IMDb REDESIGN
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Busy movie fans, especially parents, often use IMDb to find films but struggle to quickly access key details like plot summaries, reviews, and streaming availability, leading to frustration and missed family-friendly movie options.
TIMELINE
Aug - Sept 2024
KICKOFF
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
As a first-time user navigating IMDb to view the page of a specific movie, my initial impression was that the site is information-rich but somewhat overwhelming. Upon arriving at the movie's page, I noticed a dense layout filled with various sections, such as trailers, cast lists, user reviews, and external links. The site is designed to be comprehensive, but this can lead to cognitive overload, especially for a new user.
INTERVIEWS
CLIENT
School Project
Streamlined movie selection enhances the viewer experience through personalized recommendations, intuitive interfaces, smart search features, and curated lists for efficient browsing and decision-making.
MY ROLE
Research, user flows, wireframing, visual design, and prototyping.
PERSONA
I created Matt Thompson's user persona to represent a typical busy parent navigating the challenges of selecting family-friendly movies. The persona includes his demographics, family status, occupation, and daily responsibilities to highlight his need for efficient solutions.
I focused on his goals, like quick access to engaging, family-friendly content, and his pain points, such as limited time and overwhelming options. Insights into his media habits and device use further contextualize his user journey. This persona serves as a practical tool to design features and functionalities that simplify the movie selection process for parents like Matt.
TOOLS
Figma
I interviewed target users to understand their challenges with selecting movies. Many found browsing IMDb time-consuming, especially when searching for family-friendly content, as it required sifting through numerous reviews and summaries. Users expressed a need for streamlined navigation, clearer filtering options, and easier access to key information like streaming platforms, runtime, and ratings.
A common theme was the desire for personalized recommendations tailored to their preferences, as IMDb’s current system felt too broad. They also highlighted frustration with the cluttered presentation of reviews, suggesting clearer visual cues to differentiate critic and audience feedback. Overall, users emphasized the importance of simplicity, personalization, and efficiency in improving their experience.
GENERAL INSIGHTS FROM INTERVIEWS
Interviews revealed that 60% of users primarily use their iPhone to browse for movies, often conducting searches while at home for convenience and quick access. Another 10% use an iPad, mainly when they want a slightly larger screen without compromising mobility. About 30% of users prefer using a MacBook, particularly when they desire a bigger display to review detailed information or when watching trailers.
When it comes to motivations for looking up movies, the top reasons include seeing what’s popular, which was ranked high among users, followed closely by reading reviews and checking runtime/ratings—both considered medium-high priorities. Users also look to watch trailers (medium motivation) to gain a better sense of the film before deciding to watch. In contrast, exploring cast and crew details was of lower interest, suggesting that users prioritize overall film appeal and feedback over specific personnel.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
DIRECT COMPETITOR - LETTERBOXD
Letterboxd is a social platform tailored for movie lovers to discover, review, and discuss films while creating watchlists and exploring curated lists and recommendations. It excels in emphasizing user reviews, lists, and social features, fostering community engagement. The platform provides tailored movie recommendations and features a clean design with strong visual content and a mobile app for on-the-go access.
However, there are areas for improvement. Letterboxd lacks critic ratings or professional reviews, which could offer users additional insights. The search functionality and filtering options need enhancement to facilitate easier movie discovery, and the platform does not provide direct links for streaming or rentals, limiting access to content. Addressing these issues could further enhance the user experience on Letterboxd.
DIRECT COMPETITOR - WEATHER FIT
Weather Fit is a mobile app that provides weather forecasts and style recommendations in cartoon form. It shows hourly forecasts, UV index, precipitation, visibility, etc. The app does well by allowing users to choose skin tone and gender, supporting an iPhone home page widget, and displaying various weather features. It also offers a clean interface and suggests outfits for morning, afternoon, and night, adding value for users throughout the day. However, it has limited features, lacks diverse clothing options, and does not provide shopping links. Additionally, it's not free, offers limited customization, and includes ads, which may detract from the user experience.
OVERVIEW
Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd, and IMDb each offer unique features that cater to different movie-watching preferences. Both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb provide critic reviews, allowing users to gain insights from industry experts, while Letterboxd lacks this feature. When it comes to audience reviews, all three platforms facilitate user feedback, enabling viewers to share their opinions on films. Letterboxd stands out with its personalized recommendations, unlike IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, which do not offer this feature. In terms of comprehensive movie information, IMDb excels by providing detailed data about films, while Letterboxd and Rotten Tomatoes do not. Users can create user-generated lists on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, but Letterboxd does not support this functionality. Lastly, Letterboxd incorporates social media aspects, fostering community interaction among movie lovers, while IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes do not emphasize social features in the same way. These varying features highlight how each platform serves different user needs in the film discovery and review process.
