Streaming Video Design
Crafting Unified Experiences Across Platforms
THE SHORT VERSION
As Starz grew its streaming app from a few platforms to a full connected-TV footprint, I moved from designing across web, native mobile, and Apple TV into becoming the lead and sole designer for the TV experience, covering Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, and Samsung TV.
Over several years I designed new features, supported platform expansion, and led TV design through two full rebrands, using those projects to also improve cross-platform consistency. Along the way I worked closely with the web and mobile designers to translate shared product and brand decisions into platform-specific experiences.
Most of my impact came from driving discovery and retention: I led competitor research that helped the team prioritize new discovery features, including profiles, playlists, and recommendations of similar content. Those features rolled out across the TV platforms, app store ratings rose, and subscription growth supported further platform expansion.
My Role & Scope
I began at Starz designing across web, native mobile, and Apple TV. As Starz expanded its TV footprint, I became the lead and sole designer for the TV experience across Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, and Samsung TV.
My work covered the full product cycle: kickoff and goal definition, competitive analysis and review of user feedback and analytics, architecture sketching, interaction and experience design, iteration with developers and stakeholders, and delivery and QA through development. I did not just hand off designs; I partnered with engineering through implementation and reviewed builds to help ensure things worked as intended.
The Design Challenges
Nuances of The “10 foot” Experience
The TV platforms had their own design patterns that set them apart from anything I had designed before. We adopted the nickname "10-foot" for our TV platforms because TV viewers are usually sitting about 10 feet from the screen, which shapes nearly every design decision.
Unlike web and mobile products, viewers cannot point directly at an element or swipe through content. Every screen needs to make the next possible action obvious, and every path needs to account for remote-control navigation. TV platforms also differ from computers and mobile devices in more than just navigation: they have their own aspect ratios and resolutions, and because viewers sit much further back from the screen, layouts and content need to be scaled for viewing at a distance.
Key considerations included:
This work strengthened my approach to information architecture, interaction design, and edge-case thinking. I learned to treat each screen as part of a connected system, not as an isolated layout.
Using Rebrands to Strengthen Consistency Across Platforms
During my time at Starz we went through two full rebrands, and we used these projects to also refine platform consistency.
The first rebrand was a lighter touch: a re-skin of the apps plus updated branding and copy to better establish the brand voice, while Starz was still focused on getting the app onto as many platforms as possible.
The second rebrand was a full re-architecture of the app, including in-app purchase features, new color palettes and logos, and an entirely new aesthetic. As device expansion had grown, the apps had become disjointed, so a cohesive experience across all platforms was a major goal. I worked in tandem with the platform lead designers for web and mobile to create wireframes, layouts, flows, and final UI designs toward that goal.
While TV was the primary focus, I also collaborated on layouts and patterns for other streaming platforms, including native mobile experiences. The goal was not to duplicate screens across devices. It was to create a connected experience that respected each platform's strengths.
For example, TV prioritized lean-back discovery and an immersive viewing environment. Mobile needed compact information hierarchy and efficient paths to browse, save, and resume content.
Collaboration with the mobile and web platform designers was frequent. We iterated through layout options together, and I mentored the more junior designers. We brainstormed and ideated on a regular basis to figure out how to best translate layouts, components, and features across platforms.
MY Design Process
My work on these projects did not follow a single rigid sequence. The process shifted depending on the scope, unknowns, feedback, and technical constraints.
A typical cycle included:
Driving Discovery and Retention
While the rebrands and improved app consistency helped elevate our apps to a more competitive level, we still needed to keep driving growth.
The business wanted to increase subscriptions and active users. A streaming app only retains paying subscribers if it keeps giving them a reason to return, and the most direct way to do that is to help viewers keep finding new content worth watching. If someone finishes a series and has no clear next title, there is little reason to keep paying for the service. So the task was to help viewers keep discovering new content worth watching.
As part of that work I reviewed how competing streaming platforms presented these same kinds of features, then iterated our own designs based on patterns that research surfaced. The goal of the competitor review was to find inspiration for how we could encourage more content discovery in our own app, and to align the team on which features we thought were most useful and important so we could prioritize our new feature work.
Based on that review, we decided to pursue the following new features first:
Result: The new discovery features rolled out across the TV platforms I owned, and overall app store ratings rose after the rollout. The business saw clear subscription increases, which encouraged continued investment in building app support for additional platforms, including Roku and Xbox, which joined Apple TV and Fire TV as TV destinations.
