UX Research Case Study: Disney+ Hotstar
Introduction
Hello, everyone! Let me introduce myself. My name is Farid Muhammad, and I’m currently join Dibimbing UI/UX Batch 15 Bootcamp, and I’m interested about User Experience (UX). This is my first case study for UX Research Case Study on Disney+ Hotstar app. Through this case study, I want to share with you about my research journey for this app, and what I’ve learned during the process.
Disclaimer: This portfolio is written in English, but some of the pictures will be written in Bahasa Indonesia.
There will be about 4 (four) section that I will write in here. There are:
- Section 1 (Project Overview): Explain about research background, objective, methodology and tools that will be use, research timeline & process, and also target and criteria for the respondents.
- Section 2 (Findings): Explain about insights that already gathered based on the data (Qualitative or Quantitative data).
- Section 3 (Recommendations): Explain about actionable plan based on the objective of this research and the reasons.
- Section 4 (Lesson Learned): Explain about what I’ve learned during the UX Research process.
Project Overview
Background
Disney+ Hotstar is a dedicated streaming application for the biggest global and Indonesian hits, all in one place. It brings together your favorite shows, Hollywood movies and award-winning content from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic, and many more. Users can use Disney+ Hotstar from their phone (Android, iOS) or watch it on TV using device like Chromecast. It was established in Indonesia on September 2020.
This research conducted to gain insights from Disney+ Hotstar users to increase numbers of subscriber since the app wanted to become more global and well-known after being launched for two years in Indonesia. In addition, we also want to know about user behavior, pain points, and needs to improve the app.
Objective
There are 4 (four) objectives that created for this UX Research:
- Understand user behavior of Disney+ Hotstar users
- Understand user pain points when using the app
- To increase number of viewers in Disney+ Hotstar
- Get to know user insights of what user needs in the app
Research Methodologies
There are 2 (two) methodologies that used for this UX research:
- In-depth Interview (Qualitative): To know the behavior, personality, needs and pain points when using Disney+ Hotstar.
- Competitor Analysis: Getting know about other apps and compare with Disney+ Hotstar about how they perform. We compared the app with Viu and Netflix.
Research Timeline and Process
The research was conducted for around 16 days in the middle of August 2022 until early September 2022, with the details of process:
- 2 days for kick off meeting
- 2 days for research planning
- 8 days for data collection (Shared the survey screening, selected the respondents that fit with the criteria, interview, wrote the transcripts, and competitor analysis)
- 3 days for analysis & report
- 1 day for finishing the presentation
Tools
Tools that I used to conduct this research are:
Google Form
Created Screening Survey to find suitable respondents and shared it through social media
Google Spreadsheet
Collected the respondents interview transcripts
Zoom, Whatsapp Calls, Offline Interview
Used for interviewing the respondents
Figma (FigJam)
Used for collecting the data and analyzed the data available and brainstorming (Some of the data are written in Bahasa Indonesia)
Respondents Target and Criteria
Total of 6 respondents were gathered who meet the criteria for in-depth interview that conducted for this research.
- Disney+ Hotstar users (Male/Female)
- Age range from 18–40 years old
- Using Disney+ Hotstar at least 3 times or more in 1 month
- Likes to watch film/drama/documentaries
The respondents were recruited through sharing a screening survey in Google Form throughout social media. Interviews are conducted through Zoom, Whatsapp calls, and offline interview. Discussion guideline is created as a guide to prevent asking respondents a questions that out of topic or far from the objective.
FINDINGS
Results after In-Depth Interview
The results of interviews with 6 respondents were recorded in form of the text that created in Google Spreadsheet. To analyze the data collected, we used Affinity Diagram to help organize the information. The information then divided into different groups, themes, or categories depending on the similarities.
We analyzed the Affinity Diagram and transcripts together. You may see the transcript on this link.
Based on the information from the Affinity Diagram, overall, we obtained information below:
Likes
Overall, users decided to choose Disney+ Hotstar are because of the affordable price than other streaming apps available. There are also yearly subscription available so that the users didn’t have to worry for re-subscribe or paying every month. When users are using certain provider (in this case, Telkomsel), some internet packages include 1 month subscription for Disney+ Hotstar. The app is also family friendly.
Pain Points
Users felt that the login method with phone number sometimes not comfortable due to the OTP code takes time to be sent or failed to sent. The variation of film/drama/documentaries are too few not like the other apps (respondents refer to Netflix) and the algorithm/recommendation didn’t really represent what user wanted. When watching the film, the users felt that the subtitles are too formal, and there is no playback speed. 1 out of 6 respondents also experienced difficulties when accessing Disney+ Hotstar outside of Indonesia. He had to buy a new number in order to access the app.
Expectation
Users expected that the variation of the films will be a lot, a family sharing feature available, not showing old film recommendations, and users also expected that the film that they watch can be share through form of Instagram Story.
UI Design
Users informed that the color theme that Disney+ Hotstar used is interesting, and people will most likely know that the app is Disney+ Hotstar. Users also complained about:
- There are no ranking system in film
- Pause and speed up button (10 second speed up) position are too close
- Recommendation didn’t follow the algorithm
- When pressing the right/left side on the screen in Smartphone, the film couldn’t rewind/fast forward.
Needs
Users gave an insights for what they need inside the apps. From expanding the market, enable hybrid feature (so that the user didn’t have to change to a new number when access the app outside of Indonesia), and enable age range when choosing film.
