Warm Design

The way you turn away visitors is just as important to your site’s UX.

Most of us have encountered an error message at least once when attempting to view a Youtube video.
For reasons unknown, the video we’re trying to watch can’t be played in our country. (Perhaps a Prime Minister didn’t Like a President’s Facebook post?)

Youtube’s half-smiling tv and accompanying apology do little to alleviate our annoyance.
For one thing, a half-smile feels only half-sorry, and secondly, where’s my video?! Why are there no links to other sources, no explanations?

Of course, the real reason behind these dreaded screens has to do with licensing issues. Unless your UX team also dabbles in international broadcast agreements, there’s nothing they can do about them. However, designers can still soften the blow for viewers who must be turned away.

Would-be users who can’t access your content are still part of your site’s UX.

Some sites are better at this than others. For starters, here’s a screen shot of what Canadian viewers see when trying to watch a video from Yahoo.com:

I appreciate the fact that they give more of an explanation than Youtube. (And by placing the blame on networks, it does make it seem like their hands are tied. Their apology feels more sincere). However, I disagree with their design choice of only slightly darkening the video content for blocked users. Note that the first frame of the video is tantalizingly visible. Depending on your browser speed, the video appears to load while your IP address is sent to the server, and then suddenly: no dice! The video you thought you were watching is but an illusion.

I prefer the format that Hulu employs: the entire video is clearly blacked out as the page loads. There’s no momentary hope that you’re about to consume your tenth first video clip on Caitlin Jenner.

Even better, some sites have created country-specific consolation messages. When Canadians try to watch The Daily Show on Comedy Central’s site, they’re rebuffed with humor and a touch of flattery.

Comedy Central has individual messages for other countries as well, like this gem for Australian visitors:

Now, while this may seem like a tiny design detail, it actually goes a long way toward placating potential viewers. More importantly, they’ve included information on how to watch the video through the approved broadcast channels.

Comedy Central nails UX for its blocked users in the following ways:

• They use humor to mitigate the frustration of inaccessible content.

• They understand that users will feel like outsiders. By tailoring messages to specific countries, users don’t feel quite so overlooked.

• They provide alternate links to access the content.

While you can’t change the fact that users can’t access certain content, you can still lessen their frustration with a bit of humor. And individualized messages convey thoughtful design—from the user’s end, they don’t feel so completely excluded.