Brief
The goal is to design a set of tools and processes for TV creators to effectively manage their TV shows and track the progress of their funding status throughout the entire lifecycle of a TV show. This involves creating a comprehensive platform that empowers TV creators to make informed decisions and engage with their audience and supporters.
Key Objectives:
Creator-Focused Platform: Develop a user-friendly platform that caters specifically to the needs of TV creators. This platform should be intuitive, efficient, and equipped with the necessary tools and features.
Lifecycle Management: Enable TV creators to manage their TV shows from concept to completion. This includes tools for planning, funding, production, distribution, and audience engagement.
Funding Tracking: Implement a robust funding tracking system that allows creators to monitor the progress of their funding campaigns in real-time. Creators should have visibility into pledges, goals, and funding milestones.
Audience Engagement: Create features that facilitate direct interaction between TV creators and their audience. This may include updates, feedback channels, and communication tools.
Data Analytics: Provide TV creators with access to data analytics and insights. This helps them make data-driven decisions regarding their shows and funding campaigns.
User Support: Offer comprehensive user support to assist TV creators in using the platform effectively. This includes documentation, tutorials, and responsive customer support.
Security and Privacy: Prioritize the security and privacy of user data, ensuring that sensitive information is protected.
Scalability: Design the platform to be scalable, accommodating TV creators of varying project sizes and complexities.
Integration: Consider integration with other relevant platforms and services, such as streaming platforms, payment gateways, and social media networks.
Feedback Loop: Implement a feedback loop mechanism that allows TV creators to provide input on platform improvements.
The ultimate aim is to empower TV creators with the tools and resources they need to successfully manage their TV shows and engage with their audience throughout the funding and production process. This platform should be adaptable to different genres and types of TV content, providing a comprehensive solution for the industry.
TV Show Life Cycle
Role Overview:
As the lead designer on this project, my primary responsibility was to oversee the design process and deliver final design assets to our offshore development team for implementation within a Bootstrap theme. This role required close collaboration with the development team to ensure the successful integration of design elements.
Credits:
Senior Product Designer: Israel Lemus
Problem Statement:
The project aimed to address two main objectives related to the Content Management System (CMS):
Create a CMS that aligns with the product's business model.
Design a CMS interface that feels familiar to creators, ensuring a low learning curve for users.
Research and Data:
To inform the design process, I conducted research on similar creator tools such as YouTube, Vimeo, and WordPress. The research revealed that users preferred a streamlined content management experience and did not want to spend excessive time managing their content.
The project's challenge was to create a CMS that not only met the business model requirements but also provided an intuitive and efficient content management experience for creators. The goal was to strike a balance between functionality and user-friendliness, aligning with user preferences observed in the research.
Key Learnings:
The research conducted during the project provided valuable insights into the needs and preferences of content creators. Here are the key learnings:
Ease of Use: Content Management Systems (CMS) for video should prioritize simplicity and ease of use. Creators value user-friendly interfaces that don't require extensive time and effort to manage.
Demographics Reporting: Creators are interested in detailed demographics reports that provide insights into who is watching their content by age, gender, and geography. These breakdowns are crucial for making creative and marketing decisions.
Funding Status: Creators should have easy access to the funding status of their projects. Transparency in funding progress is essential for creators to track their financial goals.
Immediate Data Access: A significant portion (78%) of creators want immediate access to their data as soon as they access the dashboard. Quick access to relevant information is highly valued.
Dashboard Usage: A majority (86%) of creators use the dashboard on a daily basis, indicating its importance as a central hub for managing content and engaging with the audience.
Basic Image Editing: Content creators appreciate having basic image editing tools integrated into the CMS. This feature simplifies the process of enhancing and customizing visual content.
Content Sharing: The CMS should offer an easy way for creators to share their content with their audience. Seamless sharing options are essential for building and engaging with a fan base.
Communication: Creators use CMS platforms to establish and communicate with their fan base. Therefore, communication tools should be readily accessible within the system.
Clipboard History: Creators should have access to their clipboard history, allowing them to retrieve previously copied content when needed. This feature enhances workflow efficiency.
