The Creator Incubator

The Bilibili Uploader Stimulation Campaign

  • · Strategic Designer

    · UX designer

    · UI Designer

  • · User interviews

    · Affinity diagram

    · Personas

    · Priority matrix

    · Mind-mapping_5H1W

    . Usability Test

    · Workflows

    · Wireflows

    · Semi-high Fidelity Wireframes

    · Long scrolling poster

  • · Duration: 6.5 weeks

    · Tools: Adobe XD, Proto.io, Miro

    · Team size: 3ppl, including an illustrator, and 2 strategic designers

However, all the PUGC, which attracts more than 91% of users attention on the platform, is generated by a tiny portion of content creators. Therefore, it leads to a severe problem and risk in Bilibili's future financial growth with this imbalanced fact.

In this project, Ruiwen lead her team aimed to dig deeper from the problem statement from secondary and primary research, to identify a specific group of people who relevant to the problem the most, and also we can help with. After indicating the pain points and needs of the targeted user group, we will need to develop a design solution base on this problem.

Bilibili is the leading video-streaming platform in China. It was originally a mobile game firm in 2014, then merged a strategic transformation to "Videoliazation" in early 2019. The company has entered Stock Exchange in Hong Kong in March 2021. After "Videolization",

Bilibili wants to shift the percentage of net profits to another revenue source, which relied on the healthy growth of the Content Community in B Station. The big data is collected from its community to achieve commercialization and traffic monetizing, powered by user-generated content, especially professional content. The core logic of Station B is elementary. It is to develop more diverse and larger-scale monetization models based on the rapidly increasing number of highly sticky users.

The Problem

At Bilibili content creators are also known as “Up Zhu (up主)”

The low retention rate results in a limited number of Professional User Generated Content creators(PUGC) , which is negatively impacting Bilibili's financial performance and overall content ecosystem.

While the platform boasts an impressive number of monthly active users (202 million) and content creators (1.9 million), only a small fraction of these creators are considered "professional." In fact, less than 25.7% of all content creators contribute Professional User Generated Content (PUGC), which is vital for accumulating and improving user retention rates, as well as achieving commercialized traffic monetization.

This issue is further compounded by the fact that a majority of first-time content creators on the platform (74.3%) only upload one video before ceasing content creation. This highlights the low retention rate of potentially high-quality content creators. With the platform's transformation from a purely mobile gaming firm to a video content-oriented platform, Bilibili's strategic shift is still in its infancy, and the company struggles to satisfy the needs of its content creator community, specifically the "Up zhu," or professional content creators.

The lack of professional content creators hinders Bilibili's strategic growth and impacts its content ecosystem. Limited high-quality content affects user engagement and traffic, leading to long-term consequences. The company's strategies have caused slow growth in content creators, with a 102% net loss increase in Q4 2020 compared to the previous year. Addressing the low retention rate and supporting a vibrant PUGC community is vital for Bilibili's success and sustainability in the digital landscape.

As Bilibili has already built up a strong brand image in China that people are aware this is one of the best platforms to make original videos and quite convenient for everyone to join. Therefore the focus in the report is the retention for uploaders: How might we help them to keep creating higher quality contents and stay in this community?

Key Findings

Uploaders with over 50k fans command the majority of online traffic, and Bilibili's campaigns mainly cater to beginners or new uploaders. As a result, these two groups enjoy all the benefits, leaving those in the middle without any advantages.

Target User

The uploaders who are Facing a “Frozen Period” in both fan and traffic growth.

Mini & Semi uploaders (who have fans in 1k-50k) who are:

  • Demotivated Lack of free time to create contents or managing fan community

  • High learning cost

  • Unfair level of exposure

  • Invest a lot, receive a little

User Growth Strategies used by Bilibili

  • Bilibili implemented a strategy to provide more opportunities for high-quality content creators and accelerate commercialization. The Content Creating Stimulation Program, which began in 2018, was designed as a long-term system to reward content creators for producing high-quality content. Participants could earn income through original video creation if they met certain conditions, such as having 1,000 fans or 100,000 cumulative views.

    The strategy was initially effective in boosting enthusiasm for creating diverse, original content. It was particularly appealing to new content creators, such as students. Bilibili creatively delivered the message through a special letter addressed to "Up zhu," fostering a sense of community and sincerity. However, the strategy faced challenges over time, including a low retention rate and issues with quality control.

