Redesigned Crunchyroll iOS app. Featured by Apple “Apps We Love”, on June 12, 2019.

Goals

• Maintain the familiarity of the old Crunchyroll iOS app.
• Keep designs simple enough for new users, but intuitive enough for legacy users.
• Prioritize content and content discovery.
• Streamline navigation to make it easier to find the shows you want to watch.
• Improve browsing by making it more logical and intuitive.

Challenges

The main challenge we encountered during the iOS redesign was the application architecture. We tackled this by replacing the hamburger side menu with a more robust tab navigation system, which made it easier to access the bottom-level sections of the app. By doing this, we were also able to eliminate navigational taps that previously placed a heavy cognitive load on our users. This resulted in fewer taps and a more user-friendly app design for our users.

iOS screens

User Research and User Journeys

Crunchyroll Expo

Anime fans are the lifeblood of everything Crunchyroll. Without them, our job as designers wouldn't exist. Therefore, it's vital that we enable users to get as close as possible to the content they love.

As we began redesigning the Crunchyroll iOS application, we had many questions in mind:

• Would this redesign not only improve the anime viewing experience but also attract new users who are interested in anime?
• Who are our users? Are they all hardcore otakus who only watch subs, or do we have a broader user base that loves anime but has difficulty reading subtitles?
• What are their goals? Do they just want to watch the latest One Piece episode and leave, or are they more interested in our seasonal lineup of amazing shows?