Well, I've just scrolled back to the top after writing this and god damn. I knew that I often go way too in depth and over the top on details but I've surprised myself this time. If anybody actually reads this, you deserve a medal.
I'm a UI/UX designer myself and although I think SLR is probably the best designed VR porn website/app, I have a few thoughts on the user experience and how it could be even better. I came to create a thread about some of my suggestions but then seen this thread, so here we go. Also, I've not had chance to use the SLR app outside of DeoVR but I heard that it's pretty much the same?
Q: If you don't use SLR app / DeoVR to watch - what do you use and why is it better?
A: I use DeoVR when watching SLR content but I prefer Skybox for local content.
Q: What do you like in the current app? What don't you like?
A: I like that the current app has a clean UI and generally well designed, issues are more UX related.
Q: What's your other favourite app in VR?
A: Beatsaber if we're talking about any app.
Thoughts and suggestions:
Video Filters (Resolution, FOV etc.):
I think the current implementation is a bit clunky and the toggles on the left could be improved. 'Show JAV' includes JAV in current results, but 5/6K excludes resolutions below (It seems). Options within the same part of the interface, that do different or even slightly different things, is a bit awkward.
I do like that you made the choice to include JAV and Softcore in these filters, as I think that they are more universal type categories that people probably have a strong preference on. The label for the JAV filter is a little wordy though and I think a more universal filter such as "Censored" would be better, especially for anybody who's not familiar with the term JAV or the fact Japanese porn is usually censored.
The filters often reset back to their default options. I'm not sure if this is by design but It would be good to have these options persist. This may be just my personal preference though, not sure how much this bothers others.
Overall, I think filters could be made more consistent, but still easy to use, using 2 styles. Toggles that are ON by default and range sliders for multi-range options, such as Resolution and FOV, that default to the full range.
Something like this might be more user friendly:
• Resolution - Range slider with common resolution stops.
• FOV - Range slider with increments of 10, from the lowest FOV video on the platform, to 360. I know it's usually only 2 options, 180 or 360, but I've heard people with wider FOV headsets talk about how a lot of "180 FOV" videos are inconsistent and have worse immersion. Would be nice if an algorithm was used to auto detect the exact FOV of videos for use in this range slider. Could also help future-proof for when average headsets have higher FOV.
• FPS - Range slider from lowest video on the platform to the highest with increments of 10.
• Solo/Softcore - Toggle on
• Censored - Toggle on
• Voyeur - Toggle on. Makes more sense to turn voyeur off to hide voyeur videos, than to turn POV on.
• POV - Toggle on. Maybe not necessary as this is the generally expected type of content. If toggled off while voyeur is also off, automatically toggle voyeur on and vice versa.
• Seating Position - Not sure. Is this still relevant? Most videos I've seen have more than 1 position anyway.
Select Multiple Categories:
It would be nice to be able to select more than 1 category at the same time. Something similar to how Pornhub does it would be great. i.e. After selecting the first category, pornstar or studio, change the right-panel categories list to show numbers to indicate how many videos share those categories. Also display plus icons to combine your category choices. Then for example, you could show only doggystyle videos from x studio. You could maybe then rearranging the category list to have them ordered by the amount of videos share that combination.
At the moment, the way the currently selected category appears above the thumbnails is a little odd. The selected category appears as a button/bubble with a filter icon. Clicking/selecting the button removes the category. This is unexpected behaviour. The close icon appears quite far away, to the right. If there were more categories selected, assuming combining them was added, it would probably need re-designed.
Maybe have the selected category(s) closer together with the "X" icon to show that they're related. Then have the filter icon or word "Filters" on the left of the row, followed by each selected category in their own bubbles. If the selected filters row ever grows wider than what the space allows, have the filters become horizontally scrollable by dragging with a controller or using the joystick when hovered over the section. Ideally, keeping the clear or "X" icon in view. Hovering any of the selected filters could then replace the text with a cross to to indicate removing that individual category from the filter list.
e.g. Filters (or icon): (latina) (big boobs) (blowjob) 𝖷
If you've read this far, here's a cookie: 🍪
New/Returning Studio Notifications:
I'd like to see something to indicate when a new studio has joined the platform, or returned after having left. I've noticed that sometimes a studio will join or return but I won't know unless I see a thumbnail and realise that I'm not used to seeing them. They could have a catalogue of clips that don't appear in 'New' because they technically aren't new releases, but people might want to see what content they have.
