BingeWire

Project Snapshot

Project: BingeWire, Spoiler-Safe Group Chat App
Role: Product Discovery, MVP Scoping, User Research, Feature Design
Focus Areas: User Experience, Product Requirements, Market Research, Iterative Product Thinking
Tools Used: Figma, Competitive Research, User Interviews, Product Roadmapping
Problem Solved: Helping friends stay connected and chat about shows without worrying about spoilers or falling behind
Current Status: MVP concept with future feature expansion planned

Core MVP Features

Private Group Chats

• Users can create invite-only groups for specific shows.

• Invite friends via app link or text invite.

• Group creator acts as the admin to manage chat access.

User Profiles & Onboarding

• Profile creation with photo, username, first & last name.

• Smooth onboarding via invite links for non-users.

Episode-Based Chat Unlocking Within Group Chat

• Each show has a single private chat room for the group.

• Conversations are segmented by episode.

• Users unlock new episode segments either:

  • While watching live (with possible spoilers)

  • After finishing the episode (to avoid spoilers entirely)

• Chats about episodes the user hasn’t unlocked remain hidden until they progress.

Spoiler Controls & Progress Tracking

• Each user selects their current episode.

• The system automatically hides conversation segments for unwatched episodes.

Notifications

• Users are notified when friends comment, reply, or join chats (optional).

Next Steps

• Potential future features include reactions, show recommendations, trending shows among friend groups, and integration with streaming APIs to automatically track viewing progress.

Market Research

While existing group chats (iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord) are widely used for TV conversations, they are designed for real-time, open-ended communication, not asynchronous, spoiler-safe discussions. Viewers often manage their exposure by avoiding group chats or carefully filtering conversations to prevent spoilers, creating friction in social engagement around content.

Key market gaps identified:

• No mainstream solution prioritizes episode-based chat structure tied directly to user viewing progress.

• Existing watch party apps (Teleparty, Amazon Watch Party) focus on synchronous co-viewing, requiring everyone to watch together in real time.

• Entertainment forums (Reddit, Facebook Groups) offer broad discussions but lack tight friend-group privacy and real-time conversation dynamics.

• Streaming platforms (Netflix, Hulu, Peacock) do not offer integrated social chat features, leaving this as an external opportunity.

User Discovery:

Through informal interviews and observational research with ~10 friends, binge-watchers, and TV community members, I found consistent pain points:

• Anxiety around joining group chats for fear of spoilers

• Frustration at delaying conversations until everyone is caught up

• Desire to preserve spontaneous reactions while watching without ruining others’ experience

Supporting Industry Signals:

• 60% of streaming viewers binge-watch series rather than watching episodes as they release. (Statista, 2023)

• Spoilers reduce enjoyment for 50% of viewers who actively avoid them. (YouGov)

• Watch party apps have limited adoption vs total streaming user base (~<5% per multiple app download estimates), indicating market opportunity for asynchronous models. (Sensor Tower data)