PBD Podcast App UX Design by Jabez Roberts
UX Design Case Study
The goal of this UX Design project is to design a user experience that will help viewers of the PBD Podcast have a better experience when watching Podcast episodes. It will also eliminate the problem of episodes being removed from YouTube because of political correctness and pandering.
This User Experience will make PBD Podcast episodes more accessible across the world, allowing episodes to be watched online and offline, and adding an audio-only format.
Problem Statements
Anderson is a high-achieving and successful C-suite executive of one of the world’s largest companies who want to learn more about sales, leadership, business, finance, and politics from PBD Podcast because he wants to outperform, out-improve, and outgrow his peers and competitors to grow his business to a multi-hundred billion-dollar valuation in the next 10 years.
Zora is a hardworking Computer Science student and an aspiring entrepreneur who needs to learn more about business, entrepreneurship, and leadership from PBD Podcast because she wants to become a world-renowned entrepreneur and leader.
Business Overview
PBD Podcast is a popular podcast that is run by entrepreneur and business mogul Patrick Bet-David with regular guests Adam Sosnick from Sos Talks Money, and Tom Ellsworth, popularly known as the Biz Doc.
The podcast has a guest each episode where they discuss topics ranging from current events, politics, business, economics, personal development, and the food on the plate of the world’s movers and shakers.
PBD Podcast is currently live-streamed on YouTube with episodes available across the internet’s popular podcasting platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The Challenge
PBD Podcast faces the issue of having its episodes removed from YouTube when sensitive issues are discussed. This causes a major reduction in the reach and impact of the podcast as well as subscriber satisfaction as missing some live streams can mean missing episodes entirely.
There is the added issue of episodes on YouTube being presented in a video-only format. This makes for poor accessibility for people in developing countries who don’t have ready access to the internet 24/7 and have to stream using mobile data.
Additionally, there isn’t an easy way to sort, categorize, and rank episodes to help new viewers find and ‘binge-watch/listen’ to the types of episodes that are most relevant to them and their goals.
The Project Goal
The goal of this project is to develop a user experience that will make PBD Podcast more accessible to viewers and subscribers across the world. This project should allow users in developing countries with poor infrastructure and access to the internet to more easily and readily have access to the full range of PBD Podcast episodes.
By solving this problem the podcast will be able to reach ‘The Next Billion Users (NBU)’ who UX designers classify as being the next one billion users of the internet from developing countries. It will also make the podcast more accessible to subscribers and viewers in developed countries as they will be able to watch or listen to episodes while they are on the go, out while exercising, or even during their commute.
This project should deliver a solution to the problem of subscribers not being able to watch episodes due to them being branded as ‘fake news,’ being ‘fact-checked’ and ultimately removed from YouTube due to policy violations.
Solving this problem makes more episodes available with critical information that introduces an alternative viewpoint and way of thinking. This is paramount to truly communicating the brand’s biggest value of PBD Podcast which is to entertain opposing ideas to give you a better understanding of your own.
Lastly among the primary goals of this project development is that the product developed should make it easier to find relevant episodes and information. As the podcast continues to grow and the episode count increases there will be a need to make relevant episodes easier to be found and consumed by subscribers.
Being able to sort by the topic being discussed, the guest invited, the panel members present, the date posted, different categories and tags that may be relevant to an episode, or even by popularity and recency will improve the value of the podcast as users will be able to find episodes that speak more to their needs and interests more easily than scrolling through YouTube’s listings of the episodes.
The Research Approach
Primary & quantitative research was done with viewers of PBD Podcast and Valuetainment. Also included were podcast enthusiasts. Users were sent a low-fidelity prototype and asked to complete a set of tasks to determine the effectiveness of the app in solving the problems outlined in the Challenge section of the research.
My Role
The project was undertaken by me and I carried out all areas and duties of the UX Design process.
Project Duration
April 15, 2022 – May 13, 2022
My Responsibilities
- User research
- Wireframing – Paper and Digital
- Prototyping – Low- and High-Fidelity
- Information Architecture
- Visual Design
- Testing – Usability Studies & iterating on designs
- UX Writing
Understanding Our Users
User Research Findings
Research Summary
As a subscriber and viewer of PBD Podcast and Valuetainment for the past several years, I was able to identify intimately with many of the problems I set out to solve in this project. I also convened repeatedly with my friend and business partner, Daniel S., about the possible solutions that could be considered for the problems I set out to solve.
These talks and my personal experience helped to form the basis of the original research and thesis. Additionally, I spoke with podcast listeners to understand their needs, likes, and dislikes about the current options.
I was sure to spend copious time studying the design of other popular podcasting platforms with an emphasis on Spotify and Lewis Howes’s website.
This deep dive into direct and indirect competitor offerings, PBD Podcast and podcast listeners/viewers’ feedback, and my personal experience helped to shape a vision of what was truly necessary for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for this project.
My UX Design Process
Empathize
Time spent learning about the users we need to provide a solution for such as their pain points, fears, and motivations.
Define
Learn about the market, competition, and other solutions to our users' problems that are currently available.
