Design of video players for branched videos

Sammanfattning: Interactive branched video allows users to make viewing decisions while watching, that affect the playback path of the video and potentially the outcome of the story. This type of video introduces new challenges in terms of design, for example displaying the playback progress, the structure of the branched video as well as the choices that the viewers can make. In this thesis we test three implementations of working video players with different types of playback bars: one fully viewed with no moving parts, one that zooms into the currently watched section of the video, and one that leverages a fisheye distortion. A number of usability tests are carried out using surveys complemented with observations made during the tests. Based on these user tests we concluded that the implementation with a zoomed in playback bar was the easiest to understand and that fisheye effect received mixed results, ranging from distracting and annoying to interesting and clear. With this feedback a new set of implementations was created and solutions for each component of the video player were identified. These new implementations support more general solutions for the shape of the branch segments and the position and location of the choices for upcoming branches. The new implementations have not gone through any testing, but we expect that future work can further explore this subject with the help of our code and suggestions.