This design exercise's task was to create a novel feature for an existing real world mobile application (selected from a curated set of 8 apps), and implement it within the current interface of that application. In order to come up with a new feature, we had to research the application and its exisiting users, and narrow down their pain points that the implementation of our feature would solve. Thus, for my feature design proposal, I chose to work with Twitch, where I designed a feature that enables streamers to broadcast a break time to their audience, called “BRB Mode".
Solo Project
Figma, Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop
User Research, Persona Development, UX Design, Prototyping
My process for creating my feature began with spending some time interacting with the platform and its interface as it stands today, while also considering its existing features. I then continued to research the application and what it is potentially missing that could further help Twitch’s users before creating my feature, its user flow, and final prototype.
Before brainstorming potential feature ideas, I watched one of my favourite streamers and considered who their audience as viewers and consumers of Twitch were, but also considered what the streamer as a creator could benefit from while using Twitch. From here I considered the app’s primary users and what their goals are while spending time on Twitch. These users fell under two categories:
Provide a positive stream in order to gain sponsors and increase viewership, while also entertaining and communicating with their audience.
Want to be entertained while watching a broadcast, and gain insight and knowledge of the game that they are watching.
During this time, I encountered professional streamers who had been streaming for hours, and while they were taking breaks I noticed that they would just tell the chat that they would ‘be right back’ or they would simply overlay a ‘BRB’ message over their display. As I dug deeper into other streams I noticed other streamers adopting a similar practice of overlaying a BRB decal onto their stream:
After this encounter I found that there was a gap in communication between the streamer and viewer that could be bridged. Within Twitch’s current interface there isn't an effective way for streamers to communicate a break time to their viewers, so I designed my feature around creating a solution to this problem. Thus my feature strives to provide the streamer with the ability to communicate more effectively with their audience, reducing the potential of a viewer leaving the stream by eliminating potential ambiguity of the break time that the streamer is taking.
Next, I created medium fidelity wireframe mockups for our first deliverable. I focused on keeping the feature interface minimal, keeping in mind that a streamer using this feature would need to be able to select a break time option quickly, without having to navigate too many prompts.
To best represent the target user of my feature design, I created a user persona in order to construct a sample user scenario to illustrate my feature’s context and user flow.
Janine is a 27 yr old Streamer that streams for 4-8 hours everyday 5 days a week, averaging 3000 viewers per broadcast.
She lives alone, enjoys playing video games, spending time with her dog, and running. Janine is also comfortable multitasking with multiple devices, such as her iPhone, and her gaming, and streaming PC and values efficiency.
Her end goal while using Twitch’s BRB mode feature is to provide transparency to her audience when she has to take breaks for eating dinner, a bathroom break, or walking her dog!
From my wireframes I was able to then finalize my user flow, illustrating this with a use case scenario based off of my user persona: Janine has been streaming for two hours. She does not want to completely end her stream, but she needs to get some fresh air and take her dog on a walk.
Goal: She wants to continue to broadcast of Animal Crossing villager hunting after she takes a short break, without being gone for an ambiguous amount of time.
Motivation: Her dog needs to go outside, and so she needs to take the dog on a walk!
Task: She needs to quickly let her viewers know that she will be back shortly, specifically in 20 minutes.
Below is my final prototype implementation of ‘BRB Mode’. Therefore, this feature was designed for streamers to be able to further communicate with their audience by allowing viewers to know how long of a break the streamer intends on taking, and when they can expect them back.By allowing streamers to have a short mental and physical break, they can decrease the likelihood of burnout, helping them achieve their goal of being able to stream for a longer amount of time and would presumably increase overall quality and production value of their stream.
Overall, this was a great short term exercise of creating and prototyping a novel feature in an existing popular app that challenged me to consider existing app features, in addition to what is lacking within Twitch's current interface. By identifying a potential pain point for streamers, I strived to design and implement a solution through my interactive mockup that fit naturally within Twitch's interaction framework, which led to an A+ on my final project deliverable.