Delete a video
3
taps · 4 screens
2
taps · 1 screen (swipe)
All case studies
Personal Project · Mobile UX
YouTube: Redesigning the Download Feature.
I commute an hour each way and rely on YouTube's offline downloads to get through it. Videos vanishing on their own and deleting them one at a time kept bothering me enough that I turned it into a full case study: interviews, a redesigned deletion flow, a faster way to reorder.
- Role
- UX/UI Designer
- Type
- Independent case study
- Platform
- YouTube downloads
- Timeline
- 2023
Reorder the queue
10
taps · 11 screens
4
taps · 3 screens
Step counts mapped directly from the existing flow against the redesigned one, not estimates.
Context
Not a client brief. A daily annoyance, researched properly.
This is an independent case study on a feature I use almost daily. I interviewed and surveyed other commuters who download YouTube videos for offline viewing, then designed and prototyped a fix in Figma.
The problem
Downloads that vanish, and a queue that fights back.
What kept happening
Downloaded videos couldn't be saved to local device storage, and disappeared on their own if left unwatched too long. On a route with patchy signal, losing a video I'd deliberately downloaded defeated the point of downloading it.
What made it worse
Deleting was one video at a time, no batch option. Resolution couldn't be changed after downloading. Reordering a queue of a few videos took 10 taps across 11 screens, more effort than just rewatching whatever was already first in line.
Process
From one commuter's complaint to a shared problem.
- 1
Checking it wasn't just me
Before designing anything, I ran interviews and a survey with other people who download YouTube videos for offline viewing. The same five complaints came up independently. This wasn't one commuter's pet peeve.
- 2
Mapping the real cost in steps
Traced the existing flows screen by screen instead of going on feel: deleting a video took 3 taps across 4 screens, reordering took 10 taps across 11. That gap between what it should take and what it actually took became the design target.
- 3
Designing around Haikal
Built the redesign around Haikal, a 27-year-old commuter persona pulled from the interviews: an hour each way, tutorial and gaming content, wants videos ready to go without fighting the app to manage them.
Persona, from the interviews
Haikal, 27
Every design decision was checked against one question: does this save Haikal a tap on a crowded train?
- Commutes an hour each way
- Watches tutorial and gaming content
- Wants videos ready, without managing them
The solution
Swipe to delete, drag to reorder.
Two ways to delete, depending on the situation: swipe a single video away in place, or switch to multi-select to clear several at once instead of repeating the same flow one video at a time. Reordering became drag-and-drop directly in the list, instead of routing through a separate screen for every move. The tap counts at the top of this page are the result.
Outcome
A proposal, with the numbers behind it.
This was a proposal, not a shipped feature. YouTube doesn't take outside redesigns, and I don't have adoption numbers to report. What it did do: turn a recurring commute annoyance into a fully scoped problem with real numbers behind it, and confirm through other commuters that the friction wasn't just in my head.
Reflection
Not every case study starts with a client brief. This one started with being annoyed on the same train ride for months. Checking my own friction against other people, instead of assuming they felt it too, is what turned a complaint into something worth showing.