

New Web Video Player

Conclusion

Android Video player phase 1 has been roll out and web implementation is in development stage. Soon we will conduct another round of usability testing to check what are the things we missed in our phase 1 and try to cover those in phase 2.

Thanks for reading the article :)