overview
Duration: 5 hours
My Role: User Research, UI/UX Design, Visual Design
Tools: Photoshop, Figma
How many times have you skipped an important work or an event in order to finish a season of TV show? Or how many times have you woken up exhausted just because you were binge watching the night before?
We all have done this at some point of time in our lives but streaming a lot of television episodes in one sitting is a bit worrisome for our health.
Our team tried to tackle this issue in a 5-hour hackathon - Rehack 2019, held at Princeton University, which aimed to encourage the development of creative solutions that allow for greater and healthier relationships between people and technology.
How might we reduce binge watching and increase social interactions to curb the feelings of isolation?
the need
7:15 am - Morning
Betty wakes up exhausted after a long night binge watching her favourite show
6:00 pm - After Work
Betty turns down her friend’s invitation for dinner, and instead opted to watch Netflix at home
3:00am - 5 Episodes Later
After binge watching her favourite show, Betty feels depressed and lonely
45%
young adults have canceled social plans in order to watch a show
60%
of all TV viewers are Binge Watchers, watching more than 2 episodes of a show in a sitting
the solution
Promoting positive influence of joint viewership (friends, families)
Making viewers aware of their Netflix usage/binge-watching
Connecting people over common interests
Converting guilty pleasure to generated pleasure through Gamification
Additional community tab to promote joint viewership amongst friends and families
Allowing users to choose their ‘watching buddy’
Recommendation of shows based on mutual taste of genres
Presenting an activity status tab once the user has watched two episodes, to show them the time spent on Netflix during past one week.
Once the ‘watching buddy’ leaves the platform, the activity status also nudges the user to wait for their buddy and not leak spoilers.
Future steps include gamification which allow the users to wait for their buddies to unlock a game together or indulge in discussions about show.
future steps
Gamification of watching content to increase Generated Pleasure
Providing a platform for users to divert their dopamine rush by directing their attention to review what they watched using different mediums such as gaming, sketching, video making (based on their personality)
Sharing it with the community and increasing generated pleasure
Linking core messages from TV shows to encourage and develop learnings
benefits for Netflix
Positive brand association among viewers
Building a community of users with common interests
Increased engagement with viewers through gamification