Redefining the Live TV experience for cord-cutters
Designing for a fundamental shift from static to a dynamic TV app to deliver a distraction-free experience. The new app & features were designed to enhance content discoverability, improve user engagement, and create a seamless transition from the traditional cable experience. This project spans several iterations, features, and experiments over several months during a digital transformation.
2018-2019
Launched on
Roku, Apple TV
Challenge
Ever since its launch in 2015, Sling has been developing individual static experience apps for top client devices like Roku TV, Amazon Firestick & Apple TV.
The new redesign aimed at unifiying all device experiences, create a more dynamic live TV expreince to boost video engagement, discoverability of favorite content and allow users the ability to seamlessly transistion from one device to another.
Results
The new app was launch in July 2019 on Apple TV & Roku platforms, with surge in subscribers by X% (from 2.32M in Q2 2018 to 2.42 in Q3 2019). Overall the app on Apple TV & Roku received positive reviews for its user-friendly interface and cable-liek experience
2.52 M
Increase in subscribers
+0.5 hrs
Improved video engagement
3
Assets played each week
Redesigning the main app
The interactions of the app varied based on device, which led to an inconsistent experience on each device. Another issue was that platform level engineering units released certain features on individual platforms.
The first goal of the product and design team was to work with platform engineering teams and develop a central architecture and strategy that would create consistency across platforms.
We began with establishing the components of the fundamental experience. The process of designing a dynamic app
Understanding the direct and indirect competitive landscape for inspiration and to identify opportunities to deliver a unique experience.
In-person user interview sessions to validate concepts & to establish the conenction between user goals & business goals.
Serial & parallel design iterations to minimize risks identified during concept testing & to empathize with user needs.
Multiple rounds of usability tests conducted in-person testing for risk-minimized solutions. Analyzing usability and feasibility at this stage.
Measuring metrics to determine the winning combination of features to achieve business goals & a pleasant user experience.
The business goals for this initiative were as follows:
- Provide a seamless transistion from Cable TV to Streaming TV
- Reduce the instances of zero viewership on app entry
- Reduce 'Time to Video' on app startup
- Boost 'Engagement Score' for domestic user segments
- Provide ability to find other content while watching content or during ad breaks.
Sports discoverability features
The Sports & live events segment was the major driver for new subscriptions and the most engaged group of users.
Through some discovery research, it was clear that our current experience was very comparable to the live cable exprience and that we needed to create more engagement in the following areas:
- Improve content discoverability
“ With our new visual branding and language in place, the new Shopify brand clearly captures the essence of our current and target customer base, our employees, and our values. ”
Conclusion
The development of the mobile health tracking app demonstrated the importance of balancing functionality and usability in app design. By focusing on creating an intuitive and engaging user experience, we were able to support users in achieving their health goals and maintaining a healthier lifestyle. The app's success underscores the value of thoughtful design and user-centric development in the health and wellness industry.