TVx is Blim's viewing experience specifically designed for smart TVs, gaming consoles and set top boxes.
Project challenge.
If you want to watch content in your living room there are innumerable devices out there in which to do it. At Blim we made sure that our service was available on almost all of them. But keeping track of the multiple platforms, conventions and requirements for each was getting out of hand.
Users with multiple living room devices also had to deal with different experiences depending on what device they were watching. A key pain point was that users could not find a feature they used on another type of device and a learning curve was expected to find their way through each type of app. Time to solve this.
Our goals.
Our TVx project was started to consolidate a single experience on every device with a unified feel and behavior. We wanted navigation to be fast, tailored for ultra casual consumption and the guarantee that our users will have the same great experience no matter what device they’re using.
Types of supported controllers.
Process.
We started working on the project by gathering additional customer data via interviews, usage analytics and previous data from our call center. After compiling a list of the devices used most often we started gathering design patterns that represented the best practices in behavior, display and controls in regards to fast and laid back content consumption.
Since most of our users already had access to an Android device it made sense to start from the familiarity of their ecosystem. We looked into the guidelines defined by Google's Android TV. After customizing them to our content architecture we focused on making the controls even simpler and faster.
Navigation and playback was empowered by making the most out of what all these devices share, which is a D-Pad, Select and Back buttons. Our content architecture, sections, filtering, search, playback, revolved around these controls with the goal that our users browsed through our content selection and found just the right title to watch in a way that was second nature to them.
After prototyping, testing and documenting was done the project was handed to Anthony Gomez who headed the UI team on this project. They then worked on adapting the wireframes according to our brand guidelines and adding the final animations and transitions.
Guidelines that distinguish between Select and Back button navigation and D-Pad navigation.
Display and focusing guidelines. Our team followed up closely with the development team so that our posters are always visible and comfortably spaced on any screen.
Interactive prototype developed in Principle. Used to test navigation feel and consistency.
Controller navigation for playback. Controls are mapped so that in this view fast forwarding, rewinding and option selection are done by the D-Pad.
Results.
The release of TVx helped establish Smart TVs as the flagship device of Blim. User response was overwhelmingly positive with usage on TVs increasing gradually since release.
Having a single UX and UI experience also accelerated development time helping expand our reach even more. Identical deliverables and kick off sessions were provided to all development teams.
TVx is currently available for download on Apple TV 4th Gen, Android TV devices, Samsung TVs, LG TVs and XBOX One where it has been downloaded over 6,000 times in the span of few months. Thanks to efficient design and considerate requirements it is able to run without problems on legacy and low end devices.
My role in the project.
User Experience Design Lead. Responsible for coordinating and overseeing research, content and scenario mapping, wireframing, prototyping, documentation and UX testing.