Video Player Visual Archive
Who has the most ideal online video playback experience? Can it track analytics? Does it support a Playlist? Can it be skinned and branded? Does it have screen casting capabilities? Can it be sticky?
Below is a visual archive of various video experiences across a variety of digital news sites.
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High Level Insights
Video is everywhere. We watch it on our laptops, desktops, tablets and phones. Video only works if users know that the video is there, are encouraged to watch it, can successfully view it, and have control over it.
There is no “standard” behavior for users when they encounter video on a site. Some watch the video right away, some explore the surrounding text first, and afterwards watch the video, some have no interest in watching. Behavior for the same individual can vary from site to site or task to task. As such, there is no guarantee that someone will watch video content when it is presented.
Video force users to access the content sequentially: users need to patiently digest content in the order in which it is presented without knowing whether what’s coming next will be relevant to their needs. Videos require more of users’ time than an equivalent piece of text, because they don’t support rapid scanning for information, which is how most users interact with informational web content.
From an accessibility perspective, providing content as a video can limit access to the information contained in this format for anyone who cannot see or hear the content. In addition, videos break. In testing we’ve seen many users run across a video that won’t load, doesn’t appear, can’t be played, or freezes.
This means that you shouldn’t be overly reliant on video to convey information. If users aren’t able to access the content or simply don’t want to, they should have the ability to collect information in another way. For accessibility, captions and a full transcript of the video could be considered. This also allows users to pick and choose the content that is relevant for them without having to watch an entire video. At a minimum, ensure that any essential information contained in the video is also presented as text on the page.
Avoid video or audio content that begins playing without user consent. Video, and the accompanying audio, can confuse or distract users, and can interfere with their consumption of content on the page. Those users who do not want to watch the video must devote cognitive resources and extra effort to figure out how to turn the audio off or pause the video. Links leading to video content should indicate the type of content to which they lead. Most users assume links lead to pages filled with text and images, not video. Particularly not video that plays automatically.
When videos play automatically, many users’ first instincts are to either mute or pause the video. Users should easily be able to start, stop or restart a video, as well as mute it or adjust the volume on it, for any video or audio content on the site.
Users are careful with their time and want to know how much time they need to dedicate to watch content. On mobile devices, under variable network connectivity, the length of the video is also an indication of the length of the download. We’ve seen many a user in a variety of tests on different sites start a video, only to instantly check to see how long that video is. Users weigh the potential value against the potential commitment.