Optimized for Desktop, 1724px
A feature added to the Vimeo platform that allows you to get personalized, curated video playlists, based on your interests and emotions that you're experiencing at the moment. As well as the ability to save and track your form entries to reflect on later and see personal trends.
My Role
UX Researcher
UX / UI Designer
Wireframer
Prototyper
User Interview Facilitator
User Testing Facilitator
Duration
April - May 2025
5 Weeks
Deliverables
Design Created:
Website Feature for VimeoBrand Values:
Championing the Customer
Chasing Excellence
Owning Results
Embracing Diversity
Brand Name/Motto [Non-Negotiable]:
Vimeo, “Video Simplified for All”
Flow 01
-Personalized Playlist
(V. 02 Hi-Fi)
Flow 02
-Watch and Rate Video
(V. 02 Hi-Fi)
Flow 03
-Checking out my personal Interest and Emotion Trends
(V. 02 Hi-Fi)
The Impact
•
Analysis showed an anticipated 5-7% increase in user retention and satisfaction and would also provide its core clientele—professionals, businesses, and creators—with a more effective channel for their videos to be discovered, potentially driving a 10-15% uplift in unique video views for content featured in these personalized playlists, thereby reinforcing Vimeo's premium standing in the market.
•
4/5 test users reported that this feature would stop them from “doom scrolling” and help them watch videos that mean something to them, which would improve their mental well-being.
•
5/5 users expressed that using this feature, they would be able to quickly access their personalized playlist to save them time on searching for multiple types of videos.
“I love the idea of being able to track my interests, but especially my emotions. So I can look back at them later and see any potential patterns that I wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.”
-Anonymous - User Tester 1
“This is a crazy, awesome idea and I can’t wait to be able to use it!”
-Anonymous - User Tester 2
Ok, let’s get to the details
Here’s my design process:
01 - Background
Vimeo was founded by Jake Lodwick and Zach Klein in Nov. 2004. As of 2024, Vimeo has over 300 million users, with a large portion being industry professionals and businesses.
The platform boasts over 100 billion video views and 1.7 million paid subscribers.
Total revenue in 2024 was $417 million.
Client Limitations for the Vimeo Feature
Hard requested colors by the client were: [Non-Negotiable - For consistency throughout the website that was already built]
Grey01 [F4F6F8]
Teal01 [16D5FF]
Purple01 [885BE5]
White01 [FFFFFF]
Black01 [000000]
Hard requests by client were: [Non-Negotiable]
Logos
Mottos
Copy
Colors
Wide-Screen Display Request: 1724px [Non-Negotiable]
02 - Research
Users are busy, business professionals that don’t have time to search on multiple topics of videos and just end up “doom scrolling”, feeling like they have wasted their time because those videos didn’t resonate with them.
Research Objectives
To learn what motivates the users to seek out watching videos when they go to their video watching platform of choice.
To discover if there has been scenarios that watching certain types of videos have caused the user more distress than before they started watching.
To determine if the users would desire a feature that would curate a personalized playlist, based on their interests and possibly their emotions, to help them work through those difficult emotions, or celebrate them. (the positive emotions)
To determine the best way to show users more positive video content, rather than negative video content.
Competitive Analysis
In order to understand “the wins” and “the misses” of these platforms, and find out what features that they offer, I did a thorough SWOT Analysis on Vimeo, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Highlights or “The Wins” of Vimeo
Focuses on professional creators and businesses.
High-quality video hosting and playback.
Advanced Analytics.
Audience Engagement.
Ways to improve or “The Misses” of Vimeo
Doesn’t have a way to give their users a personalized playlist option.
Has a narrower video topic library because they’re focused on businesses.
SWOT Analysis
Next, it’s time for the Interviews
Takeaways
Through the interviews, I learned
6/6 of the participants go to watch videos online to escape life stressors.
5/6 said that if they watch a negative video, it does affect their overall mood negatively.
6/6 of the participants would love to have a personalized playlist based on their interests and on what they’re going through emotionally at that time.
5/6 of the participants said that they would utilize the option of saving their curated playlist form entries to be able to look back and reflect on the data later.
Participants
Participants Recruitment
I interviewed 6 users. I made sure I had a variety of ages, professions and walks of life to get a well-rounded amount of insights of their experiences with watching videos online.
Interview Guide
Interview Guide
I focused my questions on what types of videos they watch, have they ever felt worse after watching a negative video, what interests and emotions they would like to see on the entry form and would they use a feature like this?
Interview Guide
Affinity Map
Affinity Map
I gained insights on what types of videos the participants enjoy watching, why they go online to watch videos and the impact a negative video has on their mental health.
I saw what topics of interests and which emotions they would like to see on the list of options for the personalized playlist.
