The Mormon Channel TV (OTT) App is a media viewing experience where people can consume inspirational content that they can enjoy individually or with family. The app is used across four OTT platforms (TvOS, Android Tv, Amazon Fire Tv, Roku).
Audience: Individuals and families, ages 5+
Role: UX Lead, Creative Strategy, Product Team Member
Problem: The previous version of the application was unintuitive and confusing to navigate (contributing to bounce rates and low downloads), inundated with unused content, technically unstable, and off brand.
Goal: Create a simplified, clean experience which is tailored to viewing on a large screen ratio. The experience will be intuitive and will encourage long term consumption across the four platforms and will be a 1-to-1 experience with the mobile application.
Process and Outcome: Working with a product team of mobile developers, we began researching to learn more about our audience as well technical guidelines for designing and developing for OTT (over-the-top) box experiences. We were able to learn more about user behavior when navigating with a remote control as well as other items we need to take account of such as font size and weight guidelines, experience usability from sitting a distance away from the screen, as well as how to best serve our content to those with disabilities.
We learned from surveys and previous research that our audience consisted of members and non-members of the church alike, all of which are coming to the app to consume inspirational content that will help them to find purpose and hope in their lives.
Working with an information architect and product management, we came up with a more simplified navigation structure and created a high-level site map from card sorting exercises.
Using our organization’s design system, we worked with other designers to discover gaps in the system, and fill those gaps by adding iconography, typography standards, and grids specifically for OTT experiences within our org.
With the team, we began wireframing and iterating our interaction patterns and possible layouts which we validated through various gorilla testing. Once we were comfortable with the vision we were hoping for, we began to skin the UI across the screens types.
Our page types and architecture would include screens for a splash screen, home, watch, listen, radio, kids, search, settings, and profile.
We tried to templatize several screens that would have common functionality so that we could provide our users with a seamless and consistent experience no matter where they were in the experience.
Working with the developers, we came across various challenges from trying to create a 1:1 experience across all the different platforms. Luckily we were able to create a consistent IA and interaction which helped to dispel and usability confusion.
We worked in an agile method, providing deliverables across 2 week sprints until we were able to launch each platform. The app is able to provide video, audio, 24hr. streamed audio, and live broadcasted audio to users numbering 11 million + around the world.