Sneak Peak at Experimental “VideoBox Flow Mode”
Hi I’m Josh, one of the founders on VideoBox.
Last month, we released the beta version of VB3, and we received some feedback saying it was “cumbersome to navigate”, “complicated, all over the place”, and “requires too many clicks to do anything”.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this problem of complexity, about how every feature we add makes the entire site a little more cluttered. And so I’ve taken a stab at creating an interface that’s as simple as possible and optimizes for one thing: a fun, immersive porn experience.
I’d love for you guys to check it out and let me know what you think. Keep in mind:
- It’s a streaming only experience – no downloading.
- It requires a high-bandwidth connection, preferably a cable modem.
Try VideoBox Flow Mode
As next steps, I intend to allow content filtering by category and star names, as well as display information about the videos you click.
Do you guys have any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Josh
February 12th, 2011 at 1:37 am
Love it! Revolutionary, fun, and a great way to immerse oneself into a wide range of the available content in a short space of time. My only suggestion is one you’ve already mentioned, regarding identifying the particulars of the chosen scene. Possibly this can be displayed when the member hovers his / her mouse over the scene thumbnail (before actually clicking the thumbnail). Either way, that info will allow the membership to delve further into the work of a performer or series they find captivating.
February 12th, 2011 at 2:00 am
I love it, you mentioned all the things i would have said needed adding. I would just add that, it might be cool, if when you roll your mouse over a video it kinda like enlarges and you hear audio from it, at that moment it can continue its motion from right to left until you decide to click to make it stay. Also it might be cool to have forward and backward arrows to be able to go back to a particular video u might have let pass you in the time line or totally skip a screen if nothings interesting to you at that moment.
February 12th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Love it! Wouldn’t want it to be the only mode, sometimes I want more control than that, but it’s an awesome addition. I’d also like to see the ability to do content filtering by my saved playlists (i.e, have a flow of just my “saved scenes” or something similar).
February 12th, 2011 at 10:14 am
Thanks for your feedback!
Denzel: I like your idea of enlarging the video and playing audio when you hover over it. But that would be difficult technically. I have to compress those small videos pretty hard to get so many on the screen. Even just adding audio would double their size. I might be able to load a new video when you hover, but I’m not sure how well that would work.
Bob: we could definitely let you put all your favorites in “flow mode”. That would be cool.
Overall, I want to keep this mode really simple to maximize flow. By flow, I mean the mental state described by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi as “fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus”. The motivation behind my player is to remove features so that all you can do is click on things you like and click again to dismiss them. Even a simple feature like allowing you to pan the screen left and right adds a whole new mental loop of “Was there better stuff earlier? Should I go back now or keep looking?” I want to remove these mental loops so you just stay in the porn and have fun.
February 12th, 2011 at 11:07 am
Awesome! It is so different than the way I typically want to use the site, yet it just feels “right” somehow. Instead of browsing through scenes, trying to make a decision of what to watch, it just puts it right up there: Does this look good to you? Better click now before it scrolls off the screen!
The lack of information makes sense for the concept, but I have mixed feelings – I want to know who/what I’m watching so I can go back for more later, but even thinking about that would take me out of the “that was cool, what’s next?” flow. A compromise might be to have a button to add what you are watching to a stash list, for later review.
February 12th, 2011 at 11:31 am
Strangepork: when you click a video, I can write information below the app, stuff like the name of the video, who it stars, links to download and add to stash, etc. Is that what you were thinking?
February 12th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Wow! I love it! I would keep it simple – adding 1. filtering capability and 2. (Rope’s suggestion) the ability to identify scene details while hovering the mouse. It would also be great if you could watch “clips” this way too! (Either your own or from the clip library or a favorite fan). Finally, I would like to play this on my desktop’s wallpaper!
February 12th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
I am fan already. I agree with everything Butt Watchers says. I should also add, while I currently do not use the streaming feature, I would DEFINITELY use this!
February 12th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
That was soooooooooo fun! My boyfriend and I are long distance right now and we fired it up, each grabbed whatever vid interested us and went nuts. OMG So yummy!
