BitTorrent App Redesign

Role: User Interface, User Research, Prototyping, Wireframing, Visual Design, Copywriting, Presenting drafts, Leading meetings for questions, critiques, and discussions about the design solutions being created.

Team: BitTorrent Android App Team including the product team, engineering, and product manager.

Project Type: Mobile

Duration: 6 Weeks

Tools: Figma and Adobe Illustrator

I was the main designer leading this project for the BitTorrent App Onboarding during Q1 2023. I worked closely with my product design manager to create high-fidelity mockups, lead meetings with the product manager and engineering teams for feedback on solutions, and created the final assets and deliverables for production.

I worked on three major enhancements to the app.

Onboarding
Searching
Music player

Onboarding

New users have difficulty using the BitTorrent app, because the app lacks clear instructions on how to successfully use the app. Users are left on their own to guess how to find torrents to download. This may lead to frustration, closing the app, and never using it again.

Proposed Solution

Increase average app user time by better-informing users how to use the app. based on google analytics

Design Process

I brainstormed design ideas for an unobtrusive onboarding experience with 3 clear steps for new users. The solution was well received by cross-functional teams and engineers were excited to implement it.

Searching

The search for torrents through the web is a strong feature but easily misunderstood due to the lack of visuals making the feature identifiable as such.

Proposed Solution

Studying the Google search fields and user’s created expectations of the most popular web browser, I redesigned the search feature to mimic a standard search bar to give stronger hints to users that this feature functions similar to a web browser.

Design Process

Music Player

Proposed Solution

Design Process

User Testing

Users navigated through the current app and then the onboarding prototype.

Of the two who were tested, one was familiar with torrenting while the other tester was not. Understandably, in a perfect world, testing 20 users would have been more beneficial if given more time and resources.

Each user was asked to complete two main tasks on the app:

Task #1: How would you go about downloading the Big Buck Bunny Torrent?

Task #2: How would you go about watching the Big Buck Bunny on the BitTorrent App?

Distill findings

Common trends from testers:

The search feature was jarring since it took them outside of the app to search the web for torrents.

The new design for searching the web for torrents field was more clear because it mimics a search bar.

The importance to filter unplayable file formats, since the app was unable play all file formats.

User #1

There should be an indicator of which file format is playable
Would be nice if there was a download button immediately on torrent websites

User #2

Having small 1. 2. 3. to make easier to understand its progression rather than 3 options
Filtering all file formats like .avi, .ogv, and .mp4, and only show the playable formats so it is clear what users can watch

Revised Designs

With our user testing feedback, we filtered only playable file formats to make playing torrents on the app easier.

Fewer mistakes the user makes, the more in-control the user feels.

Reviewing the Solution

After tidying up the prototype, the team and I felt confident that we accomplished the project goals of allowing purchasing of products, implementation of patient specific next steps, and modernized UI design as part of the new patient portal design.

Success Metrics

Success metrics the data team and product team would consider is whether there’s an increase in average time spent on the app and increase in successfully downloaded torrents, given new users are more clear with how to use the app.

Other works →