Lessons Learned
Alongside those outcomes, the work shaped how I approach TV product design:
Streaming Video Design
Crafting Unified Experiences Across Platforms
THE SHORT VERSION
As Starz grew its streaming app from a few platforms to a full connected-TV footprint, I moved from designing across web, native mobile, and Apple TV into becoming the lead and sole designer for the TV experience, covering Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, and Samsung TV.
Over several years I designed new features, supported platform expansion, and led TV design through two full rebrands, using those projects to also improve cross-platform consistency. Along the way I worked closely with the web and mobile designers to translate shared product and brand decisions into platform-specific experiences.
Most of my impact came from driving discovery and retention: I led competitor research that helped the team prioritize new discovery features, including profiles, playlists, and recommendations of similar content. Those features rolled out across the TV platforms, app store ratings rose, and subscription growth supported further platform expansion.
My Role & Scope
I began at Starz designing across web, native mobile, and Apple TV. As Starz expanded its TV footprint, I became the lead and sole designer for the TV experience across Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, and Samsung TV.
My work covered the full product cycle: kickoff and goal definition, competitive analysis and review of user feedback and analytics, architecture sketching, interaction and experience design, iteration with developers and stakeholders, and delivery and QA through development. I did not just hand off designs; I partnered with engineering through implementation and reviewed builds to help ensure things worked as intended.
The Design Challenges
Nuances of The “10 foot” Experience
The TV platforms had their own design patterns that set them apart from anything I had designed before. We adopted the nickname "10-foot" for our TV platforms because TV viewers are usually sitting about 10 feet from the screen, which shapes nearly every design decision.
Unlike web and mobile products, viewers cannot point directly at an element or swipe through content. Every screen needs to make the next possible action obvious, and every path needs to account for remote-control navigation. TV platforms also differ from computers and mobile devices in more than just navigation: they have their own aspect ratios and resolutions, and because viewers sit much further back from the screen, layouts and content need to be scaled for viewing at a distance.
Key considerations included:
This work strengthened my approach to information architecture, interaction design, and edge-case thinking. I learned to treat each screen as part of a connected system, not as an isolated layout.
Using Rebrands to Strengthen Consistency Across Platforms
During my time at Starz we went through two full rebrands, and we used these projects to also refine platform consistency.
The first rebrand was a lighter touch: a re-skin of the apps plus updated branding and copy to better establish the brand voice, while Starz was still focused on getting the app onto as many platforms as possible.
The second rebrand was a full re-architecture of the app, including in-app purchase features, new color palettes and logos, and an entirely new aesthetic. As device expansion had grown, the apps had become disjointed, so a cohesive experience across all platforms was a major goal. I worked in tandem with the platform lead designers for web and mobile to create wireframes, layouts, flows, and final UI designs toward that goal.
While TV was the primary focus, I also collaborated on layouts and patterns for other streaming platforms, including native mobile experiences. The goal was not to duplicate screens across devices. It was to create a connected experience that respected each platform's strengths.
For example, TV prioritized lean-back discovery and an immersive viewing environment. Mobile needed compact information hierarchy and efficient paths to browse, save, and resume content.
Collaboration with the mobile and web platform designers was frequent. We iterated through layout options together, and I mentored the more junior designers. We brainstormed and ideated on a regular basis to figure out how to best translate layouts, components, and features across platforms.
MY Design Process
My work on these projects did not follow a single rigid sequence. The process shifted depending on the scope, unknowns, feedback, and technical constraints.
A typical cycle included:
Driving Discovery and Retention
While the rebrands and improved app consistency helped elevate our apps to a more competitive level, we still needed to keep driving growth.
The business wanted to increase subscriptions and active users. A streaming app only retains paying subscribers if it keeps giving them a reason to return, and the most direct way to do that is to help viewers keep finding new content worth watching. If someone finishes a series and has no clear next title, there is little reason to keep paying for the service. So the task was to help viewers keep discovering new content worth watching.
As part of that work I reviewed how competing streaming platforms presented these same kinds of features, then iterated our own designs based on patterns that research surfaced. The goal of the competitor review was to find inspiration for how we could encourage more content discovery in our own app, and to align the team on which features we thought were most useful and important so we could prioritize our new feature work.
Based on that review, we decided to pursue the following new features first:
Result: The new discovery features rolled out across the TV platforms I owned, and overall app store ratings rose after the rollout. The business saw clear subscription increases, which encouraged continued investment in building app support for additional platforms, including Roku and Xbox, which joined Apple TV and Fire TV as TV destinations.