Thank you!!!!
February 12th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Thank you sir! You have taken the consumption of pornography to a new level. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to your app for scientific reasons.
February 12th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Awesome bro, love the layout and the quick loading. App is extremely fast when loading video, feels like LAN.
How do you get content, and how often is it updated?
Will be in my top 5 in no time!
February 12th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Thanks a bunch. Now I have ectoplasm all over me…
February 12th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
Well sir,
I have been surfing porn since the advent of the internet and may i just say that this is indeed a killer application! A “big tip o’ the hat” for a job very well done. Porn good, viewer better.
February 12th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
This is awesome. However, one feature I wish it had is a link to an original source for the content — an external site where I can either download or rip the stream of the videos that I like. As it is right now, I have no way of knowing who is in each scene that I’m looking at, or what original movie/collection it may be from — no way to find it outside of the flow. And though I’ve watched this stream pass by for quite some time, I can’t tell if it ever loops, and if I’ll ever be able to see any of this content more than once. At any rate, great work.
February 12th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
bob: totally agree, and I plan to do something like you describe.
February 12th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Very cool immersion experience. I occasionally lost track of a video when I tried to jump ahead.
February 13th, 2011 at 12:04 am
very cool, and x2 what bob said, the only problem I see is that you have no clue what these scenes/vids are or where they are from, something like a DVD title or something would be very helpful
February 13th, 2011 at 12:26 am
First initial thought; very cool! It seems to be moving just a little too fast. Yes, the new VB3 site does seem a little bit cluttered; too much flash for me. It doesn’t seem iphone or ipad friendly! Have you ever thought of making a ‘light FULL mobile site’. Has VB ever thought of making a mobile site with more features? It seems a little too stripped down. It lacks the ability to see new updates in DVD mode(dvd covers & scenes in the dvd). I believe it only allows you to see clips and scenes. I don’t really care what other members say. Also, I use VB more for the content not ’social networking experience’ (user comments/replies) Maybe move those to a forum or blog just for those users to interact? Just a thought.
February 13th, 2011 at 2:24 am
Loved it!
fantastic idea especially for us with low bandwidth. i don’t even have o stream it in order to check the scene out.
February 13th, 2011 at 2:39 am
I like it, but I view the website the most on the iPad. I don’t use the mobile version, except for occasionally on my iPhone, and got to say–I’m really missing ability to view some of these things because of the lack of flash. I think you can get some abilities in HTML5 and CSS3 but not sure…
It’d be my wish you’d support more of the iPad users to your website. I tend on downloading and viewing on the iPad (via AirShare app) but often find myself going to the website on the iPad too. The old site is fine, except for seeing the movies in the flash preview, but the flow is obviously flash.
Just my thoughts.
February 13th, 2011 at 3:04 am
VB Should focus on good content not all the bells and whistles bs. I haven’t viewed anything but bargin bin crap since VB3 came along, evilangel premium even sucks now. Can’t wait tell my subscription runs out.
February 13th, 2011 at 5:29 am
iPad compatibility: I second that. I am anxiously awaiting iPad 2, as I skipped version one. When I get the iPad, I expect that much of my VB viewing will take place on it.
February 13th, 2011 at 6:43 am
Quite awesome! And the fact that everyone’s imaginations are sparked with ideas for additional features is the best way to tell you have a great concept (they’re not criticisms, they’re enthusiasm).
This is how I want to browse YouTube. But porn is much better
February 13th, 2011 at 10:26 am
Thanks for your feedback.
I’d love to make an iPad version, but I don’t think there’s any way to embed playing videos in the browser on the iPad… so you could have scrolling static images linking to videos, but it’s not the same.
February 13th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Yea i love it. i think im gona be using it a lot from now on.. but maybe you should have options for anal flow.. dp flow.. scat flow.. beastiality flow.. jailbait flow.. fucking her with cum dripping from her dirty shitty ass flow… lol e.t.c
February 13th, 2011 at 10:45 am
I’d like to be able to control the scroll speed of the thumbnails. Too fast is bad, having to pause is wack. Cool idea though.
