VUE Movie Database
IMDb for Asia, the Biggest Database for Movie, Celebrity, and Netflix Finder.
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CONTEXT If we could collect all the movies into a database, what would you do? At the first meeting, the product manager asked me this question, and I immediately thought of IMDb, the website I would always check after I see a movie. However, IMDb did a great job on the database, then what else could we do? As a product based in Taiwan, the object turns out to curate the largest movie database in Mandarin, the IMDb in Asia. We also aim to create a better UI & UX design comparing to IMDb 90s style.
APPROACH It was a valuable experience for me to craft a product from 0 to 1. We decided to build this product by Scrum. In the beginning, all the team members collected user stories on Jira, and the product owner categorized them into a different phase. At the same time, I did lots of research and planned the content structure for each page. Then we soon had our minimum viable product (MVP). We kept doing user testing and optimized. Simultaneously, we started engaging in marketing, Facebook business page, and looking for business cooperation.
Timeline
Jan 2017 - June 2018
Jan 2017 - June 2018
Team
Web Designer (1), Visual Designer (1), Product Manager (1), Engineers (3), Marketing Specialist (1)
Web Designer (1), Visual Designer (1), Product Manager (1), Engineers (3), Marketing Specialist (1)
My role
Project Planning, Competitive Analysis, Web Design, Media Kit, Landing Page, Marketing Materials
Project Planning, Competitive Analysis, Web Design, Media Kit, Landing Page, Marketing Materials
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DESIGN HIGHLIGHT
Way Beyond MVP
With the passion for movies, we cannot help to introduce as many as features we can. The UI/UX design might not polish that well, but we want VUE to fulfill all the user desires. We hope that VUE could be a platform that does everything about movies. You can rate movies, create a watchlist, leave reviews, read gossip news, and even book a ticket.
Recent Ratings
Add to Movie List
Discussion & Review
Movie Times & Tickets
Reflection
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It is lucky to build a product that you would use. Most of the time, I think about how I want the perfect product to fulfill my needs. Even sometimes I fall into cognition mistakes, the process was enjoyable. Honestly, I wish I was more experienced as a designer to have that opportunity to build a product from scratch. From 0 to 1, it is hard to clarify what I learned and grew up along the journey building VUE. The experience is valuable that not restricted by any client. Just be creative and be the best you can.
THE PROCESS / 01
Research, Understand & Define
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KICKOFF
Start Everything from Scratch
Initially, we just wanted to craft an MVP, which is dedicated to a small focus group, the real movie geek. So the information architecture we planned was simple with the necessary content. However, no more than six months, we found there are many possibilities for the entertainment industry. It is not only about movies but also distributors, VOD, and forums.
The original information architecture for the MVP.
We added more ideas for phase 2 later.
RESEARCH
Movies are also Universal Languages
Luckily, there are so many references relating to the movie, ticket booking, and reviews. Despite the United States, websites in Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan all have their features due to the different cultures. I took those good finds and applied them accordingly to designing VUE.
USER STORIES
Prioritize the Tasks
Developing the product by SCRUM, we set the epic according to the information architecture we defined. We organized the user stories and tasks on Jira and categorized them into belonging epic and phase.
Some user stories came to below:
Some user stories came to below:
There is a movie quite famous recently. I want to know more about its reviews.
I do not have time to see the movie right now. I want to add it to a watchlist then I can check later.
I made a movie list and want to share it with my friend.
What is the highest rating movie recently?
I am going to see a movie later, where is the nearest theater around me?
I just knew a movie from years ago. Is it on any streaming platforms?
Get some free time now, does there any recommendations about the movie watching at home?
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USER TESTING
The Definition of the Perfect Product Depends
After completed the prototype, we conducted user testing sessions with 12 people. We noted down all the feedback and bugs as tasks on Jira, and we discussed those opinions, deciding how to optimize them. We found out most of the feedback is personal. It is critical to narrow it down to some common problems or push it to the later phase.
After user testing, we printed out the main page and noted our comments.
THE PROCESS / 02
Design & Iterate
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FINAL DESIGN
Fulfill All Your Needs about Movies
Beyond the imagination, we finally launched the website with most of the fundamental features in Jan 2018. Users can add their favorite movie to a watchlist and see other users’ ratings. They can discuss and share their opinions after watching a movie.
More than that, we cooperated with two theaters so you can directly book a movie ticket through VUE. We have curated the largest movie database that contains over 350,000 movies and 2 million cast data in Mandarin. So far, the website of page views hit 100 users in real-time and still growing.
More than that, we cooperated with two theaters so you can directly book a movie ticket through VUE. We have curated the largest movie database that contains over 350,000 movies and 2 million cast data in Mandarin. So far, the website of page views hit 100 users in real-time and still growing.
LAUNCH CAMPAIGN
Big Announcement
It is time to introduce the website to more people. We planned a marketing campaign on Facebook, which the goal is to let people know what VUE can do for them and getting more exposure. Considering the engagement rate and affinity categories, we created a video to reach more audiences. We spent some marketing budget for the campaign, and it attracted page likes and increased page views on the website.
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MEDIA KIT
One More Thing
In mid-2017, we received an inquiry for cooperation from Malaysia. For the first time, I researched to know more about the digital experience in South Asia. Most of the online experience is old-style and hard to use, except for some websites such as BookMyShow in India. We took the chance and cooperated with a local marketing company in Malaysia, which started by translating VUE into Malay.
Besides, our marketing team actively looked for cooperation opportunities with more theatres. We created a complete media kit to explain our idea, our development background, all the UI and functional design, and the potential possibility of VUE.
Besides, our marketing team actively looked for cooperation opportunities with more theatres. We created a complete media kit to explain our idea, our development background, all the UI and functional design, and the potential possibility of VUE.
Take a look at the media kit if you are interested.
THE PROCESS / 03
Next Step
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Due to the fast development of VUE, we had started to optimize UI, UX design, and plan for new sections for a few months. Our main objects are:
A landing page to let people know every magic on VUE in a short time
A new page for VOD services (still relating to the movie and TV shows)
More engagement in the movie reviews and discussion (maybe forum)
More sociable between users (those movie geeks)
