Brooke Kong | Oscars

Increasing engagement time by 45% on the first ever website analyzing diversity at the Academy Awards

Timeline

Jan - Mar 2024

My Role

User Experience Designer, Project Manager, Hiring Manager

Client

Adobe

Introduction

Media analyzing the demographic information of Academy Award nominees and winners lack data-driven statistics. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has been generating reports since its founding in 2007. In collaboration with Adobe, the organization decided to showcase research findings in an easily consumable website surrounding the Oscars. Year 2 required a much needed update of the site organization and aesthetic.

My Role

I led the design and user testing of the project from end to end. I collaborated with 2 developers and oversaw 1 UX assistant throughout the project. I also hired the data collection team and oversaw the whole process.

The Problem

In 2023, we launched the first-of-its-kind complete Oscars diversity data website about nominees and winners from 1929 to 2023. 2024 brought on new nominees. I needed to update the website to be easily updatable each year for each new award season.

The landing page is not visually captivating.

The landing page has excess white space and is text heavy, leading to a boring experience.

The site organization could be improved.

Poor site organization contributes to difficulty in finding award categories and leads to excessive page length on some pages.

Data visualization is limited.

Data is visualized in pngs which is not sustainable for adjusted data metrics for future award years.

Goal

Shed light on how the industry has changed and which categories have improved through an easily digestible and accessible website.

Improve reusability of the site.

Create an easy process to update data for future years.

Create a digestable site.

Communicate through pictures and key words versus relying on text.

Highlight 2024 nominees.

Showcase the results of nominee demographic information in the current award year.

Increase engagement.

We want users to stay on our site longer.

Impact

We launched the site on March 6th, 2024. The website received press from various news outlets such as the Hollywood Reporter and Screen Daily. According to Google Analytics data, the average engagement time increased by 45%.

Research

Competitor analysis

I conducted a competitor analysis to find inspiration and areas of growth in media websites highlighting entertainment lists and articles. The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, Time, and Variety were analyzed.

Ideation

Information architecture

After gathering pro and con information, I mapped various options for a site structure and created an information architecture.

Displaying award categories

An important part of our website was displaying the award categories in a usable and easy to understand way. I sketched multiple variations of what this could look like. We analyzed two options.

High fidelity wireframes

I created high fidelity wireframes to test the product.

Testing

Usability testing

I conducted a basic usability test with 5 individuals. I also conducted a usability test with a person who uses screen readers in their daily life.

A/B testing

To choose a visually captivating hero section on the landing page, I ran A/B testing with 5 people. They ranked 4 high fidelity wireframes from their favorite to least favorite. Participants mostly favored the hero section of a 2024 Academy Award nominated film's picture since it represented the visual theme and was the most captivating.

Iterate

Including a drop down and search function for categories

Users can filter and search for an award category. If they are visiting the website in search of a specific award category, I added a search bar and a filter function to help users quickly find information amongst the 21 categories.

Designing CTAs to encourage user engagement

I answered the questions, "Now what?" by designing call to actions at the end of each page to prompt users to engage with our socials or read more.

Implementing accordions to eliminate text heavy appearance

Users thought the website was informative but text-heavy. I wanted to maintain detailed statistics while ensuring that the pages do not overwhelm users into clicking off.

I designed an accordion on a content-heavy page to minimize scrolling fatigue.

Communities of Color page before accordion.

Interactive tables

An interactive table was added to condense historical data.

Incorporating dynamic data visualization

We got rid of static photos and replaced them with updatable graphics managed through a content management system. This change will promote reusability for future award years.We got rid of static photos and replaced them with updatable graphics managed through a content management system. This change will promote reusability for future award years.