February 13th, 2011 at 10:45 am
that wasnt very clear i meant.. different video flow boxes for different porn genres
February 13th, 2011 at 11:46 am
easily the best thing ive seen. ive sent it to all my friends. i think you mention the few things i would like to see. the ability to maybe click on the video and get information about it, like where it is so i can send it to my other pervydudes. awesome though. just awesome.
February 13th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
looks great! a video category selection would be really cool
February 13th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Friggin Awesome. You are a god among men. Is it possible to add a dial or something to adjust the scroll rate? It’s a touch too fast. The videos don’t load until the last second, then I have to play the “quick! click it!” game, which is kind of exciting in itself.
February 14th, 2011 at 12:00 am
Awesome! Does the player adapt to what the person chooses? Maybe more suggestions of that specific type?
February 14th, 2011 at 4:26 am
I do like it, but I’d ask that you try out a different flow-orientation – vertically. Either up or down (likely down), rather than left-right. You’ll get more real estate, and more to the point, won’t drag the viewer’s eyes in what (to most English-speakers) is an unnatural direction.
Additionally, you could put an option for ‘clustering’ on, whereby instead of just one shot of a given movie, you’d get two, or four, from different points in it, so that you can get a better feel for what’s going on. There are times when as something scrolls by, all I see is shots of the guy, and frankly, that doesn’t tell me if something is worth watching. Better to have two shots of each movie, from, say, a few minutes apart, to get a better feel for things.
Otherwise, it’s definitely a neat tech demo, and could well be a great way to browse favorites especially – I’ve got so many favorites that remembering what is what is hard – but streaming my favorites by “It was Nov 2010, I think….” would be a great help.
February 14th, 2011 at 9:08 am
Skinny girls are well represented, could you add some biguns?
February 14th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Is there any way to slow the flow, drag it to and fro? You know, so I don’t go wacko?
February 14th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Love this, would love to see a gay version!
February 14th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Totally cool! My thoughts for improvements:
Slow the scroll down, or better yet, give the user the ability to change the rate of the scroll. Perhaps a slider on the bottom that will allow the user to change the speed.
Add the ability to reverse the direction – I saw a clip from something and I REALLY wanted to go back.
A minor thought…what if there are three scenes on the screen I want to watch? How would I tag them and watch them later?
Somebody mentioned a wallpaper app that worked like this… That would be one neat application but I think gets way out of VideoBox’s realm of business. However, if you had one, I’d SERIOUSLY would consider getting it. (Maybe it would use locally stored files. Or maybe it would stream them from Videobox. Either way, I think this would be a killer “wallpaper”.)
Another idea someone mentioned is to allow “flow mode” to select from my favorites. That’s good and I agree, but here is another idea: choosing what it generates based upon some logical criteria. Perhaps, “highly rated clips from March 2009″ or “anything with Angel Dark or Vanessa Lane”. Oh, yeah, don’t lose the “random” option either – sometimes it’s best to just let things happen and discover new things.
And lastly, and most the important item … I had a “I’ve been looking for this clip for, like, FOREVER! And I can’t get the name of it or download it? AUGHHHH!” moment. A link or something is REALLY needed. (Really… this did happen.)
This is an awesome idea and it may be the home-run you were looking for.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
grookill: I agree with all your comments. Stay tuned.
February 14th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Awesome, fun and useful! I would like to have the ability to stash videos that i am watching in flow mode.
February 15th, 2011 at 2:18 am
The Flow Mode ist Awesome! Great. Thank you.ö
February 15th, 2011 at 10:03 am
I just joined this website to buy some Valentine’s Porn and I love it more than I thought I would. I didn’t try the flow thing yet but I immediately reacted to the words “no downloads”. Please don’t ever get rid of downloading. Downloading videos to a flash drive is the only way my boyfriend can watch porn on his work computer but not have download histories for nosy IT people to find. Don’t worry he doesn’t watch porn at work. I download the videos for him then we watch them at his house on his bigscreen with his work laptop, which is his only computer.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Love this idea and agree with grokill had similar ideas.
