Vimeo
Ask Vimeo AI
Transforming video knowledge extraction to unlock billions of minutes of untapped knowledge
Context
Mobile Strategy
For Vimeo's "AI everywhere" strategy, the company prioritized AI-powered capabilities that would transform how users extract value from video content.
Problem
Video professionals and teams frequently needed specific information from hours of recorded content. Finding relevant moments required manual timeline scrubbing or watching entire videos, making video inefficient as a knowledge format.
Why this matters
By enabling users to ask questions and receive timestamped answers, this work supported Vimeo's enterprise value proposition and differentiation in the AI-powered productivity space.
My Role
As design lead for mobile, I was responsible for translating Vimeo's web AI experience into native mobile patterns, adapting interaction models for smaller screens while maintaining consistency with the broader product vision. I partnered closely with the web design team to understand the AI's capabilities and constraints, and worked directly with AI/ML engineering to shape what was technically feasible for V1.
Understanding and discovery
I worked with product and engineering partners to understand both the technical constraints and emerging interaction patterns for AI within video products. Through competitive analysis and early prototyping, we identified some initial experience principles.
Dual interaction model
Two entry points were essential: pre-generated questions to reduce friction for casual users, and a custom prompt field for power users. Both needed to feel natural and discoverable within the player.
Managing processing time
AI processing takes time, especially for long videos. Users tolerate delays when they understand what's happening, so our design needed clear progress indicators and expectation-setting to avoid confusion or abandonment.
The output: text + timestamps
Users wanted fast answers and the ability to verify. This meant pairing text responses with tappable timestamps, letting users jump directly to the relevant moments in the video without leaving the flow.
How it works
Ask AI lets users get answers from long-form video without watching the whole thing. Users can tap a suggested question or type their own and receive text answers with timestamps that link directly to relevant moments. It's especially valuable on mobile, where time and attention are limited.
