A2.9 - Focus Group Summary

Our focus group consisted of 14 Level 3 photography students (13 girls and 1 boy). We felt this wasn’t a very fair representation as, despite the age range being suitable for our products target age group, our product is suited for both genders and we failed to receive sufficient feedback from males as we only had one boy.

We first asked our FG what they thought of the general layout of our design – we generally had a positive response as the audience said it seemed ‘easy to use’ and they felt that the social aspect (the ability to share through Facebook, Twitter) was very good, as they would like to share their favourite shows with their friends. Some feedback we received said the layout seemed a little bit ‘old fashioned’ – perhaps this is something we can rethink to make our website more modern and unique to suit the niche content.

Taking these things into account, we then asked them what changed they would make to the design; they all felt the design was good but a slight majority highlighted several changes they felt would benefit the overall look of the product. The thing most commented on was the choice of colour being too dark – they suggested possibly using lighter colours overall or maybe just a lighter background to contrast. From this we have decided to create a more synergetic colour scheme perhaps using three main colours, at least one of which will be light to prevent the design looking too dark.

Other feedback we received felt that the logo wasn’t eye-catching enough – but this could have a lot to do with the fact our audience felt the design could be ‘clearer’ perhaps with smaller advertisements (these factors could contribute to the level of attention drawn to the product logo).

We asked our audience to recommend any shows or films that they felt should be included on the site – the general response was indie films that aren’t shown mainstream in the UK and film from different/older eras.

When asked what should be advertised on the site, the majority responded saying they didn’t want adverts (which is not suitable as the cost of licencing must be taken into account) but some audience members said they’d like to see advertised the shows and films that are ‘coming soon’ to the site  - they also said they’d like to see some sort of advertisement for new shows once they have been added to the site and are available to watch.

The final thing we asked our FG was for their opinion on the subscription/pricing fee we initially proposed. The majority response felt it was a decent and ‘fair’ price but showed concerned it may be cheaper elsewhere. A few key responses we received suggested deals such as ‘£1 movies’ and loyalty deals such as when renting a movie for the second time the price should be reduced slightly. Despite the generally positive feedback, we did receive one piece of negative feedback stating they felt the pricing was ‘too expensive’ – they did justify their point and suggested that the fee should be to pay £N for all movies for one month. 

A2.8 - Product Proposal Rewrite

Rewritten Proposal

Our product combines the web sector with film and television to create a website that legally hosts niche market programs and lesser-known films available for 'catch-up' and renting. It would work to be as up-to-date with shows still being aired on TV as well as hosting those which aren't being aired anymore, or those shows/films that haven't been broadcasted for years.
It promotes the genres Supernatural/Paranormal, Sci-Fi,  Mystery and Drama plus others through television programs such as Grimm, Doctor Who and Supernatural which are on channels lesser known to a typical British audience. Doctor Who has been listed as a possibility as now that the past series have finished on BBC One, they have been bought by Watch which doesn't have the same type of 'catch up' services as the BBC.
Also available to the site, we will have films in similar genres which were highly rated but never get the exposure that they deserved. Also, with such amazing films being made right across the globe, there would also be the chance for people view independent movies - a voting system promoting the best film of the month with a new winner every month. Examples of this are: The Prestige and The Innkeepers.

For the target audience, we have personified them into the two target demographics:
Firstly, there is Sierra - she is an 18 year old college student who uses the Internet a lot to keep up with the latest news and spoilers for upcoming TV shows. She is an avid user of social media, specifically sites like Tumblr, which she uses to discover the spoilers of shows aired already in other countries and from previous evenings in her own.Sierra is interested in keeping up-to-date with most things in her life - such as her friends and her hobbies; which include writing, socialising, and blogging. A typical stereotype towards Sierra is "fan-girl", as she openly expresses her feelings through her blog towards these shows - especially her favourite characters.
Secondly, there is Sam - he is a 21 year old university student. In his spare time, he likes to unwind by watching these shows - which not only hold the macho males that he can idolise without shame, but have a story to them which some horror series tend to forget in favour of blood/gore. He tends to go out with his friends quite a bit too, mostly ending up talking with them about things they have seen on TV amongst over topics men his age talk about. These films and TV shows give him an opening to get to understand a story whilst getting the additional scares that often arise. As this is the age of the social-media-ite, he too uses social media to keep in touch with his friends and other news - including that of TV schedules and stories about shows.

The competition that our site would have to encounter would be other catch-up services such as iPlayer, ITVPlayer, and 4OD. They are the 3 main catch-up services in the country that host legal viewings of shows from their channels. iPlayer is the largest as there substantially more BBC channels, with ITVPlayer being the second greatest competitor because of the sub-channels from ITV.
However, there is also the challenges of illegal viewings. Sites like PutLocker and WatchSeries host hundreds of shows illegally - and with very easy access. All a person has to do is type in "Grimm Series 2 Episode 4" into Google and they are presented with hundreds of thousands of links to different illegal sites to view the episode. With this "service" losing so much money for the people who make the shows/movies, it takes a lot of looking into to make sure they aren't being ripped off again.

