Modeling the Impacts of Swipe Delay on User Quality of Experience in Short Video Streaming

TL;DR

This study systematically examines how swipe delay durations and timing affect user satisfaction in short video streaming, revealing that longer and late-session delays significantly impair user experience and proposing a predictive QoE model.

Contribution

First systematic analysis of swipe delay effects on QoE in short video streaming, introducing a novel predictive model with high accuracy.

Findings

Delays of eight seconds or more reduce user satisfaction.

Early-session delays are less detrimental than late-session delays.

The proposed QoE model outperforms existing models in predicting user experience.

Abstract

Short video streaming platforms have gained immense popularity in recent years, transforming the way users consume video content. A critical aspect of user interaction with these platforms is the swipe gesture, which allows users to navigate through videos seamlessly. However, the delay between a user's swipe action and the subsequent video playback can significantly impact the overall user experience. This paper presents the first systematic study investigating the effects of swipe delay on user Quality of Experience (QoE) in short video streaming. In particular, we conduct a subjective quality assessment containing 132 swipe delay patterns. The obtained results show that user experience is affected not only by the swipe delay duration, but also by the number of delays and their temporal positions. A single delay of eight seconds or longer is likely to lead to user dissatisfaction. Moreover, early-session delays are less harmful to user QoE than late-session delays. Based on the findings, we propose a novel QoE model that accurately predicts user experience based on swipe delay characteristics. The proposed model demonstrates high correlation with subjective ratings, outperforming existing models in short video streaming.