    Some creators ended their contracts as their content's popularity plateaued or stopped growing. Others exploited the system by using eye-catching topics to gain views and traffic, which was unfair to those who put in genuine effort. The program's effectiveness diminished as users lost trust and enthusiasm in Bilibili.

    To address these issues, Bilibili needs to focus on long-term value to maintain user loyalty and consider transitioning users to more suitable programs for their development.

  • Bilibili's strategy aims to encourage new and inexperienced users to take the first step in becoming more professional content creators. The platform provides guidance on using various functions, video shooting techniques, and creative tutorials through an official channel called the Creation Centre. Launched in 2019, this website channel offers free courses and customized tutorials for users, most of whom belong to Generation Z and have no experience in producing professional videos.

    The Creation Centre has several advantages, such as offering convenient access to resources and serving as a source of inspiration for content creation. However, it also has its drawbacks, including a lack of targeted resources for specific user groups, difficulty in finding suitable materials, and the absence of direct support in making high-quality videos.

    While the Creation Centre helps increase daily interaction and cooperation between the platform and customers, its overall appeal and ability to stimulate users remain limited. Most users primarily use TikTok for entertainment and may not be willing to invest time in the provided content. Although the Creation Centre is essential for providing basic guidance, its impact on encouraging professional content creation is limited.

  • Bilibili's strategy involves organizing short-term campaigns, such as the "Graduation Season Wish List" activity, aimed at motivating young people and new users to create quality content. These campaigns are conducted on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis and offer various rewards such as cash prizes, internship opportunities, traffic support, and online exposure.

    The campaign has several advantages, including catering to the needs of different user groups with its diverse rewards and creating a low-pressure environment for new users to participate. It also serves as a platform for students to learn from and be inspired by each other's experiences.

    However, the campaign also has drawbacks, such as attracting a large number of professional content creators (PUGC users) who may discourage new users and young students from participating due to the heightened competition. Furthermore, full-time students may struggle to stand out in these campaigns, as they are often busy and lack experience in producing professional work. Overall, the strategy offers an engaging platform for users but may need adjustments to better cater to new and inexperienced content creators.

After compiling over 60 problems and opinions from our research, we categorized them into key issues that guided the direction of our design. We then brainstormed around 10 initial solution ideas aimed at motivating uploaders in three areas: attraction, stimulation, and support. These ideas were generated using "How Might We" questions to address the low retention rate, low productivity, and "frozen period" challenges that many users face:

  1. How might we attract a broader target market and boost their motivation through events or campaigns?

  2. How might we help uploaders increase their productivity?

  3. How might we provide personalized services for individuals to stimulate and support users in creating professional content?

  4. How might we ensure good quality control in users' content to maintain fair competition?

By addressing these questions, we hope to develop effective solutions to support content creators in overcoming their challenges and achieving success on the platform.

Primary Research Finding

To better understand the needs of our target user group and help them produce high-quality videos, we utilized an affinity diagram to organize and analyze the data collected from interviews, online ethnography, and secondary sources. The research helped us identify patterns in user experiences and pain points, revealing that a significant number of content creators face a "frozen period" in terms of fan base and content traffic growth.

Personas

To better understand the pain points affecting content creators' productivity and quality, we developed two personas based on interview results and online ethnography feedback. These personas represent a low productivity PUGC user and an ordinary UGC user. Using these personas, we created two storyboards to identify their motivations, goals, needs, and concerns. By placing the storyboards in a priority matrix, we selected the most suitable initial concept, which guided the development of our final strategy through iteration and problem reframing.

Initial Conceptualisation via Priority Matrix

  • Mentorship

    Experienced uploaders through one-on-one teaching to guide novices and help them upgrade. Experienced uploaders can also be rewarded for successfully helping newcomers level up.

    Cons:

    - Diversion of traffic

    - High time cost

  • Secretary to the uploaders

    Individuals provides different advantages, for example, some people provide good ideas, and others are willing to spend a lot of time making videos. Concentrate their respective strengths in a team to complete the project together.

