UI/UX Research Case Study : Get to Know More about Disney+ Hotstar Users (Specifically Indonesian Users)

Disclaimer:

This project is part of my UI/UX assignment projects from dibimbing.id. I am neither employed nor under contract with Disney or Disney+ Hotstar.

Hi, my name is Sherine. Currently, I’m learning and upgrading my UI/UX skill at dibimbing.id and this is my complete UX research case study about Disney+ Hotstar, specifically its users in Indonesia.

Previously, I posted an article about Disney+ Hotstar UX research and insight (check it here). Now, I’ll write about some additional research and insight I’ve found while I got this project for my Day 2 individual assignment topic and as a complement to my previous Disney+ Hotstar group UX research assignment.

Overview

Disney+ Hotstar is an Indian brand owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both divisions of The Walt Disney Company. In Indonesia, Disney+ Hotstar was available to download on September 5, 2020.

In this UX case study, I conducted research on Disney+ Hotstar user behavior (frustrations, needs, and expectations) when using this app. Hopefully, this UX case study will be used to improve Disney+ Hotstar to become a better app that fulfills user needs and expectations.

A. Introduction:

Objectives

As a UX researchers, our main goal is to understand more about Disney+ Hotstar users and their behaviors, based on research validation. Therefore, the objectives of this research are:

• To understand various Disney+ Hotstar users’ behavior while using the app.
• To find out what the user needs, pain points, like, or dislikes while using the app.
• To understand user needs that haven’t been fulfilled on Disney+ Hotstar and how to solve it.

Methodology

• Desk Research — Competitor Analyst I used this methodology while doing my Day 2 individual assignment, where I have to compare and see what UX issues can be fixed or improved to make Disney+ Hotstar better.
• Quantitative — Survey as a preliminary question, to gather all the basic information and the behavior of the respondent. In this method, we also collect the data of the users who are interested to be interviewed.
• Qualitative — In-depth Interview becomes the most appropriate method to obtain user insights related to the defined objectives and to find the user’s pain point. It also helps us to understand the user behaviors, based on their knowledge and feelings while using the Disney+ Hotstar app.

The respondents’ criteria for this research will be:

• Disney+ Hotstar User (Active Old & New User)
• Male / Female
• 18–55 years old
• Nationwide (all around Indonesia) & all professions
• Using/have another movie streaming apps besides Disney+ Hotstar

Research Timeline

For the research timeline itself, it consumed about 11 days in total to do this research and the breakdown will be shown below:

Research Timeline

For the in-depth interview we had 8 participants respectively, who wanted to share their experiences using Disney+ Hotstar apps.

In-Depth Interview Participants

B. Findings:

Desk Research— Competitor Analyst Results

Before surveying to see other users’ perspectives, I initially did a side-by-side comparison between Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar apps. The 3 sections that I compared will be the Home page, the Movie Search page, and the Play Movie page. And here are some of the results I’ve found:

Home Page

Movie Search Page

Movie Search Page 1

Movie Search Page 2

Play Movie Page

Play Movie Page 1

Play Movie Page 2

Survey Results

In this section, I will show you the results based on the survey that we conducted to find Disney+ Hotstar user behavior and to verify whether our findings are legit or not.

Survey Results 1 : Respondents’ Profile and Streaming Behaviors

Based on the chart above, the average ages of the respondents are mostly from the 18–34 years old category (68.6%) and the 35–55 years old category (31.4%). Most of them mostly work as office workers (82.9%) and students(8.6%), with a streaming duration of 1–3 times a week (71.4%), then 4–6 times a week (20%), while the rest is >9 times a week (8.6%).

Survey Results 2 : Respondents’ Streaming Preferences and How Well They Informed About The Show

Most of the respondents usually spend less than 2 hours streaming durations per day (62.9%) while the rest spend their streaming durations around 3–4 hours (28.6%) and 5–6 hours (8.6%). The majority of the participants prefer to watch movies (48.6%) on Disney+ Hotstar Apps, with K-Drama (20%) in second place and animation (8.6%) in third place. Almost majority of them also very updated about Disney+ Hotstar movies update (65.7%) and some of them updated enough (25.7%) about the movie update.

