Instagram Is Experimenting With A New User Experience For IGTV
At the beginning of the month, Instagram rolled out a new feature to show previews of IGTV videos in the main feed. While the rollout was met with mixed reviews, it showed that the photo/video sharing app is at least making an effort to try to improve the vertical video platform for both, content creators and consumers. And, it seems to be continuing that effort as it has recently started to experiment with a new user experience that includes a redesigned profile layout, a search function for channels, and suggested channels.
Redesigned Profile Layout:
The redesigned profile layout for IGTV is very similar to the current profile layout for naive Instagram users. The profile is located at the top of the screen and is made up of the user’s photo, handle, number of followers, bio, and a link to their Instagram account. Additionally, their IGTV content can be found underneath the profile with the number of views appearing on each of the videos.
Compared to the current profile layout, this profile layout provides a lot more information, which is helpful especially if you’re coming across that user for the first time.
Channel Search Function & Suggested For You:
Now, when you tap an IGTV video and open it up from the Explore tab, there is a search icon at the top right of the screen. Tapping the search icon will generate a search box, where you can search for IGTV channels, which is basically any Instagram account that has posted a video to IGTV. Users that haven’t posted anything to IGTV won’t appear in the search. There is also a Suggested For You list under the search box, which features a list of recommended IGTV channels for you.
The new search function is a nice addition, but it’s very limited as you can only search for channels and not topics, making discoverability still one of the biggest issues for IGTV.
If Instagram does decide to roll out this new user experience for IGTV, it certainly will be an upgrade but there is a lot more that it needs to do to make IGTV better.
