As social media platforms and streaming services continue to adapt to modern visual demands, it’s not hard to tell which ones thrive more than others. A major update that falls a little flat feels like a catastrophic failure when its peers ace the assignment. With every update from Twitch, a live-streaming service with a focus on video games, it feels like the website is getting more and more lost.
This week I had some extra time to try to understand why these updates felt so soulless and what Twitch could do to stand out in the current streaming environment. For this project I used Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe XD, and my trusty dotted sketchbook.
The Problem
Twitch is obviously following trends that almost every major social website has followed in the last 5 years. The problem is that they do not seem to know why these trends were successful.
Identity Crisis
Who is Twitch? A social media platform? A streaming service? An esports broadcaster? Why be just another generic social media when you are so much more interesting?
Shorts without the short
YouTube, Instagram, even LinkedIn all have a “TikTok” style short video page on their mobile app. Twitch implemented this, but they forgot something very important: short videos.
Twitch expects people to watch live-streams in a vertical, swipeable, chatless format as an alternative to the traditional horizontal video.
According to the Twitch Creator Camp, the average viewer retention for a live-stream is 15 minutes. Why would they implement a format best suited for minute long videos?
Screaming into the void
Twitch added “stories” to their app to let their streamers share photos and videos. That’s it.
As of right now, the only way to interact with a story is to “react” with an emote. There are no calls to action or interactions like there are on Instagram or any platform with a decent story function.
It is a huge missed opportunity to not integrate Twitch’s schedule function, live notifications, polls, or any other engagement options into their stories.
Everything is gray
Twitch has a strong brand identity everywhere except for their website.
The first step to solving these problems is to understand Twitch users and create a “user flow” that will guide the design process.
The Plan
Put simply, Twitch has two types of users: new ones and old ones. Twitch saw massive growth in the last year, so it is important to to make the site intuitive for first time users. The plan is to make a website that enhances a regular user’s experience while making it easy for new users to discover new streams.
Simplify the live-stream viewing experience
Streamline the discovery process
Add more depth to stories
Add QoL changes for returning viewers
Graph and data from BlackLinko
The new homepage is optimized for the carousel of recommended streams. Right now, recommended streams load in relatively small windows on the homepage. The “Live” section has been condensed to streamer icons that stretch out on hover. A series of icons that were in the header have been placed under the user profile for consistency with other settings. This new homepage will be much less overwhelming to new users and familiar for returning ones.
The Following page is similar to the existing Following page. The only change is that channels your following only appear on the current page instead of on the sidebar. This is simply to avoid unnecessary repetition. The Games page now recommends a trending category for “window shopping” viewers. Clicking on a category now opens a modal window instead of loading a new page. This speeds up the overall discovery process.
Most streaming websites that offer an “ambient mode” that never sees any use. If you’re watching a 10 minute long YouTube video, or an episode of The Sopranos on MAX, you’re probably watching in full screen. Twitch is one of the few websites in the world where videos are meant to be watched in a windowed or theater format due to the existence of Twitch chat. Having ambient lighting helps unify the UI and give each stream the immersive feeling of a full screen video. The chat UI has also been simplified as to not overwhelm new viewers.
The most necessary change here is the change to stories. I’ve already discussed the many things wrong with the initial launch of stories. Now, stories are condensed in a familiar manner. They also have new more functions for viewers to interact with streamers.
I added a new feature for “regulars.” For the user that watches the same stream everyday on their lunch break, there is now a window on the Following tab for that stream. I was inspired by Spotify’s “Daylist” feature thought this would be a great feature for a streaming website.