Survey Results 3 Other Streaming Platform Used by Disney+ Hotstar Users

From the graph above, the majority of the participants also choose Netflix (91.4%) as their other movie streaming app, and the runner-up is HBO Go (25.7%) and the third place is Vidio and WeTV(20%).

In-Depth Interviews Results

After conducting a survey, we found 8 participants who willed to tell us more about their experiences while using the Disney+ Hotstar apps, and here are the results below:

In-depth Interview Results 1

In-depth Interview Results 2

In-depth Interview Results 3

In-depth Interview Results 4

Read more about surveys and in-depth interviews (questions and answers) Here

From the results above, here what the user likes and dislikes about Disney+ Hotstar app:

Disney+ Hotstar User Likes & Dislikes

Based on our survey & interviews results, we got some insights about Disney+ Hotstar user behaviors when using the app:

Watching Duration & Preferences Show:

• Some of the users spend less than 2 hours a day watching Disney+ Hotstar.
• Some of them likes to watch movies and K-Drama on Disney+ Hotstar rather than series.

Reason to Subscribes:

• Some of them subscribes Disney+ Hotstar because they want to watch Disney’s Original Movies, Marvel Movies, and Pixar Movies, that can only be found in this app.
• Some of the user who also a parents prefer Disney+ Hotstar app because there are kids’ contents that they can watch together with their children.

Others:

• Some of the Disney+ Hotstar users only updated about their favorite show in this app.
• Most of the Disney+ Hotstar users also subscribed other movie streaming platform such as, Netflix, HBO GO, VIU, Vidio, WeTV, etc.

From our interview’s results, we found what Disney+ Hotstar user needs from this app:

Home:

• Users want a button/toggle setting for enabling light or dark mode view on Disney+ Hotstar app.
• Users who have kids want advance parental control setting so they can set and fully control of what their children watch.
• Users want personalize app’s home, based on user watching behavior.

Movie Search:

• Movie search with personalized movie recommendation based on user-watching behavior.
• Category list to inspired users while searching for something to watch.

Movie Player:

• Confirmation button while user pressing “Continue to Watch” button.
• Party feature, so users can watch streaming online with their friends.

While here are the Disney+ Hotstar users pain points based on our interview’s results:

Home:

• Some users feel their eyes uncomfortable when streaming on this app for long time because there is no setting for enabling light or dark mode view.
• Some user still concern about what their children watch because they think the parental control from this app is still not strong enough to control what their children can access.
• Users feels the movie titles layout at the homepage is too monotone, no latest movies or recommended movies preview.

Movie Search:

• No movie recommendation based on user watching behavior, which makes user confused while searching something to watch.
• No movie’s info on the movie’s preview page, instead its automatically played the full movie, which annoyed some users.
• No category list to inspired users while searching for something to watch.

Movie Player:

• Unresponsive play/ pause button.
• No confirmation button while user pressing “Continue to Watch” button.
• No party feature, so users can’t watch streaming online with their friends.

C. Analysis Results

User Persona

Based on the research conducted above, here is the most suitable user persona for this case study:

User Persona

Our user from this persona is a Disney+ Hotstar user since its launch. A working mom with children, who loves to watch Disney, Pixar, Marvel Movies, and Asian Dramas using the Disney+ Hotstar app.

Affinity Diagram

Affinity Diagram 1

Affinity Diagram 2

Customer Journey Map

Customer Journey Map

D. Recommendation

Actionable Insight

Based on the research conducted above, here are some actionable insights that can be done to improve Disney+ Hotstar application based on User needs.

Notes: The “party mode” actually is a good idea, however, it’s not really an urgent feature that has to be developed in the meantime. Maybe one day it can be one of the features that can be included in this app for the next development. Thus, this feature was placed on the red and grey box.

From the Eisenhower Decision Matrix, here are the summary of some actionable insights that can be done now:

Home & Features:

• Redesign Home layout to emphasize the latest or recommended movies from user watching behavior

• Show some movies suggestion and category list to inspired users while searching for something to watch.

Technical:

• Advance parental control so user can control their children’s watching activities.

• Toggle/ button for the user to choose between light/dark mode.

Content:

• Discuss with the IT team about adding a confirmation button while the user pressing the “Continue to Watch” button.

• Discuss with the IT team about the lag and the unresponsive play/pause button to solve these problems.

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy reading it, as I enjoyed doing this case study research. Cheers!

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