VIDEO ON FACEBOOK.COM

THE PROBLEM

It was 2018 and Facebook had not undergone a full design refresh in almost a decade. Video was the emergent growth space in the market and there was a lot of open questions around how Facebook fit into that landscape.

My task was to find out both how Facebook fit into the video market and also how the web played either a supporting or diverging role from mobile.

THE PLAN

Alignment

There were multiple stake holders to align with between the central design system team, the watch team, and the ads team. Trying to get a simultaneous sign off would have delayed our launch.

I was able to establish a timeline for alignment with each team which allowed space for exploration and validation before taking on the next requirement.

Divergence

The path up to this point had simply been to copy and paste features from mobile as close as possible within the old architecture.

My plan was to experiment with new feed patterns that are adapted better to web usage and also explore a unified immersive experience for all our different types of video (interactive, live, and video on demand).

Secret Third Thing

While the redesign effort was underway, Facebook invested into hosting premium content, as well as making their own, much like how apple tv aggregates content.

This meant I was responsible for designing the architecture for supporting this content library and this time it was a web first consideration.

THE PROGRESS

Early explorations really leaned into a more immersive single column layout as I was chasing the look and feel of video first experiences like Netflix and Hulu.

As things progressed the UI landed on a more flexible 2 column system to maintain consistency across the other parts of Facebook.

THE PRODUCT

Early explorations really leaned into a more immersive single column layout as I was chasing the look and feel of video first experiences like Netflix and Hulu.

As things progressed the UI landed on a more flexible 2 column system to maintain consistency across the other parts of Facebook.

THE POST LAUNCH

Early explorations really leaned into a more immersive single column layout as I was chasing the look and feel of video first experiences like Netflix and Hulu.

As things progressed the UI landed on a more flexible 2 column system to maintain consistency across the other parts of Facebook.

2026 ELKE DIANE GENTILE

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