Ven Wong
Introducing Visual Scrubbing for Enhanced Video Exploration
Improving the experience of video playback within the Channel 4 app by implementing a visual scrubbing feature. Visual scrubbing allows users to preview video content by dragging a scrub bar while receiving a visual representation of the corresponding video frame. The key goal was providing a more intuitive way to navigate video content and find specific scenes.
The problem
Channel 4 viewers often switch between watching content on linear TV and the streaming app. Unfortunately, the app cannot track playback progress on linear TV, resulting in inaccurate progress markers. This often leads to a tedious process of fast forwarding through content to try and find where you got to in the programme.
The solution
Fast-forwarding or rewinding video content now displays thumbnails at regular intervals along the scrub bar, providing users with a clear visual representation of the corresponding video frames. Seamless integration with “trick play” allows functionality that users know and love to remain, allowing users to choose what speed they wish to skip video content in.
The big screen platform challenge
Competitor analysis revealed a lack of industry wide standards for implementing visual scrubbing with each platform having their own guidelines and best practices, requiring us to carefully consider user expectations on each platform.
Balancing consistency and tailored platform experiences
Maintaining a consistent experience across big screen platforms is important, but we also considered user expectations on each device. Roku's separate codebase and design guidelines (which advised on using multiple thumbnails) provided an opportunity to tailor the visual scrubbing experience there. This considers Roku users' habits to avoid confusion when switching between streaming services.