Project Discovher is a movie search website for people who are seeking non-objectified female characters in movies. In this project, we propose a new way of searching for movies based on keywords that reflect one’s identity, helping form positive self-identity through movies.
Project Discovher
Timeline: Fall 2022, 5 weeks
Role: UX Designer, Data Collection
With: Jamie Sun Jae Choi, Youngryun Cho
Tools: Wordpress, Airtable, Figma, Codeanywhere
Summary
Our project encapsulates a new way to search for movies. We aimed to reduce search fatigue, as well as help people discover more movies with positive female representation.
Through our search filter system, we made it easier to find hidden gems, especially international movies.
As a framework, we chose to only include highly rated movies that pass the Bechdel Test and/or the Mako Mori Test.
It’s a Man’s World
This project was based on our research on “search fatigue,” as well as the lack of leading female characters in the media. According to Women and Hollywood, in 2021’s top films, women made up only 34% of all speaking roles.
Additionally, nearly 60% of these characters were white women.
It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World also analyzed character portrayals, finding that women featured onscreen tended to be younger than men. Their character goals tended to revolve around personal life and their relationship status, while male characters were more likely to have work-related goals and an identifiable occupation.
Our team was shocked to learn that positive female representation in media is still so low, and as women of color, we all felt passionately about amplifying the representation and voices of WOC.
Process
Netflix users, on average, spend upwards of 57 minutes a day searching. A second source reveals that we spend 187 hours — or eight days a year — searching for something to watch.
We surveyed in order to gain insights surrounding search fatigue and users’ desires for search parameters.
48% of people thought Netflix’s recommendation system was not that helpful
For more than 57% of participants, it took more than 10 minutes to discover what they want to watch using current systems
22% responded that they’re interested in discovering new movies that they haven’t heard of.
TMI…?!
When we began designing our layout, we produced parallel prototypes. Our main concern was the informational overload; we tried to settle on a design that would convey the intended interaction, but not reveal too many categories or movies at once on the viewport.
I compiled a list of 200 movies by referencing streaming platforms, IMBD and RottenTomatoes reviews, bechdeltest.com, and thecherrypicks.com.
Solution
To get movies about women that suits your interests, Discovher provides three categories to choose from: Interest (a genre), Mood (how you would like to feel during/after the movie), and Region (which cultures, ethnicities, or regions you are interested in seeing representation for).
View our project at project-discovher.com!