These learnings served as critical guidelines for designing a CMS that meets the specific needs of content creators while ensuring a user-friendly and efficient experience.
Planning Phase:
During the planning phase of the project, close collaboration took place between myself as the lead designer, the project manager, stakeholders, and the design team. The primary objective was to identify and define the key features that content creators would require for the launch product. This planning stage is crucial for setting clear objectives and priorities for the design and development process.
From the outline, I started working out the flows and wires for the CMS's ecosystem.
User Flow
Wireframes - Creator Application Process:
One of the critical components of the project was the Creator Application Process. This served as the introduction to the Content Management System (CMS) and needed to strike a balance between being user-friendly and providing enough information for the production team to assess the qualifications of the applicant.
Key Design Decisions:
Minimize the number of forms to streamline the process and save time for applicants.
Implement a hard gate for users to sign in to Rivit TV, allowing some information to be auto-populated, such as their name and email address.
The wireframe outlines the user flow for the Creator Application Process, ensuring that essential information is captured while making the experience as efficient as possible for applicants.
To simplify the application process and address the potential concern of creators feeling overwhelmed by the number of fields to fill out, a one-page application form was chosen. To enhance the user experience and provide visual guidance, a progress form indicator in the form of a progress bar was implemented. This progress bar visually informs creators about their progress in completing the form, making it clear how much of the form remains to be filled out. This approach helps creators navigate the application process more smoothly and with a sense of progress.
Web Creator Application
The next step in the content creation process involved creators providing basic information about their show and submitting the required documents. This stage is crucial for collecting essential details and documents necessary for the production and management of the content. It ensures that creators can smoothly move forward in the content creation process while providing all the necessary information and documents to meet the platform's requirements.
Welcome
Basic Information Form
Basic Information Submitted
Project State
The next stage in the project involved designing wireframes for all the pages and tools that content creators would need to publish and maintain their shows on the platform. This phase required a significant amount of user testing and iterations to ensure that the design effectively met the needs of creators and provided an intuitive and user-friendly experience. The goal was to create a set of tools that would empower creators to manage their show pages efficiently and effectively.
Manage Page - Unpublished
Manage Page - Published
Showpage - Modules
Media Library
The Media Library posed a significant challenge in terms of managing the various steps that a show could potentially have. To address this complexity and potential user confusion, extensive user testing was conducted. The aim was to ensure that content creators could navigate the library without uploading the wrong creative for a particular step in the process. This testing and iteration process aimed to streamline the Media Library experience and make it as user-friendly as possible to prevent errors in content management.
Each new creative required information to help populate the CMS.
Desktop-Creative Information Screen
To enhance the content creation and management experience, several additional features were developed for creators, including:
Messaging Tool: Creators were provided with a messaging tool that allowed them to communicate directly with their audiences. This feature enabled creators to engage with their viewers, respond to comments, and foster a sense of community around their content.
Moderation Commenting Tool: A moderation tool was integrated into show pages, enabling creators to manage and moderate comments effectively. This feature allowed creators to maintain a positive and respectful environment for their audience.
Change-Log Pages: Creators were given the ability to revert to older published files if necessary. The change-log pages provided a history of changes made to their content, giving creators the flexibility to manage and restore previous versions as needed.
These additional tools and features aimed to provide content creators with the necessary tools to engage with their audience, moderate discussions, and maintain control over their content throughout its lifecycle.
Desktop-Compose Messages Page
Desktop-Comment Moderation Page
Desktop-Change Log Page
Bootstrap Theme
Because of time and budget constraints, it was decided to use a bootstrap theme for the CMS with little design changes to the theme. We wanted to make sure the functionality worked and then we would come back and design a proper design style.
Mobile
Due to the complexity and time constraints, not all features were able to be fully translated to the mobile version for the initial launch. In such cases, discussions were held with the development team to determine which options should be removed. However, it's important to note that the CMS modules were designed to be modular and responsive, allowing for future development and expansion. Below are some examples of the mobile version that were designed for the launch, demonstrating the commitment to providing a mobile-friendly experience for content creators.
Web Phone: Welcome
Web Phone: Basic Information Form
Web Phone: Information Submitted
