This week was mainly dedicated to working on the SRP presentation in the office. It's beginning to take some rough shape, but is still a definite work in progress. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't discover anything particularly intriguing while working.
As Matt, the web designer of the LoopLogic company, has his desk right next to mine, I often get drawn into the discussions he would have with other colleagues regarding the appeal of the web design and how intuitive the site has to be to really grab the consumer's attention. This week, there was a particularly engaging conversation that really grabbed my attention.
Remember how I mentioned that YouTube had such a powerful influence on the common mindset? Well, it seems that it does have flaws: for one, there's Google Plus (which incidentally is slowly being shuffled out of the Internet). But the major issue we all agreed that YouTube had was just how it kept stacking videos on top of one another.
Of course, normally, YouTube is meant for you to just click, sit back, and enjoy whatever you wanted to watch. However, it really lacked any serious method that would allow for professional user feedback that is not the abhorrence of the comments section. This issue though is not high on YouTube's concern of to-fix list.
For LoopLogic though, this is an opportunity. To fix this link, the program designed sacrifices the bulk video accessibility and adds in ways for any potential business partner to check on media feedback, such as surveys or questionnaires. This draw parallels to YouTube's like/dislike system, but with actual and proper information about the potential consumer and how they can get eased into making a deal with the provider.
It's all psychological stuff. Probably a thesis paper one day, detailing how the mind has been shifted by how easy things are in the modern day.
Well, till next time.
Very interesting. I have often wished there was a way to search and/or sort youtube videos with more fine-grained tools for quality. Do you think there is a reason they deliberately want to keep this functionality to a minimum?
ReplyDeleteThey purposefully kept the format in such a way to encourage viewing any popular video related to what you are watching. It is good for encouraging widespread community usage, but not particularly for specific and focused groups.
DeleteSo what's an alternative to stacking videos?
ReplyDeleteAn possible alternative would be a single video focused path, so instead of having the user cast a wide net for videos, they are instead given a very narrow path on which they follow for maximum focus.
DeleteI find the examples of a more professional approach really interesting! It seems like LoopLogic is definitely taking on a different form than YouTube. Are there any other major differences? Or specific functions special to LoopLogic?
ReplyDeleteFocus on the consumer is what really separates LoopLogic from other sites. The video watcher is presented and guided along a path of video, survey, questions, etc. that is considered narrow compared to how YouTube operates.
DeleteI like the comparison/contrast you made. Very interesting.
ReplyDelete