Affinity Map
Personas
Between the knowledge I gathered from the SWOT analysis and the interviews I conducted, I was able to put together these 2 personas that embody the majority of Vimeo’s users.
A snapshot of Vivian-
Vivian is a hard working social media manager with an eye for details. That also means that it’s difficult for her to turn her brain off of work and be able to relax.
”My limited free time needs quick access to hobby content or calming videos, without endless searching. A way to effortlessly track emotions for personal growth would also be invaluable.”
A snapshot of Ravi-
Ravi as an aspiring movie director that loves to create films that makes an impact in the world. Ravi has very little time to refresh and recharge or to get inspiration for his next project.
”My intense work schedule(14-18 hour days) demands efficient access to inspiring film content for relaxation and creative fuel. Saving beloved videos is a must.”
Project Scope
The “Problem Statements” and the “How Might We’s” that I discovered were:
I used a Venn Diagram to gain a deeper understanding of the business and its users, which helped me create a solution that works best for everyone.
Venn Diagram
Highlights of Vimeo’s Business Goals
•
•
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Be the leading platform for professional-quality video.
Empowering creators and businesses with innovative tools.
Highlights of Vimeo’s Users’ Goals
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•
•
•
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Strategically expanding its reach in the global market.
Quality
Professionalism
Control
Community engagement
Potential monetization
03 - Task Flow
Proposed Solution
Next, I got to have fun with figuring out how I get to solve this problem!
After some brainstorming and dreaming about what this feature could look like, I came up with these Wireflows. They’re based on the Task Flows that made the most sense on how solve these problems of needing:
A quick and easy way to get a personalized playlist based on the user’s interests and emotional needs.
Being able to give Vimeo feedback on if the user enjoyed the video it curated for them, and be able to come back to the videos that the user loves.
Be able to track those entries for future reflection and personal growth.
Here are some fun iterations from the different stages of designing this Website Feature
Playlist Personalization Form
Changes I made to the “Playlist Personalization Form”
4U Reels Video Page
Video Watch Screen
Changes I made to the “4U Reels Video” Page
Changes I made to the “Video Watch Screen”
Video Rating Form
Changes I made for the “4U Reel Trends” Page
4U Reel Trends
Changes I made to the “Video Rating Form”
04 - Prototype
After planning the task flows, my next step was to start creating the Lo-Fi Interactive Prototype for users to test.
Hi - Fi Interactive Prototype
Optimized for Desktop, 1724px
Flow 01
-Personalized Playlist
(V. 02 Hi-Fi)
Flow 02
-Watch and Rate Video
(V. 02 Hi-Fi)
Flow 03
-Checking out my personal Interest and Emotion Trends
(V. 02 Hi-Fi)
06 - Implement
The Impact
•
Analysis showed an anticipated 5-7% increase in user retention and satisfaction and would also provide its core clientele—professionals, businesses, and creators—with a more effective channel for their videos to be discovered, potentially driving a 10-15% uplift in unique video views for content featured in these personalized playlists, thereby reinforcing Vimeo's premium standing in the market.
•
4/5 test users reported that this feature would stop them from “doom scrolling” and help them watch videos that mean something to them, which would improve their mental well-being.
•
5/5 users expressed that using this feature, they would be able to quickly access their personalized playlist to save them time on searching for multiple types of videos.
“I love the idea of being able to track my interests, but especially my emotions. So I can look back at them later and see any potential patterns that I wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.”
-Potential Vimeo User
“This is a crazy, awesome idea and I can’t wait to be able to use it!”
-Potential Vimeo User
This empathetic feature really taps into user well-being and personalized experience.
Building on that, here are four more possible ideas for expanding or adding to this Website Feature
Interest-Based Event & Workshop Discovery:
Bridge online interest with offline or live virtual opportunities. Based on a user's strongest interest trends and (optionally) their geographical location, Vimeo could provide tailored recommendations for relevant events.
01
02
Collaborative Mood Spaces:
Enable users to create a "Shared Mood Space" with a small group. This could be great for couples, families, or small friend groups wanting to unwind together.
Integrate Bio-metric/Wearable Data
(Opt-In):
For users who opt-in and connect compatible wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, sleep trackers), the system could passively gather bio-metric data (like elevated heart rate, or low activity). It could then suggest preemptive content recommendations without needing to manually fill out a form.
03
04
Interest-Driven Community Hubs:
Interest-Driven Community Hubs:
Allow users to opt-in to private or semi-private "Interest Groups" (e.g., "Abstract Digital Art Discussion"). Exclusive content from creators in that niche, and forums for discussion and collaboration. The system could even suggest group members based on overlapping "interest trends."