Video on
Demand: Playing
Catch Up?
An independent usability
study of VoD websites
user experience • research • design • training
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 4
Results ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Executive summary .......................................................................................................... 5
1.
Clear route to VoD landing page from main site homepage.................................... 7
2.
Clear explanation on proposition provided .............................................................. 8
3.
Easy to search for a specific programme ................................................................ 9
4.
Easy to browse for programmes to watch ............................................................. 11
5.
Easy to play selected programme ......................................................................... 13
6.
Intuitive player control buttons provided ................................................................ 15
7.
Flexible viewing options provided .......................................................................... 16
8.
Engaging audiences with additional features ........................................................ 18
9.
Easy to find help information ................................................................................. 20
10.
Easy to find and apply parental control options ................................................. 21
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 23
References .............................................................................................................................. 23
Appendix: Full results............................................................................................................... 24
About Webcredible .................................................................................................................. 25
www.webcredible.co.uk • 020 7423 6320 • [email protected]
2
Introduction
The opportunity
As the Video on Demand (VoD) market continues to develop its business models and
technology, the VOD market is only set for growth.
Video on Demand (VoD) in the UK will generate £200m a year in revenue and another
£100m in advertising by 2013, according to Enders Analysis via paid Content (Oct 2009)1.
Various platforms have sprung up, fuelled by Internet growth on mobile handsets and
increase in broadband capacity to the household.
About this report
In August 2010, Webcredible investigated the usability of 6 VoD websites provided by
major broadcasting companies (aggregator sites weren’t included within this study).
The usability criteria chosen were a mixture of essential usability criteria that apply to any
website (e.g. relating to navigation and orientation) and criteria that are relevant to the key
activities site visitors engage in on a VoD website (e.g. browsing for programmes).
Increasing the usability of any website offering VoD will increase the success users have in
finding and consuming the information for which they’re looking. The main goals of many
users visiting sites offering VoD are likely to be to:

Search for a video programme to watch

Play a selected video programme

Enjoy the experience during and after watching a video programme
Who is this report for?
The report is aimed at anyone involved with media websites, including communication
managers and web developers. The report assumes no prior usability or technical
knowledge.
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3
Methodology
Webcredible analysed 6 Video on Demand (VoD) websites of major UK broadcasting
companies in August 2010.
Each website was evaluated against 10 best practice guidelines and assigned a score of 0
to 5 for each guideline, with 5 being the maximum. With 10 guidelines in total, each
website was assigned a total Usability Index rating out of 50, which was then converted
into a percentage.
The guidelines against which we benchmarked the 6 websites were:
Site & homepage priorities
1. Clear route to VoD landing page from main site homepage
2. Clear explanation on proposition provided
Site supports key user tasks
3. Easy to search for a specific programme
4. Easy to browse for programmes to watch
5. Easy to play selected programme
6. Intuitive player control buttons provided
Engagement
7. Flexible viewing options provided
8. Engaging audiences with additional features
Help & support
9. Easy to find help information
10. Easy to find and apply parental control options
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Results
Executive summary
The 6 websites received the following scores:
Application
Company
VoD website
Total
BBC iPlayer
BBC
http://beta.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
88
STV Player
STV
http://player.stv.tv
76
Demand Five
Channel 5
http://demand.five.tv
72
4oD
Channel 4
www.channel4.com/4od
68
ITV Player
ITV
www.itv.com/itvplayer
60
Sky Player
Sky
http://skyplayer.sky.com
55
Average score
69.7
Overall, most websites fulfilled the basic criteria required for a VoD player website. For
example, the average score for searching for a specific programme and browsing for
programmes was 4.0. This indicates that most VoD player website providers understood
the importance of being able to find programmes.
However, most of the websites lost marks for presenting key user tasks in less intuitive
and straightforward manners. Also, as VoD players are fairly new and still in the process of
gaining popularity, criteria geared towards increasing site visitors’ engagement with the
VoD websites (e.g. providing flexible viewing options and engaging audiences with
additional features) had the lowest average scores with each scoring 3.0 and 2.2 points
respectively.
In addition, the VoD player websites have slightly different business propositions, making it
harder for site visitors to understand the differences on each website. For example:

