The test
I always had the "dream" to work with the guys from Fantasy. I think they're one of the best product agencies in the world and their work speak for itself. And when they announced a freelance opportunity back in 2013, I applied right away. After a couple day, I've got an email from David, Fantasy's CEO, sending me a design test.
The test was to redesign just one page from either CNN's video gallery, IMDb's movie page or Amazon's product page. I chose the IMDb one.
Problems with the 2013 version
When you look up for information about a movie, what do you expect to find? Me? I want to see the trailers, pictures of the movie and of the set, the synopses, and the cast.
Back in 2013, IMDb had an excessive use of text and small images. As the test was about what I would change with no data access or any user information, I kept my instincts.
The 2017 version
They changed a little bit the page but still stick with a small player for the trailer (come on, we're in 2017 and we have decent connections and high resolutions screens). And I still feel that their AI is not good.
Design decisions
Like I sad above, I kept my instincts and used bigger images, brought the trailers above the fold, and the storyline and details with less noise. Simple and clean. But I was not feeling that was a good design. So, let's create the version two.
The final version
After a couple tweaks here and there I got the final design for this page.
- A progress bar at the top to indicate the percentage of people who liked the movie, with the social share button alongside
- A wide promotional image of the movie to impact the user and set the tone
- A quick and simple navigation
- Title, category and the change to save the movie to your watchlist and rating stars
- A carousel with all trailers in HD with the possibility to watch right away
- The storyline to introduce the user
- A full-screen gallery with all images that only IMDb could have
- Minor details and a section of who watched the movie also watched a movie listed in the same category to create a pattern of search and taste to the user
The result
When I sent to Fantasy, they really appreciated and I got a response from David saying that I was selected as part of their freelancer's team. Unfortunately, I never got any job from them but was really fun to do the test and know that they like my work.