Lessons Learned
Alongside those outcomes, the work shaped how I approach TV product design:
Streaming Video Design
Crafting Unified Experiences Across Platforms
THE SHORT VERSION
As Starz grew its streaming app from a few platforms to a full connected-TV footprint, I moved from designing across web, native mobile, and Apple TV into becoming the lead and sole designer for the TV experience, covering Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, and Samsung TV.
Over several years I designed new features, supported platform expansion, and led TV design through two full rebrands, using those projects to also improve cross-platform consistency. Along the way I worked closely with the web and mobile designers to translate shared product and brand decisions into platform-specific experiences.
Most of my impact came from driving discovery and retention: I led competitor research that helped the team prioritize new discovery features, including profiles, playlists, and recommendations of similar content. Those features rolled out across the TV platforms, app store ratings rose, and subscription growth supported further platform expansion.
My Role & Scope
I began at Starz designing across web, native mobile, and Apple TV. As Starz expanded its TV footprint, I became the lead and sole designer for the TV experience across Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, and Samsung TV.
My work covered the full product cycle: kickoff and goal definition, competitive analysis and review of user feedback and analytics, architecture sketching, interaction and experience design, iteration with developers and stakeholders, and delivery and QA through development. I did not just hand off designs; I partnered with engineering through implementation and reviewed builds to help ensure things worked as intended.
The Design Challenges
Nuances of The “10 foot” Experience
The TV platforms had their own design patterns that set them apart from anything I had designed before. We adopted the nickname "10-foot" for our TV platforms because TV viewers are usually sitting about 10 feet from the screen, which shapes nearly every design decision.
Unlike web and mobile products, viewers cannot point directly at an element or swipe through content. Every screen needs to make the next possible action obvious, and every path needs to account for remote-control navigation. TV platforms also differ from computers and mobile devices in more than just navigation: they have their own aspect ratios and resolutions, and because viewers sit much further back from the screen, layouts and content need to be scaled for viewing at a distance.
Key considerations included:
This work strengthened my approach to information architecture, interaction design, and edge-case thinking. I learned to treat each screen as part of a connected system, not as an isolated layout.
Using Rebrands to Strengthen Consistency Across Platforms
During my time at Starz we went through two full rebrands, and we used these projects to also refine platform consistency.
The first rebrand was a lighter touch: a re-skin of the apps plus updated branding and copy to better establish the brand voice, while Starz was still focused on getting the app onto as many platforms as possible.
The second rebrand was a full re-architecture of the app, including in-app purchase features, new color palettes and logos, and an entirely new aesthetic. As device expansion had grown, the apps had become disjointed, so a cohesive experience across all platforms was a major goal. I worked in tandem with the platform lead designers for web and mobile to create wireframes, layouts, flows, and final UI designs toward that goal.
While TV was the primary focus, I also collaborated on layouts and patterns for other streaming platforms, including native mobile experiences. The goal was not to duplicate screens across devices. It was to create a connected experience that respected each platform's strengths.
For example, TV prioritized lean-back discovery and an immersive viewing environment. Mobile needed compact information hierarchy and efficient paths to browse, save, and resume content.
Collaboration with the mobile and web platform designers was frequent. We iterated through layout options together, and I mentored the more junior designers. We brainstormed and ideated on a regular basis to figure out how to best translate layouts, components, and features across platforms.
MY Design Process
My work on these projects did not follow a single rigid sequence. The process shifted depending on the scope, unknowns, feedback, and technical constraints.
A typical cycle included:
Driving Discovery and Retention
While the rebrands and improved app consistency helped elevate our apps to a more competitive level, we still needed to keep driving growth.
The business wanted to increase subscriptions and active users. A streaming app only retains paying subscribers if it keeps giving them a reason to return, and the most direct way to do that is to help viewers keep finding new content worth watching. If someone finishes a series and has no clear next title, there is little reason to keep paying for the service. So the task was to help viewers keep discovering new content worth watching.
As part of that work I reviewed how competing streaming platforms presented these same kinds of features, then iterated our own designs based on patterns that research surfaced. The goal of the competitor review was to find inspiration for how we could encourage more content discovery in our own app, and to align the team on which features we thought were most useful and important so we could prioritize our new feature work.
Based on that review, we decided to pursue the following new features first:
Result: The new discovery features rolled out across the TV platforms I owned, and overall app store ratings rose after the rollout. The business saw clear subscription increases, which encouraged continued investment in building app support for additional platforms, including Roku and Xbox, which joined Apple TV and Fire TV as TV destinations.
Lessons Learned
Alongside those outcomes, the work shaped how I approach TV product design: