Product Strategy. User Research. Prototyping UI.
I was brought on as a product designer to research and design CC’s upcoming video search platform. Alongside Mary Yao (Chief of Staff at Oliver Wyman) and Akhilesh Pandita (PM at Microsoft), I worked with Kriti Godey (Director of Engineering) and Anna Tumadottir (Head of Product) to better understand users and increase engagement on the CC Search platform.
When Creative Commons was founded, the idea that content creators would generously offer their work up for internet strangers to remix, modify, and even sell seemed dubious. Today, that idea is on the way to becoming common practice—the widespread sharing of a variety of content types has become the norm. And Creative Commons (CC) is at the vanguard of this movement.
Now, Creative Commons wants a video search feature. By making video content freely available, CC helps create an increasingly open internet that fosters sharing.
CC is known for architecting the legal groundwork for which sharing and remixing has been enabled. Their licenses enable users to repurpose content beyond what is allowed by "fair use".
Though we were tasked with designing a “video search experience”, it wasn’t immediately clear to me how a video search function fit into the product strategy of Creative Commons. Was it necessary to have a search engine at all?
<aside> 🛠 By the time I had my first meeting with the Director of Product, the time constraints of navigating this project across a 9-hour time difference had already become readily apparent. To make the most of our time, preparation for key meetings was paramount.
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I was brimming with questions about our proposed solution. But if I wanted to make the most of our weekly calls, I’d have to do a bit of investigating beforehand. To make sure we were as aligned in our purpose as possible, I set out to understand how a video search function fit into CC's long-term strategy.
CC's database of content is currently limited to images hosted by partner platforms. We added video search.
Before getting clear on the solution, understand the problem.
In a thorough study of the nonprofit's strategy, I learned that the guiding metric for this project was an increase in the number of unique visitors to the site.
Why is this important?
Taking a look at the mission as well as the structure of the commons gave some clues. Ultimately, the goal of CC is to "foster sharing & collaboration" across the internet.
From literature, photos, video, music, open education resources, and even scientific research, CC has over 1.6 billion assets.
CC has over 1.6 billion assets. **Yet, these “freely reusable” assets are spread throughout the web. Without an easy way to access these materials, their "reuse and remix" potential declines.
So, how might we reduce the friction of accessing CC-licensed content and increase the likelihood for their reuse?
One way to support this mission of accessing CC-licensed content is through improving its search engine. Creative Commons Search aims to aggregate all CC-licensed content in one place, allowing users to download, remix, and reuse content with peace of mind.
Ultimately, improving the UX of searching through a treasure trove of content compels new users to engage with that database, and hopefully contribute to this sharing ecosystem.
CC is a non-profit supported by grants and public contributions. This makes the business goals of CC unique—their key metrics are not driven by profit.