BBC iPlayer and STV Player both performed well because they have a fairly
straightforward business proposition where site visitors can watch all programmes
for free
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
Demand Five scored fairly well despite having different options (e.g. free
programmes, programmes for rent, and programmes that need to be purchased) by
providing clear information on their business proposition

Sky Player lost marks by not having a clear explanation on the differences between
its subscription packages and the programmes that fall under these different
packages, making it harder for site visitors to find a programme to watch
Please consult the Appendix on p24 for a full breakdown of scores.
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1. Clear route to VoD landing page from main site
homepage
Average score: 3.3 (out of 5)
For site visitors who wish to browse from the main website homepage, it’s essential that
they can easily navigate to the starting point for VoD content i.e. the VoD ‘homepage’.
Additionally, the navigation system should also make it clear where the VoD content sits
within other main site content.
The main navigation on the BBC
homepage has a clear link to BBC
iPlayer, providing a clear route for
site visitors who wish to navigate to
that part of the website.
The BBC also scored full marks for
keeping the main navigation on the
BBC iPlayer homepage, making it
clear to site visitors where the
iPlayer content sits within the BBC
site.
ITV Player lost marks for losing its
main navigation as soon as site
visitors navigate to the ITV Player
homepage.
Overall, the websites performed averagely for this guideline. 5 out of the 6 websites had a
link on the main navigation from the homepage to the VoD homepage. However, 4 out of
the 6 websites didn’t retain the main navigation on the VoD homepage, making it harder
for site visitors to know where they are within the website.
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2. Clear explanation on proposition provided
Average score: 3.0 (out of 5)
The VoD homepage should contain information on the product (i.e. VoD content
proposition) and how site visitors can play video content. This includes:

Explaining to site visitors how they can play video content

Providing a clear explanation on whether the videos are free

Explaining any membership or registration options if applicable
Not every site visitor is familiar with playing VoD content online and VoD providers should
always keep this in mind. Clear and comprehensible explanations should be provided on
their VoD homepage.
STV Player scored full marks for
having a clear section on its
homepage which explains to site
visitors what STV Player is and how
to use it.
Demand Five scored high marks for
having a ‘how it works’ section on
the main navigation, making it easy
for site visitors to find out more
about the product proposition.
Most websites performed reasonably well for this guideline, with a few losing marks by
making it harder to find product proposition information, and only one website scoring 0 for
not providing any such information. Given its importance, all sites can improve on this
guideline by making it easier for site visitors to find information about their VoD content
proposition.
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3. Easy to search for a specific programme
Average score: 4.0 (out of 5)
As the proposition of VoD websites is to allow site visitors to watch programmes on
demand, one of the key user tasks on a VoD website is to find a specific programme to
watch. This includes helping site visitors catch-up on a programme or find programmes by:

Date

TV listings and channels

Episodes and series

Programme names
c
a
b
d
4oD scored full marks by having: (a) Search box on VoD
homepage; (b) Full TV listing by time, date and channels; (c)
List of all programmes and A-Z search; and (d) List of all the
episodes of a series on the selected video programme page.
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Sky Player has a search box on the VoD homepage but it lost
marks for having less transparent search options.
For example, the search ‘by day’ option was presented in a
hover-over list which disappears the moment site visitors
stop hovering-over the ‘On demand’ option. The poor colour
contrast between the hover-over list and main content page
further reduces the noticeability of the options on the list.
Overall, with an average score of 4.0, VoD sites definitely realised the importance of this
guideline. To easily search for a specific programme to watch is of course one of the key
user tasks.
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4. Easy to browse for programmes to watch
Average score: 4.0 (out of 5)
Apart from finding a specific programme to catch-up on or to watch, another key user task
for site visitors on a VoD website is to browse for programmes to watch. A few ways to
help site visitors browse for programmes are:

Suggest the most popular programmes

Categorise programme by genre (e.g. drama, comedy, action, documentary, etc.)

