User Research Case Study For Roku

What is Roku?

Roku is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc, offering access to streaming media content from online services.

Roku Research Study Context

The Roku team was interested in gathering feedback on alternative package fronts for their upcoming product lineup.  

Roku Research Study Stakeholder Objectives

• Feature Drivers for streaming devices
• Reactions to “Free”
• Packaging/lineup color
• Step up messaging
• Front of box Naming
• Badge testing

Roku Research Study Methodology and Timeline

1. For one week, Speck Design conducted (9) 90-minute focus groups in 3 markets: Pleasanton, Atlanta & Dallas
2. The recruitment criteria for each market included three sub-groups: Roku users, competitive users & prospective users
3. The respondent criteria for each sub-group was:

• Roku Player/Stick Users: Mix of Roku models, all stream at least 3+ hours a week, a mix of age and gender
• Competitive Users: Mix of Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV/Fire TV stick, and Google Chromecast, all stream at least 3+ hours a week, a mix of age and gender
• Prospective Users: All intend to purchase a streaming device in the next six months; none are Roku-rejectors; a combination of purchase as primary vs. secondary; a blend of age & gender.

Analysis and Synthesis Overview

Speck Design broke down the stakeholder objectives into four primary research areas for testing each market cohort.   

1. User Experiences
2. Features
3. Terminology
4. Product Line-Up

The findings within these four areas were then distributed as insights as (and if)  they related to each stakeholder objective.  A series of sixteen surveys or “tests” were run as part of the discovery process.

Example Survey Questions

Speck Design implemented surveys, sample copy, and product offerings to gather feedback across the research areas noted above. See examples of each below.

Example Survey: Feature Importance 

Example Sample Copy: RSS Rev Copy Test 

Example: Sample Product Offerings: Roku Lineup Test

Key Discoveries (By Research Category)

User Experiences

• Participants live in complex households with kids, parents, pets, and multiple TVs
• Experience drives their interest in features that help accommodate their broad needs (e.g., losing remotes, private listening, gaming)
• Most are actively cord-cutting or looking for ways to do this effectively and seamlessly with an all-in-one solution.
• Participants don’t tend to utilize in-store packaging as part of research; research online ahead and then buy online or in-store. 
• Potential users are starting to dabble with voice tech (e.g., Siri, Alexa) but have lukewarm experience thus far.
• The most significant pain with streaming is lack of speed, with frequent buffering and lag time issues. *This pain is more pronounced with Chromecast and Firesticks vs. Roku users.
• Atlanta appears more value-conscious; Pleasanton and Dallas less so.

Features

• For experienced streamers, core performance and addressing pain points trump new features. *Significant pain is cited with buffering and slow-loading apps.
• Picture quality is of interest but less critical since it was not a pain point & thought to be TV-based. Ease and speed are close contenders.
•  Importance varies by segment. Newbies are all about ease in learning, setup, and usage because those instill confidence that they’ll succeed.
• Streaming customers want more power & speed. Lag times and buffering are by far their biggest complaints.
• Free is highly compelling, but users are unwilling to sacrifice quality in exchange.
• Picture quality is very important, but most identify this as an issue impacted by the TV rather than the streaming device.
• Most have come to expect high quality with any TV bought today.
• Portability & power are key benefits & differentiators of Roku sticks.
• Voice features received a lukewarm response due to resoundingly poor user experience elsewhere (e.g., Siri, Alexa).
• Users had no confidence that features today would improve their user experience.

Terminology

• “Powerful” carries significant weight, equated with faster.
• Concrete promises (“Now 2x faster”, quad-core processor) carry more weight than generalities (“New and faster”).
• Don’t need to understand a term for it to be impactful (e.g., quad-core processor), though unknowns can feel intimidating to newbies.
• Virtually no one knows what HDR is, and 4K is often confusing as well; The term “HD” reassures that device will work with their TV.
• References to HD, 4K, and HDR carry more weight in the context of the benefit they provide.
• Subjects were highly compelled by mentions of “control for TV, music, and home” because it broadens the perspective of how Roku can be used; implies smart home applications.
• Newbies wanted simple, clear, comforting language on products geared to them.
• Easy, simple, and fast are all critical; unknown words intimidate potential users (quad-core, 1080p, HDR), suggest complicated and “not for me”.
• Experienced streamers prefer specific terminology emphasizing power & speed. E.g., quad-core, smooth streaming, enhanced wireless, wireless booster, faster, more powerful.

Product Line Up

• The product lineup was clear to the subjects;  most get distinctions between products & see value in price differentials.
• Colors help to differentiate the difference in package offerings.
• Across segments, most want Ultra for themselves & lower-end sticks as gifts. *This depended on the recipient.
• $99 seems affordable & reasonable to most, given all that Ultra offers.
• All subjects wanted the extended copy on the Ultra box.
• The higher-priced items were perceived as justified.
• The lineup helped educate them on the products they don’t understand.
• Sticks are also a sweet spot for those on a budget who want power & portability without needing all the bells and whistles. However, Interest in purchasing RSS+ increases when tangible improvements are effectively communicated: Wireless enhancement, picture quality, and more powerful.

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