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Product Experience

Problem Space 

Problem Statement  

How might we help consumers track the shows and movies they want to watch & save to their list more easily so that it’s less confusing, time consuming and manual?

Problem Background  

Globally, there are more than 200 streaming services available for consumers to watch TV and movies at their leisure. In the US alone there are well over 75.

When many Millenial and GenX customers sit down to watch TV, most don’t say “I want to watch Amazon Prime” or “I want to watch Paramount+”. They say “I wanna watch The Ultimatum: Queer Edition” or “I wanna watch Succession”. When a new show or movie comes out, many people add it to their watchlist. Given that our target customers have multiple subscriptions to multiple streaming providers/platforms and want to watch a lot of shows/movies. But as more shows come out on more platforms, consumers often forget they wanted to watch a show or movie. And with so many options that are constantly evolving, they have a hard time remembering that they even wanted to watch a show or let alone keeping track of which show or movie on which platform. What Discovery+ is now, what HBO is now called or is Showtime part of something else now? Each platform has its own watchlist but that’s not helpful when you just want to watch the SHOW about the guy with the thing that you added to your list but can’t remember WHERE. Consumers want to find and watch the show, not the platform. 

According to Forbes, 78% of all U.S. households subscribe to at least one or more streaming services. According to our survey, target consumers with multiple providers have an average of 6 content providers with some consumers reporting 11+ providers. With new releases happening so often on each of the platforms, there is frustration with having so much content and so many apps to track.

It would be great to have one streaming service for all— a lot to keep track of with all platforms

Too much to watch, I get decision fatigue.

It can get overwhelming. So much content that I don’t always know where to start.

Research Insights

User Pain Points

Using a Google Forms online survey through Instagram and LinkedIn posts, we survey 85 respondents about their watching habits. Respondents have an average of 6 streaming subscriptions with some reporting as many as 11. 70% keep track of shows they want to watch.Respondents report frustration with having so many apps to keep track of.

Supporting Data

55% use the list option provided by the streamer.

44% use the notes app on their phone to keep track of what they want to watch.

While 48% say they add to their list every month, 17% say they add every week.

Feedback

Respondents feel overwhelmed by media and really want a solution to help streamline the apps and their watching experience. 

Watch Your Shows, Not the Platforms

Landing on the Solution

Knowing that adding shows on individual platforms can be useful, we thought that it could be easier and kept in one place rather than 6-11 or having the consumer manually keep a list on their phone. A product that makes it easy to track shows and movies that a consumer wants to watch across platforms.This product would compile lists from each platform/provider into one easy location so users don’t have to toggle between lists on individual apps or endlessly search to remember which show was on which network before they get to watch it. The product would make it easier to just watch a show/movie that the consumer had been wanting to watch.

Explanation of Solution

We propose creating an app that can pull watchlists from all of the platform subscriptions so that users can just look in one place rather than having to look at their list on Netflix, their list on Amazon Prime, their list on Max and their list on Hulu. Making it easier to watch shows and movies that they’ve been meaning to watch, rather than forgetting entirely.

Future Steps

• A desire to have a TV Guide like way to know when new episodes are scheduled to drop for shows currently or previously watched
• A way to merge watch behaviors across platforms and then make recommendations based on activity across the board - rather than just one provider.