Project Overview
The National Television Council of Chile (CNTV) commissioned a comprehensive UX audit of cntvinfantil.cl, a publicly funded children's educational platform hosting Chilean-produced video content, games, and downloadable educational materials. The platform had 1.8 million total users since launch, but was failing its core mission: getting children to watch educational content.
Our team deployed 7 evaluation techniques combining user perception data with expert technical analysis, producing a two-dimensional quality model based on Kuniavsky (2003) that established clear baselines and actionable recommendations.
The Challenge
Despite significant traffic growth during COVID-19 (~60% increase), the platform suffered from critical engagement issues:
- 94% abandonment rate after watching a single video — users who arrived at a video page overwhelmingly left after watching
- 67.21% bounce rate — two-thirds of visitors left after viewing only one page
- Only 2:57 average session duration — too short given the volume and length of available content
- 86.3% new visitors vs 13.7% returning — poor retention indicating users didn't come back
- Broken search functionality that didn't concatenate terms
- Key content invisible on mobile — the downloadable materials category was missing from the mobile menu
Methodology — Two-Dimensional Quality Model
We used a rigorous framework combining two quality dimensions:
Perceived Quality (Users)
- Usability Testing: Task-based testing with think-aloud protocol across 12 participants (4 adults + 8 children) spanning 5 user personas, on desktop, mobile, and tablet
- Perception Testing: SEQ (Single Ease Question) and SUPR-Q questionnaires
- Heatmap Analysis: Hotjar behavioral data from ~15,000 sessions
Technical Quality (Experts)
- Heuristic Evaluation: Custom 40-criteria checklist based on Nielsen, Norman, and Hassan principles
- Cognitive Walkthrough: Expert task completion analysis
- Content Audit: Using Brad Frost's Atomic Design framework across all page templates
- Metrics Analysis: Google Analytics data review (286,205 users / 386,169 sessions in 2022)
Key Findings
Usability Testing Results
Task completion rates varied dramatically across 10 key tasks:
- Critical failure: Finding downloadable materials — only 33.33% success rate with the longest average time (5:15)
- Critical failure: Watching a specific series — only 33.33% success rate
- Easy tasks: Liking a video (100%), playing avatar game (100%), finding specific series (100%)
Perception vs. Reality Disconnect
Users rated tasks as "easy" (SEQ average: 6.2/7) even when they failed — suggesting they blamed themselves rather than the interface. SUPR-Q average was 4.57/5.
Behavioral Analytics
- Most-clicked element was the "No Gracias" notification popup (6,900 sessions) — an intrusive notification disrupting the experience
- Section titles were confused with interactive buttons (false affordance)
- When users chose a series first, abandonment dropped from 94% to 50%
Content Architecture Issues
The content audit revealed 26+ findings including: no design system, inconsistent UI components, mobile-desktop content disparity, and redundant navigation (Blog/Parents/Downloadable Materials all pointed to the same blog).
Deliverables
The audit produced 8 formal reports plus a final executive presentation:
- Heuristic Evaluation (40 criteria scored)
- Heatmap Analysis (~15,000 sessions)
- Usability Testing Report
- Perception Test Report (SEQ + SUPR-Q)
- Content Audit (Atomic Design analysis)
- Metrics Analysis (Google Analytics)
- Final Audit Report with synthesis and recommendations
- Cognitive Walkthrough Report
Key Recommendations
- Replace carousels with vertical scrolling (Netflix/Prime Video pattern) to improve content discovery
- Implement end-of-video recommendations with autoplay countdown to reduce the 94% abandonment rate
- Fix the search engine to support multi-word queries and add suggestions
- Add video player controls — forward/back 10s, next episode, Picture-in-Picture on mobile
- Create a Design System based on Atomic Design principles
- Ensure mobile-desktop content parity
Impact
The audit delivered a comprehensive set of actionable, prioritized recommendations with clear baselines for tracking improvements:
- SEQ Score: 6.2/7 (user-perceived ease baseline)
- SUPR-Q Score: 4.57/5 (overall user experience baseline)
- Task success rates ranging from 33% to 100% across 10 key tasks
- 94% single-video abandonment identified as the primary metric to address
The findings gave CNTV a data-driven roadmap to transform the platform from a "browse and leave" model into a "watch and stay" experience, adapted from streaming service patterns for a children's educational context.
