Marvel Unlimited Relaunch

MVP REDESIGN | SENIOR DESIGNER

1 MONTH IDEATION, 4 MONTH UX AND VISUAL DESIGN MVP

the opportunity

To redesign a mobile app from the ground up, crafting an authentic digital experience for Marvel comic book fans, avoiding gimmicky while still achieving a sense of tangible design to reflect the content that is consumed by readers both digitally and physically.

Research revealed that the single most important thing to get right— the improvement that would have the most impact — was an overhaul of how users find and discover comics. To that end, there is opportunity for a dramatic, transformative, and non-incremental step forward in making it simple for users to find something to read, get started reading as easily and quickly as possible, and keep reading effortlessly. The guiding purpose must be to make the digital library of Marvel comics more accessible, easier to manage, and deeply rewarding for fans. In doing so, the app will generate sustained engagement and stronger retention to improve the economics of Marvel Unlimited over time.

challenges

Setting out to build an app to improve the comic reading experience and grow the Marvel legacy came with 3 distinct challenges:

  1. An existing app with an established user base whose accounts we needed to convert and whose expectations we needed to meet.

  2. A tight timeline driven by business need to move to a new tech stack for cost-savings measures,

  3. Pre-existing work from a third-party agency that Marvel Editorial had already approved.

the process

The core tenants that guided the design approach were:

These guiding principles led to using the current brand language as a baseline and building upon its foundation. As physical comic books continued to be the main source of inspiration, angles and gradients were incorporated in the visual language as well as subtle, comic-inspired textures to imagery and UI throughout the app.

Based on audits and user research, creating continuity from the current app, and the need to support an in-app subscription model, the MVP experience for the new app would focus on Home, Search, My Library, and Account experiences. Within those experiences it was important to craft high-quality Series, Issue, List, Character, and Creator entity pages so that massive Marvel library of content would shine. Every design and technical decision had to support-

A select number of premium features were chosen for MVP to drive conversions from the old app and entice new users with offerings that no other comic reader provided, like the Vertical Comic Reader which provided a seamless way to read vertical comics in-app.

1. Your own comics shop in your pocket

2. Lay the foundation for community

3. Find what you want now and what you might want next

4. Live and breathe the Marvel comics brand

+29,000

ISSUES

+8,000

CHARACTERS

4,565

CREATORS

4,816

SERIES

518

READING LISTS

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Our preliminary audits included assessing the theories behind our common user experiences and the technology driving them, the offerings of competitor comic and reading services, and the execution of different content strategies that would achieve design and editorial goals.

Then the primary user journeys, informed by the preliminary audits and an emphasis on surfacing personalized comic content to subscribers, were explored to craft an information architecture. Based on findings, the main structure of the app was defined as Home, Search, My Library, and Account.

Wireframes for main experience landing pages were delivered to stakeholders after the information architecture was a finalized across product, design, engineering and editorial teams.

After wireframes began, an initial round of user testing was conducted to understand whether the initial design patterns and user flows were logical to target users, or whether they caused any confusion. The subset of items tested were:

  1. Navigating/browsing

  2. Managing a library of comics

  3. Content density

Key takeaways from preliminary user tests showed:

  1. Most UI patterns were easily understood, though some were confusing – updates based on that feedback were made in the following rounds of UI exploration, especially in the home feed.

  2. Placing specific content high on the home screen is crucial for discoverability: continue reading at or near the top, characters then creators not too far down the screen.

  3. Not to force engagement with Marvel Insider program. It is better to make it clear and available to users, and support the program heavily when users decide to participate.

Utilizing user testing and feedback from the wireframes, visual explorations for mobile and tablet features and pages began. Throughout the process, a style guide was finalized to ensure there was a cohesive look and feel throughout the product that felt distinctly Marvel Comics.

As the user interface was being finalized and approved, a prototype was built to explore motion and conduct another round of user testing.

A mix of interviews and usability tests were conducted over two user test sessions using this prototype. There were 19 participants, individuals age 19-55 who read comics 3-4 a week and had a comic reading app installed on their phone, who were presented with different scenarios and asked to use the prototype to demonstrate what they would most likely do.

Overall there were no significant usability issues but a few areas of the experience were revisited to address some themes that the tests revealed:

  1. The pagination affordance in first module of the homepage was increased because users didn’t naturally intuit that it was scrollable.

  2. The difference between saving vs following an entity was unclear so a modal was created to appear after users saved an entity that prompted them to follow an entity to stay up to date on latest releases.

  3. Confusion when a user would navigate one or more levels down and lose access to main navigation prompted a change to have the feature be persistent everywhere except for comic reader.

An especially exciting feature during this redesign was the comic reader- with a new addition to the reading experience to support vertical comics for readers called Infinity Comics. Read Next was also added to make it effortless for users to continue reading their favorite stories.

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the solution

The introduction of the new Marvel Unlimited App was a massive product launch by design, product, editorial and engineering, elevating design and performance of Marvel Comics for a mobile space. It provided a new direct-to-consumer pathway into the Marvel Universe for fans across the globe. Since the launch of Marvel Unlimited, Marvel has shut down all of its other digital mobile comic libraries so now all Marvel comic readers access their comic collections through the Marvel Unlimited digital subscription service.

Press:

https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/marvel-unlimited-app-relaunches-with-superhero-adventures-streamlined-for-phones/
https://www.engadget.com/marvel-unlimited-comics-app-redesign-140052400.html