Your Homepage is a snapshot of your whole User Interface. It’s what will make you stand out from the competition. On it, you show your customer both the quality and extent of your offer, which is important for increasing operator revenues in the long run.
Nevertheless, designing a user-friendly and consistent Homepage is not an easy task. It requires expertise to avoid such common mistakes as overloading and inconsistency and it is one of the keys to developing a good brand image with customers.
In this article, we will cover several key points:
First impressions matter. Most customers will make up their minds about an interface at first glance. Major companies like Netflix and Apple have developed very recognisable user interfaces. These allow users around the world to identify them in the blink of an eye. They instantly know where to find their favourite content, whatever their domestic culture and habits.
It’s important to decide on a graphic theme that includes colour, brand logo, size and position of items. Also, make wise choices about promoting new content using highlights and banners. In such a competitive environment, layouts and themes should be chosen with extra care. Customers should see your product as a well-designed, attractive and enjoyable experience.
Design quality is key when developing a successful Homepage and requires skilled expert designers. Morgan Robialle, Lead Designer at Wiztivi and Julien Labbé, Senior Designer, share some tips:
a. Limit the cognitive load
Morgan Robialle declares:
One of the most important aspects when designing a Homepage is limiting the cognitive load for the user. This is why, rather than going for maximum content, it’s better to display only the most valuable content on your Homepage.
Displaying too much textual or iconographic information on the screen risks degrading the experience. A point of view shared by Julien Labbé: “It’s better to go straight to the point and make strong choices regarding the items you consider of high importance from a user perspective”.
b. Limit the number of rails
“Displaying too many rails on the Homepage can cause users to feel frustrated when they get lost and are unable to work out how to get back to content they were interested in a few seconds before. This situation often happens when too many thematic rails are displayed”, Julien adds, balancing this with the fact that too few rails may lead customers to consider what’s on offer as limited. “If there’s diversity and consistency in the rails, it may be appropriate to display more of them” says Morgan.
c. Smart focus, smooth animations
“Smart use of focus allows users to know where they are on the page and distinguish between different content. For instance, directing focus by using a clear border around a tile,” adds Julien.
Applications, VOD, Replay or Gaming: the customer must be able to quickly identify the extent of your offer. Users spend most of their time on the Homepage when they’re not watching content, which makes it the perfect place for promoting paid-for content, services and all types of subscriptions that are available through:
- wise use of promotional banners, inserted between two rails so they are visible but not too intrusive,
- varying the tile sizes from one rail to another. This creates a hierarchy among the content elements, which is an efficient way to draw attention to your most valuable ones.
TV channels compete to get the most viewers. Having a well-designed and functional Homepage is a powerful tool for gaining deals and partnerships with major broadcasters. Make it worth their while having a privileged position on your User Interface so as to increase their audience.
The word “Homepage” says it all. It’s the place in the UI where the user needs to feel at home. All remote controls feature a Home button that stops any current action and takes the user “back home”.
Your Homepage should have a certain level of personalisation and feature items such as a recommendations rail or personalised areas for the user’s recordings, favourites, rentals and purchased contents. In terms of technique, using a coherent and complete design system, combined with an efficient back-office, increases operators’ ability to add or remove features more easily, thus enhancing their reactivity to the market. If this interests you, discover our Framework, a tool that offers incredible flexibility.
Developing a Homepage that meets both your users’ needs and your business objectives requires design expertise and technical know-how. At Wiztivi, we help operators and media around the world create cutting-edge user experiences. Contact us to take advantage of our expertise and stay ahead of the competition.