Enhancing live broadcasting for 30,000 people
Mixlr is a platform designed for live audio broadcasting. Over time, the platform has evolved, allowing users to broadcast, host live events, and interact with audiences through live chats.​
I worked in a team with 2 other designers and with the client, Mixlr, in order to improve the broadcasting and listening experience for both broadcasters and listeners.
My Role: Researcher, UX/UI Designer
Duration: 2.5 weeks
Completed: November 2020
Tools: Figma, Miro, Trello
The Problem
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Mixlr is a growing business and wants to find ways to retain and grow their customer base (both in terms of broadcasters and listeners).
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The Challenge
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Investigate the ways in which Mixlr can retain their customers by helping budding broadcasters to grow their audience, increase engagement with listeners, and, eventually, monetise that listenership.
Deliverables
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Competitor analysis
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User research findings (user interviews, user testing)
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Experience map/User journeys
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User flows and screen flows
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High fidelity mock-up
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Final presentation back to the client
Outcomes
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Project completed within allotted timeframe​
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Additional features introduced to improve broadcaster profile personalisation
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Additional features introduced to improve listener interaction with broadcasters
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High fidelity mockups and prototype
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Discover & Define
This project came with a challenging start. As it turns out, people who perform regular live broadcast are difficult to find - a niche line of work. An initial screener survey of 70 participants concluded that just 20% of them had performed some form of live broadcast, 64% of these being one-time Instagram Live streams. How would we deal with such an early set-back?
I wondered if a 21st century version of the dreaded cold-calling, 'cold-emailing', might help, by contacting broadcasters online to ask if they would be willing to participate in a study. As predicted, this came with little success. Thinking outside the box became the next tactic.
I suggested a snowballing technique, asking friends of friends of friends if they knew anyone suitable. Incredibly, using this method found 12 participants who were willing to be interviewed, which proved invaluable for their insights.
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With the research complete, insights helped bring to life two personas - Sue 'the listener' being a content-loving teacher who listens to broadcasts daily, and Antonio 'the broadcaster' who wants to better promote his broadcasting profile and grow his audience. The two personas helped focus on pain points for all users of Mixlr, improving the platform for everyone.
Develop & Deliver
One of the best part of being a UX/UI designer is getting everyone involved, from other designers to employees at the client. I was in charge of running a Design Studio with Mixlr employees, which included an ice breaker activity, a round of crazy 8's and then refining design ideas.
Creations included allowing listeners to have live video calls with broadcasters, exciting personalisation ideas for profiles, such as 'trailers', to give an overview of a channel, and providing ways for broadcasters to 'boost' their profiles on the Homepage.
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Once the design studio was concluded, there were a few days' of non-stop work, creating low-fidelity mockups, testing these and iterating. Improvements made, the same went for mid-fidelity and then, after a week of hard work, high-fidelity mockups were presented to the clients at Mixlr. Their feedback was incredibly positive and they were thrilled with the designs, appreciating all of the hard work and understanding the challenges that came with it.
Conclusion
Overall, a fascinating experience. My very basic knowledge of live broadcasting and initial difficulty in finding study participants was challenging throughout the initial phases, but my confidence grew throughout the whole process. Using the double diamond to aid design decisions and, ultimately, produce a product in such a short space of time is something myself and my team were incredibly proud of. Being able to match Mixlr’s brief, enhancing the engagement between broadcasters and listeners and to also allow more profile personalisation for broadcasters was amazing!