Ideate
During this phase, a solution was proposed based on the information gathered in the previous two steps. The first usability study was done here.
Design
During this stage, the information gathered from our first usability study was used to make incremental changes to the lo-fi prototype. It was then converted to a hi-fi prototype.
Implement
During this phase, we tested our hi-fi prototype in a second usability study to ensure that the app was ready for production and the market. Minor changes were made.
Evaluate
During this phase, an evaluation of the entire UX Design process was done with feedback from users taken into consideration to evaluate the success of the project.
The Design Process
This design process was done using the Progressive Enhancement method where we design for mobile-first. It was done by first designing an app. After the development and delivery of the app, we will create a responsive website for our users. I did a mobile-first approach because the app will be used mainly by users on the go and in developing countries.
User Pain Points
Video Only
A video-only format for episodes and live streams makes it difficult to keep up with episodes when you're on the go, unable to watch, or don't have access to wifi.
Loss Of Episodes
Episodes being removed from YouTube a few hours after being streamed is a major problem most users face as less than 10% of subscribers watch episodes live.
Finding Episodes
It can be difficult to find relevant & similar episodes due to the lack of tags, detailed descriptions, categorizing, and organizing of episodes.
Poor Accessibility
It is hard to get access to all episodes in developing countries and on the go due to the video-only format of YouTube episodes and live streams.
User Needs
- Viewers need a way to be able to save episodes to their devices or download them to watch offline
- Viewers need an easy way to sort and find relevant episodes to their interests and goals
- Viewers need an easy way to access episodes and live streams in audio format that requires less attention and space to consume
- Viewers need a solution to the problem of episodes being removed from YouTube due to some form of policy violation
- Viewers need an easier way to learn more about episode guests, access their books and other relevant links, and view more episodes with them
User Personas
Age: 21
Hometown: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Education: College Student
Family: Parents, siblings
Goals:
- Learn more about business and entrepreneurship
- Start my own business
- Get more business tips and strategies from Patrick and the team
- Become the first millionaire in my family
Frustrations:
- “It sucks that there isn’t a way to easily download episodes to my device directly”
- “It would be awesome to go audio-only when the podcast is live”
- “I don’t like that YouTube is so troublesome with taking down episodes they don’t like”
User Story
As a hardworking and determined Computer Science student and future entrepreneur, I want to learn as much as I can about business and leadership so that I can successfully start my own company in the future and make a name for myself and my family.
Zora is a 21 year old Computer Science student at Florida State University. She is extremely analytic, hard-working, and forward-thinking at her studies, career, and goals as she would like to emulate Patrick Bet-David and make her family name a memorable one for the ages.
To help her achieve this goal Zora has decided that entrepreneurship is the only way to go. She has decided to use her knowledge of computer science and her growing knowledge in entrepreneurship to develop a software that allows for better small business software access to people in developing countries.
Currently, Zora is frustrated because she is unable to keep up with all the PBD Podcast episodes due to workload of school. Ideally Zora would like to listen to the episodes during her morning run and exercise when they go live but YouTube doesn’t allow that. Additionally, she’d have to stream from various podcast platforms instead of being able to listen from her device at her own convenience.
Age: 55
Education: Master of Business Administration
Hometown: Silicon Valley, California
Family: Wife, Children
Goals:
- Learn more business and leadership strategies from PBD and his team
- Improve as a leader of my team and become a leading figure in my company
- Get expert views and takes on the major business, finance, economic, and political news of the day
Frustrations:
- “YouTube tends to censure and remove videos they dislike or goes against the norm and I hate that”
- “Finding, sorting, and rewatching older episodes isn’t very easy when I try to use YouTube”
- “It’s hard to learn more about the guests of the show when you miss the intro. Having a section to learn more about the guests would be helpful”
User Story
As a leader of one of Silicon Valley’s and America’s largest companies, I want to continue to outgrow, outlearn, and out improve my competitors and peers so that my company can continue growing into one of the largest and most successful companies in the world’s history.
Anderson is a 55-year-old C-Suite executive of one of Silicon Valley’s and America’s largest technological concerns. He is a highly-focused businessman with a competitive edge which means he goes above and beyond outlearns, outgrows, outstrategize, and outlasts his competitors. As he grows as a businessman he is aiming to take his company to a 100 billion dollar valuation, a 50% increase, in the next 10 years.
To help him achieve this goal Anderson is on a journey to learn from the leading sales, business, and entrepreneurial minds of the day and age past. Patrick Bet-David, Tom Ellsworth, and Danielle Di Martino-Booth are some of the regulars of the PBD Podcast, his favorite business podcast to follow that helps him achieve this goal.
The problem he faces is that as a busy executive he is not always able to watch the episodes live and would love an audio-only version to play from his smartphone while he commutes, exercises, or spends a day outdoor or on the seas with his family. He is also very interested in being able to easily sort, queue, and watch all the episodes with the guests and topics that are particularly helpful for his career development. There currently isn’t a way to get this done.
