Adding a New Feature to the
Movie Lovers’ Social Platform
THE BRIEF:
Choose an existing entertainment and/or media app and add a feature based on research
THE ROLE:
UI/UX Designer & Researcher
THE TIMELINE:
6 Weeks (March - April 2024)
First, let’s set the scene...
Background / Identify the problem / Desk Research
What is Letterboxd?
“Letterboxd is a global social network for grass-roots film discussion and discovery. Use it as a diary to record and share your opinion about films as you watch them, or just to keep track of films you’ve seen in the past. Showcase your favorites on your profile page. Rate, review and tag films as you add them. Find and follow your friends to see what they’re enjoying.”
-- Letterboxd
Letterboxd Home
User Profile
User "Diary"
User Review for a Film
The Problem/Opportunity
Letterboxd launched in 2011, but had slow growth. By 2020, it had 1.8 million users, but over the course of the pandemic, the user base quickly swelled to 10 million by the end of 2023. It is now considered one of the most popular watering holes for film lovers around the world.

In order to meet the expectations of the rapidly growing user base, there is an opportunity to create more robust social features for both the website and the mobile app. According to Letterboxd’s own Feedback & Features Request Page, at the time I began this research, the most voted on potential feature was this:
So, I decided to investigate this idea further. I wanted to hear directly from Letterboxd users and determine if Comparing Profiles on Letterboxd was actually a widely desired feature from users. And if not, I wanted to find out how users currently feel about and use Letterboxd, and if there are any opportunities for other new features.
Let's talk to the users.
User Surveys / Personas / Competitor Analysis
Because I wanted to avoid the risk of participants feeling pressured to criticize Letterboxd or come up with ideas on the spot, I decided to send out a survey instead of doing 1-on-1 live interviews.
Here were some of the questions I asked on the survey:
1
How do you decide who to follow on Letterboxd?
2
What are some things Letterboxd could improve on?
3
If you could add a brand new feature(s) to Letterboxd, what would it be?
4
A popular feature request from Letterboxd users is adding the ability to compare your profile to another user’s and see how your movie tastes align. Is that something you would be interested in? Why or why not?
And here were some of the responses to that last question:
Yes because it would be entertaining.
Sounds fun! It’s fun to see the tastes of other people.
I think that would be fun, but a limited feature. I'd use it once with a new friend or romantic partner, but not twice with the same person.
that could be interesting. it's fun to compare your tastes with your friends.
Yeah. It could help me decide if I want to follow someone.
Yes that would be cool to compare movie tastes with other users.
yes. i think it’d be a cool feature and i love comparing tastes with people whether it’s music, shows and of course, movies.
That would be fun!!!
I would be interested in that, I think it would be cool
The majority of the respondents (68%) expressed interest in using this feature, with only 11% saying they were neutral, and 21% saying “not interested.”
When asked what features they would like to add to Letterboxd themselves, none of them specifically suggested “Profile Comparison.” However, respondents suggested similar ideas like:
A possible concern about this data is that the respondents only showed interested in Profile Comparison because I directly suggested it on the survey.
Friend Suggestions
Collaboration on Reviews/Lists
“People who liked this film also liked...” Section
So, either way, it’s clear that users seek more interaction with other users.
KEY INSIGHTS
from user surveys
1
Majority of users (84%) use Letterboxd’s mobile application more often than the desktop or mobile website
2
Even split between Letterboxd users who only follow friends they know in real life (37%), users who only follow strangers (32%), and users who do both (32%)
3
Most popular stats that users would like to compare: Top Genres, Shared Films/Ratings.
The user surveys also helped me identify what appeared to be 2 different personas emerging:
So, how might we help Letterboxd users have more enjoyable interactions with their friends, as well as meet new friends?
The next step was to do a Competitor Analysis to see how other applications approached similar features. I decided to look at GoodReads’ “Compare Books” feature, MyAnimeList’s “Affinity to You” feature, and Toolboxd’s “Compatibility Test” feature.
goodreads.com
A social platform to track your books, meet other readers, and get recommendations. Basically, Letterboxd for books.
myanimelist.net
A social platform to track your anime/manga, meet other fans, and get recommendations. Basically, Letterboxd for anime and manga.
letterboxd.tools
A fan-made site that uses Letterboxd API to include features not currently on Letterboxd, such as a "compatibility" test.
KEY INSIGHTS
from competitor analysis
1
All sites use some kind of graph or venn digram showing the similarity between two users.
2
All sites present a list of content users share and comparison of their ratings.
3
None of these products have a CTA button to “follow” the user after you’re done comparing profiles - seems like an obvious omission.
It's time for solutions.
Wireframes / Usability Testing / Iterations
I sketched out ideas on how to present the feature, and what to call it. And with the data from my research and surveys, I planned out what information to include in the feature. Which eventually allowed me design low-fidelity wireframes:
...that I could develop into a high fidelity prototype.
Which brought me to my first round of usability testing. I gathered 4 participants to separately test my prototype.
My goal for testing was to answer these questions:
1
Is it clear from the profile page of a user that there is a Film Affinity screen they can access? In other words, does the CTA button look like a button?
2
Do users understand what each of the sections and visuals on the FIlm Affinity screen mean?
3
Is the Affinity page enjoyable to read and scroll through?
Overall, the feature was well-received by the participants. They responded positively to the idea of the “% Affinity” number, the layout, and the Shared Films venn diagram. But they also suggested some improvements:
“I didn’t get what the grey part of these pie charts meant. Make it more clear that represents all the other genres.”
“I’m not sure how to read the ratings graphs? What does each bar represent?”
“I feel like the button to go to the film affinity page doesn’t really look like a button, so I wouldn’t have known this page existed.”
...then conducted another round of usability testing with 5 participants.
Generally it was a good response! Unanimously participants thought it was entertaining to go through and easy to read. The charts/diagrams were much better received and understood this time.
I received a few small pieces of minor feedback, which I incorporated into my final revisions...
“Maybe there should be a follow button at the top of the page, like if I decide I already want to follow them based on the affinity percentage.”
“maybe add the ratings numbers at the bottom here so it's easier to read.”
And with that, we arrived at the final prototype!
And now... introducing Letterboxd’s Latest Feature:
FILM AFFINITY
Find out how your tastes align with your friends, or compare your film affinity with a stranger! Available now on iOS and Android.
Tap the COMPARE button on any user’s profile page, to the right of their profile picture.
See your Affinity Number, and compare your 4 favorites and Most-Watched Genres
Compare your Ratings graphs, and view your shared films plus the ratings you each gave them.
Explore the films that are unique to each of you and find new recommendations.
Discover the films you both want to see in the Shared Watchlist Films section.
TRY "FILM AFFINITY" ON
FOR YOURSELF!
NEXT STEPS
1
Develop desktop version of the feature
2
Continue testing and iterating with user feedback
3
Prepare files for hand-off to developer team
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