Brightcove
Agenda Objective Approach Comparative Results Quantitative Findings Opportunity Recommendation Q&A
Objective Perform a comparative analysis between Brightcove, YouTube, and Vimeo to determine what features characterize a best class video player. Identify where Brightcove excels and where it lags behind on the basis of user perception.
Approach ▪ Remote unmoderated usability testing ▪ UserTesting.com ▪ Thinking aloud method ▪ 8 participants ▪ 4 aged 18-45, 4 aged 45-60 ▪ 15 minutes ▪ 10 tasks and 1 question ▪ 1 user excluded
Vimeo
YouTube
Brightcove
Scrubber Findings To advance the video most users preferred to either drag the scrubber or hover the mouse over the bar to the time index Brightcove’s player supports drag, but needs a time index value display near the mouse pointer to support hover Other key areas are visual appearance and contrast, grabbing affordance, smoothness of scrubber movement, and thumbnail images
Volume Control Findings Vimeo’s novel “equalizer” metaphor was polarizing: 4 liked it, but 3 preferred slider controls Horizontal slider (YouTube) preferred to vertical slider (Brightcove) Location of slider near play button more convenient, but not critical for usability
“It is just a lot more obvious without being intrusive” - P6
Play Button Findings ▪ Participants focused on Brightcove’s upper Play button - none chose it, although all used it instead of the lower button ▪ 4/7 preferred a centered play button (YouTube) ▪ 3/7 users liked a lower Play button that was salient and easy to click (Vimeo)
“..play button is smaller and makes it sometimes harder to hit the target” -P8
Opportunity ▪ No single company was the clear “winner” ▪ Vimeo and YouTube are not considered top competitors at this time ▪ Brightcove has the highest quality video ▪ Combine the best aspects of each to make the strongest video player solution on the market
Questions and Answers
Thank you Kirsten!