YouTube Intrusion — Yay or Nay?
Would you use a product that boldly blocks your YouTube screen while you’re watching? Our team recently unleashed the product that does that: Quizium — the AI-powered tool with an audacious ‘Quiz Pop-Up Mode.’ This mode effortlessly turns your YouTube videos into immersive educational quizzes, elevating your learning experience. Our team’s mission was clear: enhance learning efficiency and efficacy for those using YouTube through our quiz generation feature. As the sole product designer in our small, passionate team, my task was to figure out how UX design could help. Here’s a sneak peek into the solution: intentionally designing the UX to be a bit YouTube-unfriendly and discomforting. Reaching this conclusion took time, but the design process and user testing played a crucial role in guiding me to this insightful destination. Thrilled to unfold the narrative behind this journey.
Quizium’s Quizzing Dilemma: YouTube Friendly Vs. Maximize Learning Engagement
YouTube changed how we consume videos, giving everyone the power to create and share content. Users can now freely watch videos at their desired place and time, in the way they prefer. Unlike traditional TV or movie viewing, users don’t have to watch videos sequentially from start to finish. They can consume videos in their preferred order, speed, and manner. Considering these unique usage patterns of YouTube was crucial when designing the Quizium user experience.
- “Flexible Quiz-Taking Mode”
The “Flexible Quiz Taking Mode” was quickly prototyped to align with this natural behavior, offering users maximum freedom and control. This mode allows users to take quizzes without constraints or interrupting YouTube videos, occupying only a small part of the screen. Users can freely locate the module and access all the questions in the video, using it as a quick summary and an overview of the entire content. However, a potential concern is the anticipated decrease in user engagement and focus on YouTube content due to multitasking.
- “Quiz Pop-up Mode”
Designed in response to such concerns, the “Quiz Pop-Up Mode” provides quizzes generated by AI that pop up at opportune moments during video playback. This mode is built to enhance user engagement and focus on YouTube content. Each question, based on the video’s content, is generated by AI and strategically pops up at appropriate intervals to ensure the user’s attention. Anticipated concerns included potential decreases in user retention due to the non-user-friendly approach of enforcing quizzes and covering the screen. Additionally, it was expected that user preference might decrease.
What User Testing Taught Us: Uncomfortable Yet Assured Learning Engagement
The user test aimed to validate the user experience of two quiz modes and my UX hypotheses. It was conducted with a small group of 12 participants from various countries who actively use YouTube for educational purposes. These participants engaged with Quizium, watching videos and taking quizzes in both modes. They conducted self-evaluations and assigned scores to compare these two modes based on three criteria: learning engagement, sense of control, and satisfaction. Subsequently, they were guided to choose their final preference and provide an explanation. Additionally, the consistency of these evaluations was confirmed through in-depth interviews and observations.
Hypotheses vs. Results:
- Users would rate higher on learning engagement for the Quiz Pop-up Mode.
→ The result matched the hypothesis. - Users would rate higher on a sense of control for the Flexible Quiz-taking Mode.
→ The result matched the hypothesis. - Most users would prefer Flexible Quiz-Taking Mode due to their desire for more control and freedom while learning.
→ The result contradicted the hypothesis.
Contrary to my initial hypothesis, participants found the Quiz Pop-Up mode more beneficial and preferred it over the flexible quiz-taking option. They mainly cited its alignment with their learning objectives and its ability to enhance concentration on the content. Interestingly, participants who preferred this mode were willing to embrace its ‘enforcement’ voluntarily, in contrast to the concern of potential interference with the user experience due to enforced screen covering.
In psychology and education, studies explore learners’ willingness to embrace challenges or discomfort for enhanced learning outcomes, often termed ‘desirable difficulty.’ In our user testing, we also validated this concept; we discovered that participants were willing to tolerate the inconvenience of a pop-up window for what they perceived as a valuable learning experience. This insight highlighted a crucial aspect of Quizium’s improvement in user experience. We recognized that beyond user-friendliness, building trust and positioning Quizium as a tool for meaningful learning experiences should take precedence.
Building upon these insights, Quizium was launched with a pivotal emphasis on the Quiz Pop-Up mode, geared towards maximizing user engagement with YouTube content. The goal is to provide users with an experience that not only offers convenience but also solidifies their confidence in Quizium as an effective learning experience (LX) tool. Your anticipation is highly valued as we persist in this journey of enhancement.
References:
Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (2020). Desirable difficulties in theory and practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9(4), 475–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.09.003
Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. In M. A. Gernsbacher, R. W. Pew, L. M. Hough, & J. R. Pomerantz (Eds.), Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society (pp. 56–64). Worth Publishers.
