Can we improve mutual creator and fan support?
Website \ Content Creation
Background
Matrix is an engagement and rewards platform designed to enhance creator and fan interaction by providing a gamified experience. It offers a leveling system, rewards, and various interactive elements aimed at increasing user participation and retention
Matrix had previous loose ideations and discoveries, but they wanted me create a completely fresh start for them and push the first version of their product.
Process
The process was split into 5 parts:
Learn + Understand Priorities: Understanding the idea of Matrix, the business goals, target audience, problem-solving focus, and competitive landscape.
Research + Identify: Collaborated with UXR to review findings from previous user interviews, shaped the look and feel, emphasized priorities, and clear idea of what we wanted to create.
Wireframe + Ideate: Creating information architecture, low fidelity wireframes, identifying any areas that may need more ideation
Design + Iterate: High fidelity wireframes, high fidelity mockups, stakeholder feedback
Prototype: Interactive prototyping
1\ Discoveries
Why a fast monetization system?
Small streamers struggle with fan engagement
Small streamers come across challenges like struggling with engagement, competition with big creators, and frustration or hopelessness leading them to give up.
Lack of success for small streams means a livable wage is unattainable
Financial success often depends on luck, with many streamers earning only $50 to $200 with 5 to 10 viewers, while others struggle with 0.
In general, there is a lack of fast monetization tools in the streaming industry. Support is one-sided.
Streamers earn from donations, merchandise, brand deals, subscriptions, ads, and other currencies, while fans invest in creators without direct returns.
Which industry showcases great creator-fan interaction?
Discord has played a big role in real-time communication and building strong communities, significantly boosting viewer engagement.
Gaming ranks among the top livestreaming categories, prominent and rapidly growing, supported by numerous apps and platforms including Discord.
Gaming and Discord growth are both inspirations to the streaming community. Gamers often stream their gameplay live, and Discord provides a platform for their community building. Discord has been a more natural platform for content creators of any industry to connect, as it creates a sense of belonging and strong community.
2\ Research
We conducted a survey with stream-watchers and small streamers to identify key needs.
70%
preferred Twitch’s streaming experience over streaming platforms like Youtube Live, Facebook Live, Kick and TikTok, as Twitch caters specifically to the streaming community.
65%
watchers reported an engaging content creator is the first priority in deciding whether to support a stream, followed closely by fan appreciation.
90%
streamers expressed that they stopped streaming because their channel didn’t grow, they couldn’t pay bills, they felt lost with their content, and they felt disheartened/burnt out.
Who’s our competition?
Patreon allows content creators to monetize their content directly through fan subscriptions, out of stream with an established user base.
Twitch offers subscriptions and donations to support content creators. It has a large community and engagement tools that can benefit the creator.
YouTube caters to a vast audience with monetization through ads, memberships, and pay-to-highlight chats.
Ko-fi supports content creators with one-time donations or memberships.
3\ Wireframing + Ideation
Site Architecture to MVP
Our first priority was defining the navigational structure from an initial idea that needed to be further fleshed out. We outlined the major experiences for me to create and understood the stakeholder vision and requirements: how to earn the rewards, what rewards there are, and how fans can learn the many ways to give creators engagement.
Rewards (Level Lootboxes + Redeemable/Non-redeemable Achievement Items), Quests, Fan Inventory, and Connected Social Accounts.
Pre-existing information architecture
Revised information architecture + areas of focus
4\ Design + Iterate
Solution 1
Solution 2
Connect the fan support altogether from various platforms.
Fans support creators not only through streams, but also by following/subscribing, liking, watching, and other actions on the creators’ content.
Social platforms all build the creator’s popularity, and the creator can make a quest to prioritize what kind of support they’re seeking.
More fan dedication = more reward for both creators and fans.
Fans can earn creator merchandise through their tier/level of dedication and support.
Paid and free subscribers will be given different tier rewards. The more fans watch or pay to support the creator, the more they’re rewarded in return. This will encourage more engagement, not only from the content of the creator but also with what rewards they have.
More support = more XP = leveling up and getting rewards that build up.
Solution 3
Fans choose what they want from a variety of merchandise, and start building their inventory.
Earn puzzle pieces by completing quests made by the creator to build the merchandise desired. Each puzzle piece will contribute to earning the merchandise and its virtual rarity (like collector cards or NFTs).
Reflection• Highlighting the importance of an onboarding experience and exploring how it would shape the current experience as a whole, if timeline allowed
• Feeling like more research could’ve been done earlier on
• Ideating about how this would look like as an MVP and what limitations we would realistically have
7\ Meet the Team
Hello, we are Justin, Yang, and Annie. Our team aims to reinvent how streamers monetize their content and connect with their audience, allowing them to pursue their dreams and build sustainable careers.
We hope to enable fans to shape the content they enjoy, creating a more interactive and supportive community for both streamers and viewers.
Justin Zheng
Owner
Yang Zheng
Engineering Manager / UXR
Annie Shen
Product/Motion Designer
Special Thanks to
Rachel Iwata | Wilson Hobbs | Ben Pieratt | Luis Pena | Rae Peterson