Chill: A Bingewatching Buddy
OVERVIEW
This project is a concept for an application that serves as a hub for people that love to stream shows and podcasts. With it, users can keep track of the shows and episodes they have watched, as well as the ones they want to watch and the ones their friends recommend, no matter what streaming service hosts them. Also, for those who are many seasons deep into a lengthy show, or who are returning to a show after a hiatus, the integrated AI is available to answer questions about the characters and plot, while keeping in mind where users are in the storyline and avoiding any answers that would contain spoilers.
RESEARCH
This project began with researching the environment around streaming and the information available to those who go looking for answers to plot points and characters. I looked into resources such as Reddit, IMDb, Prime Video X-Ray, multiple streaming services, and Fandom(Wikia), making note of their weaknesses and where there was room for improvement. I interviewed others about their show watching habits, and how they handled forgotten information, tracking their watchlists, and spoilers.
Respondents indicated that they used various methods to track their “want to watch” lists and friends’ recommendations, but would prefer a better way that would also allow them to share lists with their friends, much like sharing a Spotify playlist. When trying to find answers to their questions, they would either ask a friend who had seen the show, Google for answers, or, if they wanted to avoid spoilers and no one had seen it, they would ask a friend to Google for them. There was also interest in a way to comment on episodes, but keep the comments hidden until their friend had watched the relevant episode.
IDEATION
This project began simply as a way to track episodes watched and received spoiler-free answers to questions about the shows. However, it soon occurred to me that this application could also serve as a one stop shop for keeping track of the user’s “to watch” list, and help them manage this list in a way that suits their preferences. My research proved that users have a need for this.
Once I had a clear idea of its purposes, I built out the user flow.
RESULT
I assembled a prototype in Figma, and the key screens of the application can be seen below. The pages were built upon an 8 point grid system, with colors chosen for a dark theme to accommodate interacting with the application while watching showsat night. The color combinations are WCAG AAA compliant.
On the home screen, users are greeted by their most recently watched shows, as well as the most recently shared shows, releases, and saved shows sorted by streaming platform.
At the top, they can select any number of filters, to help them narrow down the options as they ponder what to watch.
They can also choose to view their saved shows, sorted into lists of their own making. These lists can be shared with friends, and edited by them as well.
When users select a show, they can view a brief description, find where to watch it, keep track of which episodes they've seen, or ask a question with the AI.
The AI chatbot will take into account how far along in the series the user's knowledge goes, and avoid providing any answers that contain spoilers from future episodes.
The show's page displays each episode with its title, a brief description, its watched status, and a notification for unread comments. If the episode has not been seen, the description is hidden behind spoiler tags, which can be tapped to reveal the text beneath.
Once the user has completed an episode, they can select the checkmark, which will shift into an arrow icon that links to the now-unlocked episode page. There, they can read a full synopsis of the episode (in case they wish to return much later and refresh their memory) and read any comments left by friends who have finished that episode ahead of them. They can also chose to leave a comment for any friends who will see it later.