Provide sufficient programme information (e.g. synopsis and programme duration)
before having to select a specific programme

Indicate whether a programme is free for all site visitors or is available only to
members
a
b
d
c
BBC iPlayer scored full marks by having good browsing
options on the iPlayer homepage including: (a) Featured
programmes; (b) Most popular programmes; (c) Categories by
programme genre; and (d) Programme synopsis upon hoverover.
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Demand Five has good browsing options including
‘new’, ‘popular’, ‘recommended’, ‘free’, and also a
‘browse by genre’ option.
However, it lost marks by presenting these options
under a different ‘watch now’ page instead of on the
homepage.
The call to action for
‘browse what’s on Demand
Five’ is displayed amongst
the many different banners
and images. This makes it
harder for site visitors to
figure out what they should
do next upon landing on the
VoD homepage.
Again, with an average score of 4.0, all the sites performed well on this guideline with none
scoring below 3. However, sites can still improve by increasing the prominence of
browsing options on the homepage to make it easier for site visitors to browse for
programmes.
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5. Easy to play selected programme
Average score: 3.8 (out of 5)
After deciding on a programme to watch, the most important thing is to be able to play the
programme. A good VoD website should have a clear link which brings site visitors to the
video content page of a specific programme.
Also, if the installation of specific software or additional plug-ins are required in order to
watch the programmes, clear call to actions and comprehensible instructions should be
provided prominently on relevant pages.
BBC iPlayer scored full
marks for having a big clear
‘play’ button when site
visitors hover over a specific
programme’s content area.
By clicking on the ‘play’
button, site visitors are then
directed straight to the
actual video content page.
Another clear ‘click to play’ call to action
presented in the middle of the video screen
makes it easy for site visitors to proceed with
watching the video, without having to hunt
around for the ‘play’ button.
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Sky Player lost marks for having a less obvious
call to action to play video content on its site.
The poor colour contrast and lack of
conventional ‘play’ button makes the invitation to
play a programme less obvious.
However, Sky Player did well by providing a clear
call to action to, and information on, how site
visitors can ‘install Sky Player software’ if they
want to download programmes from the website.
Overall, the websites scored well for this guideline, with some losing points by having less
obvious and straightforward options to play a programme.
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6. Intuitive player control buttons provided
Average score: 3.8 (out of 5)
In the same way that televisions come equipped with a remote control, it’s essential that a
VoD player provides intuitive control buttons. It’s also important to explain what the buttons
do in order to support key user tasks while playing a video such as:

Pause a video

Rewind and/or forward a programme

Increase or decrease the volume

Watch video in a pop-out box or on full-screen

Keep track of programme status from progress bar
A message is provided at the top of the screen
stating when a selected programme will start.
This clarifies to site visitor that they need to wait
for the advert to finish before they can watch the
programme.
Demand Five scores full marks for having clear
explanations on what each button means when
site visitors hover over a control button.
It also gained marks for having an intuitive progress bar.
For example, an ‘inactive’ state and ‘not-actionable’ state
(using faded colours with no hover over invitations) make
it clear that site visitors can’t perform any actions on the
progress bar while adverts are being played.
Most sites scored well on this very basic guideline with only one site scoring less than 3.
Sites could improve by explaining the functionality of their different control buttons and
having more intuitive progress bars. Providing explicit information while advertising is
playing can also reduce frustration experienced by site visitors should they try to perform
actions that aren’t supported by the VoD player (such as fast forwarding through adverts).
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7. Flexible viewing options provided
Average score: 3.0 (out of 5)
One of the unique selling points of VoD websites is providing site visitors control and
flexibility in choosing and watching programmes. As such, it’s important that a VoD website
is designed to support this. Some of the basic criteria for this include:

