FIG. 1
YouTube currently has over 122 million users visiting the platform daily, not including users watching videos together. Despite its large user base, there was no way to watch videos together directly on YouTube.
YouTube is an app that enables connection between over 2 billion active creators and viewers. In an increasingly globalized world where we are often physically apart from friends and family, enabling users to watch videos together in real-time allows us to reimagine remote watching experiences on YouTube.
To better understand what interactions and functions I might include in my version of Watch Parties, I conducted competitor analysis across 8+ watch party or streaming applications. During this process, I focused on effective and ineffective user flows while considering monetization goals. Below, I've presented a brief list of my observations for three watch party tools.
Pros
Works with more than YouTube
Reliable, usually works as long as streamer has good connection
Works well for desktop and mobile
Usually little to no latency
Cons
Quality limited by host and or platform
Often not compatible with TV
Only the person streaming can change what is being viewed
Pros
Works with more than YouTube
Simple, easy to use interface
Accounts are optional
Built in optional calling
Can import public playlists
Cons
Cannot access certain types of YouTube content, such as Premium content
Room may not be secure as anybody can join
Pros
Works with more than YouTube
Built in text and voice chat
Custom permissions
Cons
Requires downloading another app
Requires an account
Not compatible with TV
All users need to log in to watch
Not universally available
Equipped with my key takeaways from competitor analysis, I realized the necessity of creating a seamless experience for all interfaces, as YouTube already offers with their existing features.
Iterations, Challenges, & Decisions
Creating a functional, yet easy to use interface
Using data collected from the competitor analysis, I took note of useful features and simple flows from existing applications with Watch Parties, such as the process of starting parties, adding videos to queue, and inviting friends. At the same time, I designed the interactions based off my observations on YouTube's existing design systems.
FIG. 3
Adapting the mobile and desktop experience to TV
Imagining the Watch Party experience was a bit simpler thanks to similar interactions I could “borrow” from YouTube and other third party applications; however, this brought up challenges for how I might design the TV experience, such as how TV users might search for videos while watching one.
FIG. 4
A familiar experience for YouTube TV users
Analyzing the YouTube TV app and its interactions greatly informed how Watch Parties might translate to TV interfaces, where desktop or mobile interactions aren’t easy to recreate. In the case of searching while watching videos, I referenced YouTube's existing method of video discovery while watching videos on the TV, and allowed the option to use other devices as casting controllers.
FIG. 5
There are a few different approaches we could take towards advertisements:
I researched and designed a Watch Party Feature on YouTube to solve a problem that I and many users online face, given the prevalence of watch party apps. In doing so, I was able to learn how to balance consideration of user and business needs.
