UX Case study
History Channel Redesign
A redesign of the History Channel app with a focus on increasing user engagement and meeting business goals.
History Channels
Mission Statement
"Raise awareness about the vitality of history, promote history education, and encourage the preservation of historic archives and sites."
Problem
The app is currently experiencing low user reviews and engagement even though users have nowhere else to access the exclusive content.
Why is this happening?
- Limited availability of content with out premium
- Requirement of cable
- Lack of customization and viewing autonomy
- Excessive advertisements
Solution
A thorough redesign backed by research will cause new and returning History fans to rediscover the value of History Channel and be inclined to share.
What can we do?
Competitive Analysis
To kick off the design process, I analyzed features from seven competing streaming services and identified the strengths and weaknesses of the three most relevant ones.
User Research
With the help of existing reviews of the History Channel app, I was able to identify some of the main pain points among users.
surveys
Through conducting surveys, I aimed to discover:
- What appeals to a broad audience when it comes to streaming services?
- Which streaming services are most popular and why?
- What motivates users to invest in a streaming service?
Personas
Using the main insights from my research, I developed two user personas that embody the target audiences of the History Channel.
The Returning User
Bill
Long-time fan of the History Channel and huge history buff. He is not very tech-savvy and finds it challenging to remember how to use new interfaces.
Goals
- Continue watching his favorite shows
- Easily find programs that he and his wife can both enjoy
Wants and Needs
- Simple, hierarchal navigation
- Effortlessly identify categories and genres
- Episodes that pick up where he left off
- Summarized description of content
- Reduction of ads
The new user
Evora
Enjoys watching historical programming. She values accurate information and wants to learn more about the past.
Goals
- Easily distinguish between factual documentaries and entertainment-focused programming
- Access engaging content that she can watch anywhere
Wants and Needs
- Thoroughly categorized content
- A way to filter reality TV from documentaries
- Labels to easily identify the genre of the program
User Flows
With the flows and prototypes in mind, I created a fully functioning mid-fidelity prototype based on tasks I speculated would fulfill the goals, needs, and wants of both the business and the personas.
Flow 1:
Find a Mystery Reality TV Show
Flow 2:
Share season 2 episode 1 of an episode to a group chat
Flow 3:
Sign up for a free trial
Style guide
For the style of the redesign, I decided to stay loyal to the History Channel typography and color scheme
Before and After
The following portrays the identified problems and how they were addressed by the redesign
Thank you for reading!