    Cons:

    - Need to design a new app/ a new communication channels - high cost

    - Barriers to communication and cooperation between strangers

  • Reimbursement campaign

    Set goals for oneself (vote once a week), and list the budget for making videos. After the submission day, the popular rankings will be published on the homepage uniformly. The higher the rankings, the more successful budget rebates + bonuses.

  • Priority Metric

    Mentorship campaign may cause problems with traffic streaming to novices, and experienced uploaders need to spend time leading newcomers. The Secretary Campaign needs to set up a separate app or communication channel. Moreover, communication and cooperation between strangers may encounter great obstacles. Therefore, mentorship and Secretary Campaign are difficult to implement because they are too expensive and difficult to implement compared to the Reimbursement Campaign.

Idea Iteration

  • 1st Iteration

    Our team used the note-making process to refine our initial concept, focusing on key questions to create a logical structure. This helped us address essential campaign elements and examine user motivations, leading to a significantly improved design strategy.

  • 2nd Iteration

    Based on the Mind Mapping, we created our first workflow, taking into account achievability and inspiration. We carefully selected campaign channels by considering popularity and uploader investment in various categories. Additionally, we designed a thorough system for reimbursement, requiring official documents as proof of expenses, ensuring a fair and transparent process for uploaders.

  • 3rd Iteration

    The overall workflow is clear to show key tasks how a user goes through the process.

    There is a section missing before signing up - select the most appropriate time frame and the number of contented one is willing to make.

  • Wireflow Diagram

    The wire flow shows a basic connection between the key interfaces, and the low-fidelity interfaces indicate some important elements that the design requires. We have used a design critique method to get valuable feedback and allocate areas that need improvements for further iteration to ensure the design solve the user's pain points and achieve the goal of design.

Finalising Iterations

Provide reimbursements - Set goals for oneself (vote once a week), and list the budget for making videos. After the submission day, the popular rankings will be published on the homepage uniformly. The higher the rankings, the more successful budget rebates + bonuses.

Campaign

Targeted Users

User Workflow

We had a range of ideas in how to name our campaign, the final decision was made while we are doing a semi-structured interview with one of our guest uploader who came up with a word: incubator.

Once we came up with the name of the campaign, we developed a logo with the theme colour.

This user workflow is a complete system that shows how the user gets noticed by a notification or discovers the campaign by oneself, then begin to explore, sign up to join or eventually get influenced by this event. Texts in black in the boxes are actions a user can take. The yellow boxes are the decision-made actions that the user, including the thinking process. Pink boxes are the key interfaces that will interact with the user on the screen. Orange boxes are other design assets - poster and banner design.

Campaign development : Uploader Incubating Plan

"When to hold the campaign and how long should Bilibili hold? "

Bilibili has various channels, but uploaders typically focus on one or a few categories. For the first campaign, Bilibili can select popular categories with lower content creation costs. This enables quicker feedback and reduces expenses. We chose Life, Entertainment, and Animation channels due to their high popularity and low budget requirements for content creation.

The logo plays a metaphor that we hope semi/mini uploader grow bigger and break out of the shell, which means go beyond the limitation. Additionally, it conveys an idea of "hatching"

Design Solution

Uploaders have 1k-50k fans

Design Assets

Promotion: Poster, app/website banner

Online sign-up platform: Application/Website

Channels

Bilibili's Website & Application 

Uploader Incubating Plan in Action

Promotion: Notifications

Users are notified on :

1. Creation Centre

2. Promotion from Banners

3. Built in Function in Application

Incubating Plan: Key Interfaces

The Resulting Campaign :

  1. Reconnects or connects to build stronger bonds and trust

  2. Create more empathy with all users by understanding more about uploaders

  3. Empower uploaders in multiple ways

Disconnected & New User Involvement - Bilibili reconnects the disconnected users back on track and attracts new users by using its own existing resources which is the fan community. Even there is a large number of people in the fan community who are low productivity and only use this platform for entertaining purposes, they would invest time and money into the future creative campaigns if the reimbursement is potentially reachable. The reimbursement meets the pain point of those disconnected users and new users, such as conducting an accessible campaign that to create more empathy with all users by understanding more about uploaders and everyone feels confident to participate in their own way and preferences. Only if the organization itself provides a platform to help users realise self-value, then the higher retention rate happens.