Introducing video to JioSaavn.

The first stage was redesigning the player (above) in a way that could seamlessly facilitate video. The JioSaavn player was already unique in that the “now playing” view and queue are rolled into one fluid page (humble brag 😌). Now, we had to figure out how to add more (support for video, lyrics, and some kind of callout for various purposes), but make it feel like less.

With the redesign of the player, the display could show album artwork, a shortie (repeating “moving” artwork), or a full video, in dark or light mode, totally seamlessly – all depending on the content being played. No switching into different modes, no special buttons or gestures. It just works. As with most things that are simple, this was a huge challenge to solve.

I guess this is another humble brag (at what point is it no longer humble?). Because we did.

As mentioned, there are two types of videos within the JioSaavn app.

• Shorties
• Full Videos

Shorties are short form audio-free videos that loop, and are not directly tied to the audio, and are displayed at a portrait (9x16) ratio. Think of them as moving artwork for a song entity.

Full videos are their own entity entirely, with their own audio, and are displayed at a landscape (16x9) ratio.

We wanted video to be easy to find the user is looking, but not overwhelming or annoying if the user isn’t interested. In the player, any time a video is available for a song, we gracefully let the user know with a minimally invasive callout baked directly into the player queue as one of 4 card types. The inclusion of cards in the player design was meant for future testing and opportunities. Cards provide an optional space for promotion or information on the “now playing” track. Cards can be singular or stacked.

We added video to the persistent tab bar, where videos are categorized in a combination of smart/learning modules, and promotional/popular ones. In addition, artist and song detail pages feature a video module if videos are available, and the home page features video modules to users who would like them based on our recommendation AI logic.

We were confident in the video experience, and using video as a valuable feature for the pro product would only work if we give free users a trial of the feature. After some preliminary ideas and tests, we went forward with a rate cap model allowing all users any 3 videos for free. After the third video, we add the Pro paywall to videos.

Most of the app was somehow affected by the addition of video. Whether it be where or how a video is displayed throughout the app, or more nuanced experiences like parental controls, onboarding, and retention. The video project spanned many teams, rounds, and revisions, and will remain an ongoing project that continues to fine-tune and improve.