Being able to view programme information (e.g. programme synopsis) without
interrupting a playing video

Ability to pause a programme and resume watching from the paused point

Ability to navigate to the specific programme page (e.g. ‘Doctor Who’ site) without
interrupting a playing video
4oD lost marks for opening up a
specific programme page in the
current window without keeping the
currently played video.
Site visitors lose their video if they
click on ‘Find out more’ above the
VoD player. Although this problem
can be mitigated by playing the
video in a pop-out window, site
visitors might not discover that
unless they go through a trial and
error process.
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Site visitors can also easily
navigate to the specific programme
page in the current window without
losing the video that they’re
watching. BBC iPlayer supports
this by allowing them to resume
playing their video from the point
where the programme was
‘disrupted’ when the specific
programme page loads in the
current window.
BBC iPlayer scored full marks for
putting effort into providing site
visitors with more flexibility while
watching videos. Site visitors are
able to view ‘more programme
information’ or ‘less programme
information’ without disrupting the
progress of their video.
Overall, the sites performed averagely on this guideline with only one site scoring full
marks and other sites scoring 2 or 3 points out of 5. There’s definitely much room for
improvement in terms of providing site visitors with more flexibility while choosing and
watching programmes, to improve the overall experience of using a VoD website.
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8. Engaging audiences with additional features
Average score: 2.2 (out of 5)
Introducing additional features on VoD websites could make some websites more
attractive than others. Although the current VoD websites tend to provide similar
functionality, providing distinct features could engage site visitors more while using VoD
websites.
BBC iPlayer has options such as
getting recommendations from and
sharing recommendations with
friends on popular social network
sites including Facebook and
Twitter.
Programmes can also be
easily added to ‘TV
Favourites’ by clicking on a
star icon on the individual
programme windows. The
favourites are then stored in
an easily accessible section
on the BBC iPlayer
homepage.
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Demand Five has options
where registered members
can sign-in to monitor their
downloaded programmes if
renting or buying from the
website.
All sites scored well on this guideline, with an average of 3.6. However none received top
marks, indicating a larger focus is needed on the delivery of mobile content.
Similarly, options such as
sharing programmes with
friends via email or social
networking sites such as
Facebook – as well as
recommending programmes
to people on sites such as
StumbleUpon – are additional
features provided by Demand
Five.
Overall, most of the sites performed below average on this guideline. However, more and
more VoD providers are starting to come up with additional features to make their product
stand out from others following the increasing popularity of VoD websites.
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9. Easy to find help information
Average score: 3.8 (out of 5)
Having prominent links to a help section from the homepage is one of the basic guidelines
for a VoD website. Just like any other interactive product, providing help is crucial to
ensure that site visitors are able to complete key user tasks.
Site visitors are also accustomed to reading the frequently asked questions (FAQs) section
on websites especially if the website contains features that they’re unfamiliar with.
Both STV Player and Demand Five scored top marks
for acknowledging the importance of a ‘help’ section
by providing a prominent link to it within their main
navigation.
ITV Player lost marks for making it
hard to find ‘help’ information on their
website by embedding it under the
‘useful links’ section at the bottom of
the ITV Player homepage.
A high average score of 3.8 indicates that the sites reviewed understand the importance of
having help and support information on their websites. However, there’s still some room for
improvement to make this information more prominent so that site visitors are able to find it
easily.
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10. Easy to find and apply parental control options
Average score: 3.7 (out of 5)
Apart from the basic usability guidelines that apply to VoD websites, another important
consideration – especially for parents – is having parental control options on these VoD
websites. There are several ways to do this including having clear rating information on
every video as well as setting up a PIN access for videos with restricted content.
4oD scored top marks for having
prominent links and parental control
information on its homepage.
This makes it easier for parents to