February 15th, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Video box flow mode is really cool, if posible a button to identify the movie it is from would be cool. Also mouse over preview on all video clips across the site would be cool. It works on the sudjestions and other stuff but not on the main pages.
Rock on
February 15th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
I take that back, you fixed it now, you do have previews on all videos, nice!
February 16th, 2011 at 7:43 am
Hi Josh,
I understand that this is a bit off topic, but I appreciate that you are sincerely concerned about satisfying the customers on the site.
I’ve been somewhat unhappy with the quality of material lately, but I’ve also just gotten a $239.86 bill from CCBill as a 540 day recurring bill.
I would not have authorized such a large amount over such a long time period as a recurring bill. To my knowledge this large payment was on a one-time basis.
Please contact me so we can clear this up.
Thank you,
February 16th, 2011 at 9:55 am
marzipan: sounds like you signed up for an 18-month subscription about 18 months ago and it recurred without your knowledge.
If you did not intend to have the subscription recur, you should contact customer service and they can help you out.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
Josh,
The prototype looks amazing. I can’t believe the speed!
Since this thread is dedicated to new features, I wanted to mention that I would so *love* to see VB on my roku box via private roku channel. I would be willing to pay extra $$ for it, too. I know there are many obstacles to this, but just a thought. Thanks for keeping VB my favorite porn site!
February 16th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
Dino: funny you should mention that. Zapp just showed me a demo of VB on roku today. It’s on the way.
February 17th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Video flow is very cool, fun and innovative way to watch porn. I would add a download link at the end or maybe the bottom of the video you click on. It would be neat to be able to have the video flow experience by categories or user selected favorite videos, as well as being able to scroll backwards and control the speed of the flow.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Josh,
Thanks for reading and responding to our comments. It’s very cool to have an actual conversation with a co-founder on this site!
I am super-excited about Roku news. I hope the channel icon will be discrete, maybe even an optional password access code for those guys with families.
February 18th, 2011 at 2:11 am
More revolutionary than Middle Eastern youth protests. Thank you for taking porn to another level. Only one suggestion: once you click on a video it’d be nice if there was simply one button that could take you to the scene’s regular page. That way you could do all the usual stuff like search for similar scenes, tag as a favorite, and download.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:36 am
Any chance of it coming to the PlayStation?
February 20th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Seems functional, but I’m not a huge fan. Keep it simple, guys. Just keep feature parity with the major video sharing sites out there (i.e. Youtube) and make your site just as easy to use as theirs.
You don’t need to go shaking things up too much with all these radical new interfaces. We already know how we like to watch videos, porn isn’t really that different.
I applaud your efforts to innovate, but VB3 is a great example of trying to do way too much at once. Instead of mucking with the technology, focus your efforts on acquiring content, moving to HD and marketing the site. None of your current customers are leaving because of the interface, and some crazy new interface isn’t going to attract more customers.
February 21st, 2011 at 1:15 am
Awesome. The next level would be using collaborative filtering to promote videos based on users’ preferences as indicated by clicks. In other words, the more videos you click on, the more the system learns your tastes by comparing your choices against other users’. I guess you guys already do this with the rating system and the recommendations, but you’d probably gather more – and more honest – data from interactions with this Flow system. And you could always keep a totally random row at the top or bottom…just for funzies.
February 21st, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Video Flow: looks like a lot of people like it. It’s a bit much for me, similar to the new VB site. But I am very happy that you guys arent just sitting on your hands over there. Great site. My ‘Watch Later’ is growing faster than I can keep up with. And the free stuff out there cant compare. Thanks for all of this. Wish I could work there!
February 24th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Is there anyway I could get some info about the software used to do this or who programmed it? I would be very interested in it for an ENTIRELY different use. If so, could you please contact me via my email. Thank you.
February 26th, 2011 at 10:03 am
playngames: you should send a “business development” message to VideoBox. Click “contact us” to send, and include your contact info.
March 5th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
This is awesome. I love it. It’d be sweet if the individual screens kept playing when you hit the pause button. Great job.
March 6th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Simply a great step forward