Behaviour
Users use Disney+ Hotstar when they are relaxing, usually watch with family or friends with shared account. Users watch Disney+ Hotstar to re-watch childhood memories film, and prefer to watch in big screen like TV or laptop.
Insights
Overall, based on the results, we gathered information below:
- People choose Disney+ Hotstar due to affordable price, yearly subscription option available, and when buying an internet package on certain provider, it’s included 1 month subscription. Users usually using Disney+ Hotstar together with friends or family, and most of the users watch Marvel, Disney Original, or Korea.
- Login method was limited with using only phone number. The OTP (One Time Password) code always late to sent of failed to sent
- Subtitles are too formal, the film/drama cannot fast forward or rewind when tapping twice on the left/right side of the smartphone screen, and the curations of the category available that are not familiar to users
- Film/drama that available in the app are not too many and 1 of 6 respondents felt like Disney+ Hotstar is too exclusive.
- 1 of 6 respondent complaint that the subscription that user paid, is not available when the user wants to use Disney+ Hotstar outside of the country, and have to buy a new number on the visited country.
User Persona
User Persona is a process to create some kind of group from the different characteristic. We need User Persona to know the characteristic of user, to understand user in every kind of group, giving solutions, and to prioritize which user that needs to be handle first/decide urgency level.
Customer Journey Map
Customer Journey Map is made to visually map out the customer journey while interacting with Disney+ Hotstar app. This process will provide us a holistic view of the customer experience. It will reveals opportunities to address customers pain points.
Competitor Analysis
Beside in-depth interview, we also use Competitor Analysis to identify main competitor similar to Disney+ Hotstar (Viu & Netflix) to know the competitor’s feature and compare to feature of Disney+ Hotstar.
Based on the Competitor Analysis, we obtained information below:
- Disney+ Hotstar registration and login method only using phone number, while the two competitors provided another methods, like email (Netflix and Viu), and login using their social media (Viu)
- Korean movie/drama segments are all available in the apps
- Netflix has a “Rate” feature to help convince the users to watch the films/series/documentaries, while Disney+ Hotstar and Viu didn’t have any
- Compare to Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and Viu had the cheapest monthly price
Recommendations
The Eisenhower Decision Matrix
After discussed about actionable plan and opportunities, we used the Eisenhower Decision Matrix to decide and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance, divided into 4 (four) quadrants with different work strategies.
Here are the results after we tried to discuss the actionable plans and try to prioritized it using The Eisenhower Decision Matrix:
There are 3 (three) actionable plans that we listed as “Do It” section (urgent and important):
Give another login method option beside phone number, like e-mail
By giving another login method option like e-mail so the user can choose between using phone number or email (on findings, we received an insight that login with phone number made the user wait for the OTP code, and sometime the OTP code took some time to be sent or failed to be sent). Using email option will required user to input a password, and user don’t have to wait for OTP code to access the app.
Create account sharing feature
Most of the user like to share their Disney+ Hotstar account with their friends or family, but, the problem is that 1 account is for 1 profile only (with the device can stream for up to 4 devices). So if there are more than 1 users use the account, the recommendation might not be accurate or represent what user wanted. Enabling account sharing feature will help so that each of members in 1 account can enjoy watching their favorite film and getting recommendations based on their each preferences.
Expand the market with adding more films/series
Since Disney+ Hotstar aiming to become global and well-known, expanding the market with adding more films/series will help to gain more Disney+ Hotstar new users. This will also help people to recommend the app to others, and the app will not feel exclusive.
There are also the remaining actionable plans:
Schedule section (less urgent and important)
- Create film recommendations (in ranking) to push users to watch films based on the recommendations
- Create button that when user click twice on the film on left/right side of the screen, the film will fast forward/rewind
- Add playback speed feature
Delegate section (urgent and less important)
- Create “Share the film” feature to social media (in form of Instagram story)
- Giving a reward to user that successfully recruit new user to subscribe Disney+ Hotstar (By using referral code)
Delete section (less urgent and less important)
- Create some kind of Hybrid mode so that user that already subscribed, don’t have to buy a new number when access it outside the country
Lesson Learned
As this is my first portfolio and my first case study, I have found it important to understand the product when working in the UI/UX space. Because a great product is one that not only provides functional benefits, but also a great experience. for users. It also helps us to know and understand how users feel, their pain points, their preferences, and their behavior while using the app. We also know that the affordability of subscribing to a streaming app influences a user’s decision when choosing a streaming app.
With In-depth Interview, I learned to became an active listener, and I also uncovered an answer that somehow gave me a new perspective to answer our research objectives. As a qualitative method, the results are rich with information, and there might a chance that maybe some of the information’s not included inside the report. Using thematic analysis such as affinity diagram helps me to group information based on the similarities. After analyzed the data, then we created a user persona to help us know the characteristic of user and understand the user.
Customer Journey map is important to identify opportunities to address user pain points while using the Disney+ Hotstar. As we learned about the journey, it also help us to provide a better solution that fits with the problem.
To decide and finding an actionable plans, we also learned to input the recommendation that’s relevant (answer the needs of the user, but didn’t make any loss for us/company).
Overall, there is still a room to grow and learn for me to learn about UX Research and to create a better UX Research case study in the future.
Appendix
I also created the UX Research Case Study of Disney+ Hotstar in presentation slide. You may check it here.
Thank you so much for reading this until the end! I’m open for any feedback and discussion for this case study. You may reach me in Medium or through my LinkedIn.
