SUSaurabh UkeyCase study / YouTube Focus
YouTube FocusIndependent concepts · Design exploration

Make room for intentional viewing.

A 2021 independent concept exploring focus groups, learning-oriented viewing and a consumer-centred profile.

Contribution & scope

Independent UX case study · 2021

Intentional viewingWireframesProduct exploration
5 chapters · Original project artefacts
Selected original design · YouTube Focus
01 / The question

What did you come here to do?

The original study asks how viewers could have more control over the purpose of a session. It describes interviews and personal usage as inputs, highlighting irrelevant recommendations and difficulty staying focused.

Personalised

Support the viewer’s chosen interests.

Customisable

Allow priorities to change.

Reliable

Keep the learning experience understandable and consistent.

02 / Starting point

One feed can contain competing intentions.

The captured 2021 interface serves as the baseline for this exploration. The design question is how to make a learning intention explicit while preserving access to leisure content.

Historical interface captured in the original 2021 study; not a review of today’s YouTube. · Select image to inspect.
03 / The proposal

Choose a focus, then build around it.

The wireframes propose up to three focus groups, a dedicated Focus area and an action to add helpful videos to a group. Topic selection becomes an explicit part of the viewing experience.

Original proposed wireframes and annotations. · Select image to inspect.

Limit the active focus

Keep a manageable set of current interests.

Collect deliberately

Let the viewer place useful content into a focus group.

04 / Learner identity

Explore a profile for people who consume to learn.

The concept introduces current interests, planned topics, badges and points. These are exploratory ideas. Watching content alone is not evidence of skill, so any credential system would require a separate assessment model.

Original learner-profile exploration. Badges are proposed features, not official YouTube credentials. · Select image to inspect.
05 / Reflection

An intention is more useful than another engagement target.

The source concludes that further research and prototypes are needed. A useful next step would test whether focus groups support the viewer’s own goals, and whether rewards accidentally encourage more viewing instead of more learning.

Takeaway

The strongest part of this exploration is giving intent a visible place in the interface. Rewards and recommendation assumptions need validation before they can support that intent.

Independent concept from 2021. Not commissioned by, affiliated with or shipped by YouTube.