UX and UI design and their usefulness in the entertainment industry.
Design plays a huge role in society and everyday life today but oftentimes goes unnoticed. Today I wanted to focus mainly on the entertainment industry and how much of an impact UX and UI design have on user interest and interactions. Oftentimes when we think of UX and UI designs in the entertainment industry we think of streaming services. However, as a user, it is very common to not notice design elements that keep viewers engaged, satisfied, and wanting to come back. A few articles I read each touched upon very similar topics, each very important when talking about UX and UI.
The first article titled What Does a UX/UI Designer in the Entertainment Industry do by Sakshi Gupta gave a broad overview of what working in this field is like as well as the many skills that are required. More importantly, the article talked about how these design techniques are used in the Industry. It mentioned how the three most significant areas of focus for UX and UI designers are engagement, personalized experiences, and consistency/accessibility.
As a growing designer and as someone who visits plenty of sports, music, and television sites I can agree that all of these things are critical for the success of the product itself. Someone will not purchase a subscription if they struggle to attain what they are looking for in a quick, efficient, but also eye-appealing way. This is why it is so crucial for designers to tweak and continuously update website content so users keep coming back.
Another article I read went more in-depth on how to achieve each of these goals of a website or application that is easy to engage with, personalized and accessible. This all starts with understanding the user and their values. One thing pretty much every user values as talked about in the article is time, efficiency, and overall enjoyment. This means designers need to think about every step the user is making and what the purpose of that design element is or if it is necessary. While doing this they also need to make sure that their content is unique and stands out from potential competitors by giving users different useful features that they can’t find somewhere else.
Something else that is extremely important to consider is mobile designs for applications. While websites are critical to a product's growth and success in this industry, we are seeing a shift over the past decade to users relying mainly on their phones as their main source of entertainment. This is because mobile devices can be used virtually anywhere anytime. The last article I read titled Benefits of a Friendly UI/UX on Entertainment Apps offered insight into how apps kitted specifically for entertainment need to have a healthy balance of being functional and easy to use with also being pleasant and eye appealing.
Overall UX and UI design have become the backbone of thriving companies and products as they rely heavily on them to bring in new customers, but also keep existing customers from losing interest. As the industry grows and changes designers need to realize this and make the necessary adjustments.