I was thinking that current trends (Tiktok) seem to be leaning more towards viewers browsing (scrolling) for content rather than searching or drilling down into categories. So I’m wondering if we would improve discoverability, simplify navigation, eliminate the need to ask streamers to set the category of their stream correctly, etc. if we simply remove categories altogether from the site.
Streamers would still be able to designate a sub-category (game/activity) and use tags to help describe their content but would no longer have to worry about whether they should be in the “Tech” category or the “IRL” category for instance. This would also eliminate the browse pages for the categories and, instead, put all the streams in an infinite scroll on the homepage under the six spotlighted streams or current event.
Here’s a more visual example of what I’m driving at:
As noted, all the badges we stick on the stream panels (language, mature, sub-category, tags, etc.) would become click-able and would serve to filter the visible streams under the six spotlighted streams (the filter would not affect the spotlighted streams). The filters selected would then appear at the top of the page with an “X” to remove them as shown here:
The search bar would work as you’d expect but would also popup suggestions underneath it as you type. If only one result is returned, it will take you immediately to that streamer’s stream page or profile page (if you searched for someone who isn’t live or doesn’t have a channel).
Note: I forgot to add the “three dots” menu in my mockup, it would still be there.
So what do you folks think? Am I onto something or just being a goofball?
I’d love to hear your feedback!
Puts every streamer on the same page (literally) and provides equal discoverability. I always felt the other categories weren’t as popular as Gaming, which inadvertently puts Art; Music; Tech; IRL and Education at a bit of a disadvantage.
I’d be interested in seeing some data/analysis to back this up though.
I must admit there have been occasions where I’ve went to Glimesh with the intention of watching Gaming streams, and stumbled into Art purely by accident. Found myself interested in something I wasn’t even looking for - maybe that’s just me .
Given how often most of the categories make the site feel really empty I think this would be a surprisingly effective solution. Also big bonus I imagine would be that we no longer have to deal with our common tags getting wiped every single time we dare to switch categories.
Would love to see you have a crack at it! Could very well be one of those less is more cases and personally that satisfies my minimalist tendencies of late
I that that the idea of categories is a good one. Maybe we just make the homepage infinitely scrollable browse page of all streams IN ADDITION to having category pages? I feel like getting rid of categories is a step backwards. It was our community who pushed for subcategories - not because categories were a bad idea, they just didn’t go far enough. There are still many in the community who would like to see streams grouped not just by category, but by subcategory as well. For many, clicking and scrolling is their preferred way to browse, rather than search by tags for exactly what they want.
I also think that if we did remove categories, streamers would feel the need to burn up one of their precious tags to specify a category, if they were doing anything but gaming (as a twitch alternative we are still perceived as primarily a gaming site)
I would argue the opposite actually. I think that when we do get tech streamers or art streamers, that it helps sets them apart from the rest so they don’t get buried in all the other gaming streams. It always boggles my mind when I see non-gaming streamers use the gaming category because that is where all the other streamers are - if viewers want art streams, the gaming category will not be the first place they look.
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