UX Story: Waiting...

Note: This article is adapted and abridged for LinkedIn. Read the original article in UX Collective publication in Medium -- "The unintended usage of Disney+ and Youtube comments: Two UX stories."

I had at least five hours of waiting in front of me. I was in the third-level basement of a hospital building and the cellular network was nearly non-existent. But I came prepared; I once had a 16-hour flight (DEL-SFO) where my in-flight-entertainment system was not working. I opened Disney+ Hotstar Android app (INDIA) on my mobile. Before venturing out that day, I had downloaded a couple of movies to it from my home WiFi.

First, the nice splash screen of Disney+ Hotstar animation appeared. Then a preloader animation started.

I waited.

Waited.

And waited more...

[A] Weak internet connectivity -- it shows 'EDGE' or 'EGPRS' instead of the usual '4G.' [B] Disney+ Hotstar splash screen. [C] App freezes and shows an infinite preloader animation.

After an 'eternity' of two minutes, nothing seemed to be happening. The hamburger menu of the app is ‘frozen’ and I was not able to navigate to ‘Downloads’ to access my already downloaded movies.

Then it dawned on me. Disney+ Hotstar app might be looking for internet before showing the menu. The whole point of ‘Downloads’ is to enable people to watch the ‘already-downloaded content’ without internet. I’m sure the app is brought out by some wonderful designers and engineers who know how to do an outstanding job. What am I missing here?

I was saved on that day by their rival product Amazon Prime Video app. Under the same circumstances, in the same device, I opened the app and I could tap 'Downloads' on the bottom navigation bar to access my movies saved in the device.

When I reached my home hours later, I did three more 'highly unscientific' experiments on the app by turning on the airplane mode, turning off data services and turning off the SIM card altogether. I also did the same on Amazon Prime Video as a control.

And long story short, I learned a workaround for Disney+ Hotstar.

Moral of the story

If you ever face the issue with Disney+ Hotstar -- an “infinite” preloader state -- quit the app, switch ON airplane mode, re-launch the app and then the app goes straight to ‘Downloads’ by itself. I should say, I'm impressed -- that is a nice touch!

[A] Airplane mode enabled. [B] Restarting the Disney+ Hotstar showing the splash screen. [C] The app directly goes to ‘Downloads.’

User research and tests are very important even after launching an app in the market.

Because, some people will definitely use the product in different ways, in different environments than envisioned by the creators.

End of story.

Epilogue

* Yes, I need to test iOS apps too in the same basement to see how they fare compared to their Android counterparts.

** Yes, Netflix also needs to come into the mix. Hulu is not available in India at the moment.

*** And, it is not my intention to promote or demote any brands mentioned in the article. I'm just highlighting the need for more user research and tests for products out in the market. Peace!

Read the original article in UX Collective publication in Medium -- "The unintended usage of Disney+ and Youtube comments: Two UX stories."