find this information and also acts as
a reminder to parents who might not
have thought about setting parental
control over programmes on these
VoD websites.
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4oD also makes the setup of parental
control options easier by providing
users with all the options in a pop-up
box when restricted content is being
played for the first time.
BBC iPlayer marks videos with
restricted content with a red strip
across the top of the progress bar,
making it stand out from other regular
video programmes.
Also, a message appears when site
visitors hover over an icon of a
padlock, inviting parents to set
‘parental guidance lock preferences’
if they wish to do so.
With an average score of 3.7, it’s clear that VoD providers understand the need for
parental control options on their websites. Although all of the reviewed sites provide some
sort of option, some sites can still improve by making the link to such information more
prominent on their homepage.
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Conclusion
With BBC iPlayer ahead in terms of a total usability score, some of the lower scoring sites
clearly have some way to go to catch up. The iPlayer does lead the way in terms of
usability although the BBC does of course have the advantage of not having to charge for
its content.
One of the main surprises within the study was about the lack of audience engagement
with additional features. The functionality offered by many of the VoD sites is very similar
so offering something unique and getting that engagement is going to be key moving
forward. Adding some basic features to these websites (e.g. sharing with friends on social
media sites) could easily achieve this.
This lack of audience engagement is particularly important if the broadcaster VoD sites are
to make any kind of challenge to YouTube’s market domination, as well as fend off any
newer market players such as SeeSaw.
The usability guidelines presented in this report represent just the start to achieving
excellent usability and an outstanding user experience. The use of usability guidelines is
essential, but they should always be used in conjunction with usability testing on a regular
basis. Usability testing involves analysing typical site visitors completing typical tasks on
your digital proposition (see www.webcredible.co.uk/testing for more).
For more information on other general usability guidelines that should be conformed to,
visit www.webcredible.co.uk/articles or book a place on a Webcredible usability course at
www.webcredible.co.uk/training.
References
1. Technology Adoption Statistics Compendium, Econsultancy, May 2010
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Appendix: Full results
The full list of websites audited and the score they achieved for each guideline is as follows:
Website
Guideline number
TOTAL
TOTAL %
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
BBC iPlayer
5
3
3
5
5
5
5
5
3
5
44
88
STV Player
3
5
4
4
5
4
3
1
5
4
38
76
Demand Five
3
4
4
3
3
5
3
3
5
3
36
72
4OnDemand
3
3
5
4
4
3
2
1
4
5
34
68
ITV Player
3
0
5
5
4
4
3
2
2
2
30
60
Sky Player
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
1
4
3
27
54
TOTAL
20
18
24
24
24
23
18
13
23
22
Average score
3.3
3.0
4.0
4.0
4.0
3.8
3.0
2.2
3.8
3.7
34.8
69.7
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About Webcredible
Webcredible is a user experience consultancy, offering a range of usability, accessibility,
design & training services based around your specific requirements:
User-centered design
Accessibility

Information architecture

Accessible CSS web design

Interaction design

Accessibility testing
User research
Training courses

Usability testing

Usability & accessibility courses

Interviews & focus groups

Online copywriting courses

Persona creation

Web development courses
Webcredible is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and respected user
experience consultancies in the UK. Our 200+ research articles and reports have been republished on 100s of websites and we receive 250,000 visitors to our website each month.
We believe in taking a proactive approach with clients, whilst maintaining a regular open
line of communication. We believe that we are being paid for our expertise and as such
always take the initiative and offer our recommendations for any course of action. We are:

Focused on client needs – Our aims are to optimise conversion rates for
companies and ensure public sector organisations effectively disseminate
information.

Passionate – The team here at Webcredible loves what they do and we only recruit
staff passionate about usability and accessibility.

Approachable – We’re friendly and jargon-free. Consultants, despite being highly
educated and experienced, only communicate in a user-friendly manner.
Clients include Airmiles, Asda, BBC, eBay, EDF Energy, Laura Ashley, Lloyds TSB, More
Th>n, Sony, St John Ambulance, T-Mobile, VisitBritain and World Health Organization.
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