An Empirical Study of User Playback Interactions and Engagement in Mobile Video Viewing

Mobile video viewing on popular platforms such as YouTube and Netflix is widespread, yet the role of specific viewing interactions in shaping user engagement remains underexamined. This study investigates how skipping behaviors (including their types and directions) and playback speed adjustments relate to user engagement, with a focus on video abandonment and user satisfaction. We developed a custom mobile web application for video viewing and collected viewing logs and self-reports from 25 participants during two 10-day field studies. Our findings reveal that different skip types and directions are associated with distinct engagement outcomes. For example, scrubbing often correlates with higher abandonment, whereas backward skips may indicate greater engagement. Playback speed adjustments can signify deeper involvement, allowing users to tailor their viewing speeds without missing key content. Notably, video abandonment did not always equate with dissatisfaction; some users left after meeting their immediate viewing goals. These insights suggest that users’ playback interactions may serve as indicators of user engagement and can be incorporated into video recommendation systems to enhance user satisfaction. We conclude by discussing the design implications of enhancing user satisfaction.