The design of the website will try to be as easy to navigate as possible, whilst also trying to stay away from the conventional layouts that most video sharing websites go with. Unfortunately, the layout cannot be too unconventional as it would be very difficult for viewers to watch the programs. At first, the ideas for the colour scheme were going to be dark in order for the viewing experience to be more enjoyable as harsh lights from a light background cause eye pain. But, the website will be a bit lighter that it was with a colour scheme of roughly 3 colours (red, blue, purple) but with additional shades to make it more in-depth.
Furthermore, an option will be available for users who want a dimmer light but not a dimmer picture to turn on "cinema mode" - a setting that keeps the picture of the film/show the same but dims out the background to make it easier for those who do not like the harsh lights to view the films.
We have come up with plans on the pricing strategy that helps to maintain the website and also keep the distributors happy:
Firstly, with hosting legal viewings of TV shows and movies you have to pay to be able have the right to view it. Like in the cinema you pay for a ticket, in a store you buy the DVD, we'd have to purchase the rights to view the episodes.
Secondly, to get our money back the obvious money maker is advertising. We will sell advertising slots on the side of the videos to products and services whose target audience matches with ours - for example, Monster energy drink. Other advertisements would be for up-and-coming movies and TV shows that would be coming to the website. 
Finally, TV shows are free to view on traditional catch-up services like Virgin Media - but movies always have a price tag. Now, with services like that on the TV (taking Virgin Media as our example) you pay £3.68 for regular quality for 48 hours and £4.68 for HD for 48 hours. With our services, you pay £5 for one months worth of access to all films. However, because it is a subscription service for films, there will be a customer loyalty reward after 3 months of usage wherein their next purchase will be half the price of the original sales if they are picking the same movies again. Also, for all customers there will be special offers every so often like "£1 movies" which they can opt into for a certain amount of time.

Membership will be required to view the content on the site fully. Without membership you can view trailers and promotions, but you do need to log in to the site to be able to view everything. Most of the content on the site is for people aged 15 and over, so it would stand to reason that that is the youngest you can create an account. It monitors the age of those on the site so that no 15 year olds try to purchase an 18 rated movie. It creates a bit more security and peace of mind for parents too, as with the iPlayer all you have to do is click "Yes, I am 18" and it lets you view whatever you want without a real check. An addition to this is that you can also sign in through social networks - and an unstoppable notification is sent through to their Facebook account saying "___________ has just watched ________" giving parents further idea of what their teenager is viewing online.

A2.7 - Examples of other sites

The image above is an example of an illegal site who would still be a source of competition towards our website. On this site there are thousands of episodes and links to various hosting websites which hold the videos of said episodes - the example above holds the links to the two seasons of the TV show Grimm, one of the shows that would be aired on our website.

However, using 3rd party links through this site increases the chances of downloading viruses onto a viewers computer.

Another example of competition to our site is 4OD - a commercial website much like our own, but they solely focus on shows that are aired on their stations (C4, E4 and More 4). They would take away the audience members for any show aired on the 4 channels. This site has a lower chance of giving you viruses, but it has a pop up when you first load the page saying that they use cookies - a tool to be able to tailor the adverts you see on the website to things that you search for.

My final example is the most popular option, BBC iPlayer. It spans across 10 channels, and includes any movies that are aired on those channels - the one that has been on the iPlayer for the longest is "Bruce Almighty". It spreads across a wider audience, but still only aires shows from their channels.

Once again, this is another site that uses cookies but as it is an non-comercial site the information it gathers is likely for other websites to know you might be interested in a Russell Howard tour DVD or a boxset for a comedy on BBC 3.

A2.6 - Questionnaire

A2.5 - Presentation for Focus Group

The presentation that will be used for our focus group is now up on SlideBoom:

Click here to view.

A2.4 (2) - Final Designs for the Website

Here's the final copy of draft 2 for the TV website - the name has been changed from Hit TV to Off-Beat TV, which fits better with the niche market that we are targeting.

Taking the advice that had been given from the creation of the first draft, female characters have been added to the banner at the top and the space for the search bar and social networks has been filled better.

The colouring has changed ever so slightly to make it a bit darker - from personal experience, watching a show on a bright background tends to hurt your eyes quite a bit, so (as well as fitting with the tone of most of the shows) it makes it easier to watch the shows.

A polling system has been added to fill space instead of a random advert and a "movie of the month" section has been created to further improve the user experience as they can get involved and have their say on what should be the best film of the month (even if the film was released years ago).