If this was a regular multiple-studio/creator porn porn website, like Pornhub, XVideos etc. it wouldn't be an issue, because there's no point in trying to keep up with the content, since there's so much of it. Since VR has a slower trickle of videos from less sources, it's pretty easy for a user to have a browsed and at least seen the thumbnail of most of the content they might be interested in on SLR, providing they've been using the app for a while.
For example, I've sometimes noticed a new studio is on SLR and then flick through their thumbnails to see if there's anything I can add to my favourites or collections.
In the same way that there's a separate pornstars section in the left-side column, it would good to have a studios page too, with a list of studio logos and names. Maybe even add a brief description of their content or have their 3 most used categories displayed, which could link to the thumbnails page with that studio and category filters selected.
Ideally there would be the option to sort the studios as well. Date Joined (or returned date), Popularity, and Number of Videos could work well for sorting options.
A little visual element, like a coloured tag with the word 'New' could be used to indicate which studios have been added since the user last checked the page. Or simply use some logic to display the tag, like only displaying it if they joined within X number of days.
The studios page link would ideally have a visual element added to indicate new studios too. Maybe place a coloured "New Studios" or simply "New" tag to the right of the page link.
Favourites Notifications:
I know a lot of people, including myself, don't really want porn notifications going to their email inbox. An alternative could be to add an indicator of new content from their favourite categories, pornstars and studios by sorting the right-side categories panel with liked categories that have new content placed at the top. Also adding a "New" tag to make it more obvious. Maybe then remove the 'new' tag after that favourite has been viewed or after a set amount of time.
Adding a visual element to the category icon (the icons at the top of the panel) would help indicate when there's new content too, since only 1 section is seen at a time.
Ideally, these notifications could be enabled/disabled within the app. For example, when viewing a single category, pornstar or studio, the app could detect if it's "Liked" and if so, display a notifications toggle.
Paid Videos and Trailers:
I'm not sure when it was changed, but for some time, there's been no option to view paid videos on the app and the website. I noticed that if you click on the "Hub" button when viewing a video on the website, it still has options like "Paid Videos" and "Sale".
Do these options simply show premium videos that can be paid for by non-premium users, or does it include non-premium videos too?
I bring it up because I noticed that there's still videos on the website (if you know how to find them) that aren't premium and have an option to buy. There's also videos that aren't premium and have no option to buy. I noticed that these videos can still be added to collections through the website, then they become viewable on the app, even if it's just a trailer.
I'm not sure why there would be no option with the website or app UI to display these videos, if they have an option to buy. I can't talk for the videos with no buying option, maybe that's a copyright thing?
It would be nice to have the ability to toggle paid videos to show in the app or even just the website. Users might want to buy them, or even just simply to give the trailer a watch. I personally would like to be able to see the trailers of videos that can't be paid for too, but I understand why SLR might not want to promote those.
General Tweaks:
• Increase the maximum UI distance. Feels a little too close sometimes.
• Auto-detect viewing angle on opening app. Using SLR laid down means I always have to adjust it.
• In player, show pornstars and studio links. Having to click the info tab every time is cumbersome.
• Option to view more than 12 thumbnails per page, maybe? Browsing 12 at a time is pretty slow.
• Is comment count on thumbnails necessary in-app, if it can't be clicked? Maybe just have it in the info tab in the player and then make the heart icon a little bigger so that it's easier to select.
• Category filters and sorting options in Liked videos and collections. When in one of these sections, it would be nice to have the category panel on the left become usable for filtering. Similar to the multi-category filtering I described earlier. Maybe having "Liked" or "Collection Name" count as the first category selected, then combining that filter with other categories. Ideally only show categories that are relevant to that collection.
Local VR Videos:
Viewing local VR video files in SLR/DeoVR is too compact for my liking. A more minimal UI and larger thumbnails would go a long way in helping me ditch Skybox.
I think I remember the auto generated thumbnails in SLR/DeoVR showing both left and right images. Skybox on the other hand generates a thumbnail that doesn't have the split down the middle. This makes scanning the files to find what you want to watch much easier.
In addition, it would be great if in the player, when viewing local videos, there was a button to set the current view as the thumbnail for the file. Similar to the screenshot button, but instead, creates a small 2D image of what's currently on screen and sets the thumbnail. This would make browsing files a LOT easier, as generated thumbnails often capture an unrecognisable part of the video or even an intro screen.
Other than those slight adjustments, it's perfect 👀
In all honesty though, the app is great and nicely designed. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody read through all of that so my chances of seeing any of these changes are probably slim to none, but here's hoping 😅
If you actually read all of that, here's your medal: 🎖
This concludes my seminar.