DEFINE
DESIGN SOLUTIONS
After interviews and conducting a competitive analysis, I focused on improving the IMDb experience. User research revealed frustrations around quickly finding relevant information such as plot details, reviews, and streaming options. Based on this feedback, I redesigned critical aspects of the IMDb interface to make it easier for users to gather important information quickly. The updated design includes a more intuitive layout, personalized recommendations, and simplified access to critic and audience ratings, and now, I am able to find friends and see their recent activity. Helping users make faster, more informed decisions.
VISUAL STYLE GUIDE
CORE FUNCTIONALITIES:
Before beginning on wireframes, I composed a visual style guide featuring a carefully curated selection of colors and typography. I chose this guide to align with the existing brand aesthetic, ensuring that updates to the interface would feel cohesive and not confuse customers. By maintaining familiar visual elements, the design minimizes disruption for users reliant on the brand’s established identity.
The color palette complements current branding while enhancing usability, and the typography is selected for both visual appeal and legibility across devices. I also included guidelines for iconography and imagery to ensure visual elements integrate smoothly without straying from the brand's style.
This style guide provides a clear framework for the design process that respects the company’s identity, fostering a smoother transition for users. This preparation ensures the final product meets user needs while remaining true to the brand’s vision.
WIREFRAMING AND USER TESTING
INTIAL WIREFRAMES
I began creating wireframes by analyzing IMDb’s interface, identifying both its strengths and areas for improvement. My goal was to enhance user experience while preserving IMDb’s core functionality. The initial wireframes were detailed, focusing on simplifying layouts, improving navigation, and adding clearer visual cues for key information like streaming options, runtime, and ratings. The initial frames showcase the layout: the top left features the homepage, the bottom left displays the search bar, followed by the users movie lists, and the profile section.
FRIENDS WIREFRAMES
Since friend content would be a new feature on IMDB, I pulled in aspects typically seen on the app and features that make the content easy to explore so that long-term and new users would not be intimidated.
MOVIE CONTENT WIREFRAMES
Here’s my redesign of the movie/television show content. User interviews revealed that the current movie page feels overwhelming, making users hesitant to explore it. In response, I streamlined the page by prioritizing essential features that users regularly engage with, aiming to create a more accessible and user-friendly experience.
I went on to explore the visual looks of my home page. I tested how different outfits would look and interacted with the objects on the page. Regarding the layout of where the clothing photos would be, I ultimately decided to go with my original plan since I would be able to showcase a model, too, instead of just clothing items. I also tested color choices; I was torn between a darker theme and a lighter theme but ultimately decided to go with a lighter one because outfits would stand out better. The last one is the final result.
ITERATION 01 - UPPER NAVIGATION
PROTOTYPING
CORE FEATURES OF FINAL PRODUCT: LOGIN
Users select movie genres they prefer to receive enhancement suggestions. The system refines these suggestions using advanced algorithms, helping users discover movies tailored to their tastes.
CORE FEATURES OF FINAL PRODUCT: HOME PAGE
The Home page is now less cluttered and shows features users said they constantly view/use, such as user picks, in theaters now, and movies from your watchlist.
CORE FEATURES OF FINAL PRODUCT: PROFILE
Your profile is now interactive for both you and your friends. It shows users' recent activities, such as views and reviews, allows you to access personal lists and a ratings archive, and allows you to choose your favorite movies to show off to friends.
CORE FEATURES OF FINAL PRODUCT: MOVIE LISTS
Create a list to organize movies easily. This is an easy way to keep track of favorite films, curate watchlists, or share recommendations with others. While this feature is not new, it is now redesigned to be intuitive to users.
CORE FEATURES OF FINAL PRODUCT: SEARCH
Search is now less cluttered and more accessible for users to digest. It features top-rated movies worldwide and a Box Office tab that shows movies playing near you. You can also explore specific genres and trending celebrities.
CORE FEATURES OF FINAL PRODUCT: FRIENDS
A friends page now replaces clips. Making IMDb a social experience. This page shows friends' recent watches and activities as well as a collection of their favorite movies.
CORE FEATURES OF FINAL PRODUCT: MOVIE CONTENT
Movie content has been filtered down now, displaying only the most crucial content regarding the movie. In these wireframes, you can see where the film is available, the cast, and the crew; you can now rate movies more easily and see reviews from friends and popular reviews.
FINAL THOUGHTS
WHAT I LEARNED
Redesigning IMDb’s interface provided a valuable opportunity to gain comprehensive experience in streamlining the user experience from the initial concept to the final design. The process required me to focus on prioritizing features, especially given the time constraints, which underscored the importance of selecting the proper UX methodologies to create a more effective interface.
Working closely with developers in future projects could further enhance the functionality of the design and ensure seamless integration of all design elements, bridging the gap between design and implementation. User research played a critical role in the redesign, as it helped me understand the audience's needs and align my design decisions with their expectations, ultimately delivering a more intuitive and efficient browsing experience.
Throughout the process, I maintained a straightforward thought process, adhered to strict deadlines, and meticulously planned each phase before beginning the work. This approach was essential for delivering a cohesive and practical redesign, ensuring that the user journey remained central to the final outcome.