User Journey Map
| Action | Search for Episodes | Watch Episodes | Download Episodes | Search For Similar Episodes | Search For Guests | Share Episodes & Create Custom Playlists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Task List |
● Go to YouTube or Google ● Go to other podcast platforms ● Search for most recent episodes |
● Find a quiet place with no distractions ● Set aside time to sit and watch ● Watch episodes |
● Search for download links for episodes on alternative platforms ● Search for download app for YouTube ● Upload downloaded episodes to mobile device |
● Search for similar episodes manually ● Manually search through playlist for possible similar episodes |
● Manually search for other episodes with guest through playlist/archive |
● Share episodes with friends from YouTube ● Create a custom playlist ● Add episodes to playlist |
|
Feeling Adjective |
● Anxious to see if there’s a new episode ● Excited about the new episode and its content |
● Frustrated about video only format ● Frustrated by streaming only format |
● Frustrated by all the work involved ● Frustrated by inability to easily download episodes to device and listen ● Frustrated that offline versions aren’t readily available |
● Frustrated by inability to successfully search for similar episodes ● Frustrated by inability to make a custom offline list |
● Frustrated by the lack of easy searching for episodes with guest ● Tired from manually searching for episodes with guest |
● Excited to share the latest episodes with friends ● Excited to create and watch custom playlists |
|
Improvement Opportunities |
● Create a push notification on mobile lock/home screen that notifies the user that there is a new episode |
● Allow offline streaming of episodes ● Allow easy downloading of episodes |
● Allow users to watch some content offline ● Allow users to download episodes after live stream ● Allow offline functionalities based on user’s preferences |
● Add tags and categories to episodes ● Add advanced search and filters for episodes |
● Add advanced search features that includes searching by guest ● Create custom screen for each guest with episode list |
● Make creating a custom playlist easy ● Make it easy to add episodes to custom playlists |
Low-fidelity Prototype
Usability Study
Usability Study Parameters
Study Type
Unmoderated usability study
Location
Worldwide, remote
Participants
5 users
Length
25 minutes
User Research Summary
The Usability Study was conducted with subscribers of PBD Podcast and Valuetainment across the world. Also included in the usability study were users who frequently listened to podcasts on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
During the research, I learned that one of the major problems subscribers faced was accessibility to the episodes when they’re posted as sometimes they are removed, notifications about episodes going live are not sent early, and the schedule of episodes can sometimes be skewed due to Patrick’s schedule. I also learned that being able to consume episodes while they are being streamed live in video, cinema (full-screen video), and audio-only modes were of particular importance.
I also learned that some users initially didn’t see the need for a dedicated app for PBD Podcast but after using the low-fidelity prototype they became more attuned to the benefits of having the app.
Specifically, the usability study revealed that:
- Viewers needed closed captions to make episodes more accessible to viewers who don’t speak English as a first language
- Viewers would like to be able to easily find more episodes with specific guests or panel members
- Users needed the ability to make custom playlists of episodes they loved and view other publicly accessible playlists
- Voice search capabilities to improve accessibility was an important feature
Affinity Map
Digital Wireframes & Usability Study Changes
Before Usability Study
The previous design didn’t allow users to watch episodes in a complete full-screen view.
After Usability Study
The updated design added a cinema mode where users could view episodes that occupied the full screen.
Summary of Design Process
After ideating and drafting paper wireframes my focus covered as much of the user flow from signing up and logging in to watching and downloading episodes for later.
Accessibility Considerations
Voice Command
Voice command and voice search has been added to make navigation, task completion, and content reading easier for people with disabilities.
Interactivity
Clear labels for interactive elements that can be read by screen readers.
People With Disabilities
Alt text was added to all images to allow screen readers and other assistive technology to help people with disabilities.
Closed Captions
Closed captions are added to each episode to help viewers/listeners who don't speak English as a first language as well as guests with an accent be understood.
What I've Learned
What I learned:
I learned throughout this project that this app provides an opportunity to help PBD Podcast and Valuetainment become one of the biggest and most inclusive media brands in the fields of Entrepreneurship, Education, Business, Politics, News, and Current Events.
There is huge upside and marketability potential as well as revenue earning potential from this app and I’d love to have a 3-minute sit down with Patrick to talk about this further.
Impact Of Design:
The current design of the platform has been well received by viewers of PBD Podcast and Valuetainment as well as design enthusiasts who I’ve asked to take a look at the finished product. I am hopeful of this design being implemented by Patrick and his team to create a platform that makes his content more accessible across the world.
Next Steps
More Diverse Product Testing
Improve the accessibility of the product by testing the high-fidelity prototype with more people with disabilities and from developing countries.
Further Research
Conduct research to determine the best and most helpful features to be added to the app to improve its user experience and make it more accessible to users.
Website
Design and develop a responsive website that complements the app and makes accessing PBD Podcast content across the world easier.
App Development
I would love to have this app be developed in the next 6 months and made accessible to PBD Podcasters and Valuetainers across the world.
Let's Connect!
I am open to more projects in the field of UX Design with an added interest in Product Design, UX Generalist, UX Research, UX Visual & Interaction Design, and UX Writing.
Let us talk more about your next project and how I may bring value to your company and team. I can be contacted at www.jabezroberts.com/contact or info@jabezroberts.com.