How to Design Streaming Apps and UX Strategically in 2024
What does it take to be a streaming app designer and director of product in 2024? Nadine Krefetz, Consultant, Reality Software, Contributing Editor, Streaming Media, discusses this topic with Tom Hurlbutt, Senior Director of Product Management, Crunchyroll, Brandon Yap, Product Designer, Philo, and Esther Ahn, Head of User Experience, YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels, in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.
Krefetz begins by asking Hurlbutt how his responsibilities in the industry have changed since he started.
Hurlbutt highlights the challenges of creating application experiences for various contexts, such as automotive settings, which can range from immersive to intimate. “A lot of the focus has been on web, mobile, and living room or CTV as that holy trinity when it comes to application imprints,” he says. “At the same time, we're starting to see screens put anywhere and everywhere with a desire to be able to watch content there. One of the newest modalities that my team has had the experience of working on has been automotive and understanding how to get application experiences there in a situation that shares some similarities with CTV experiences – being very theatrical, very immersive, but which can also be personal and intimate depending on how many people are in the car with you, whether it's a shared experience versus a solitary experience, and how do you build applications to really solve that context well, versus just looking at it at a specific screen dimension at a specific location?”
Krefetz asks Yap what has changed for him since he began working in the industry.
Yap discusses the complexity of designing for a multitude of platforms and user contexts, and he emphasizes the need to understand user desires based on what, where, and how they watch content. “I think there's this unique challenge in the streaming industry to have your design, service, and your product translate your brand and the content you're trying to present to the user over this breadth of platforms and the challenges,” he says. “How do we identify the needs of the user based on what they're watching, where and how, and on what platform? What is the intent based on what platform they decide to watch? And I'm trying to think modularly about all these different entry points into watching their favorite content nowadays. It's not so straightforward. They're different remotes, different platforms, different touch points for all of these different things, all these affordances to consider. So it's a very fun and unique puzzle at times.”
Ahn emphasizes the importance of understanding user pain points and needs, leveraging research, and focusing on content design and strategy. “One of the things that has been most exciting on the YouTube TV side is really taking into account a broad swath of different viewers coming in with different backgrounds,” she says. “Brandon [Hurlbutt] mentioned remote controls. How do you bring [viewers] over to a TV experience that may not have the reliance on those types of shortcut controls and buttons that you might be used to? And so it's really thinking about how to modernize the TV experience and bringing along a wide range of different viewers with different contexts.”
See videos of the full program from Streaming Media Connect February 2024 here.
We'll be back in person for Streaming Media NYC May 20-22, 2024. More details here.
Related Articles
Amazon Prime recently redesigned its interface. To help us understand what Amazon did, why they did it, and what it could mean for other streaming publishers, I recently interviewed Matt Lasky, lead user experience designer at UIC Digital. His quotes in the article have been edited for flow and readability.
14 Aug 2024
How important is maintaining brand identity and differentiation in streaming UX and app design, and how critical, or even possible or advisable, is it to sustain a consistent look and feel across different platforms? And how crucial is branding in the overall fan experience, or building a fan base for the content associated with your brand? YouTube TV's Esther Ahn, MagellanTV's James Lauzun, and Crunchyroll's Tom Hurlbutt weigh in, in this discussion with Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz at Streaming Media Connect 2024.
17 Apr 2024
On Tuesday, May 21 at Streaming Media NYC, Hub Entertainment Research Principal Jon Giegengack will moderate an all-star panel on streaming app design and the challenges of delivering smooth, satisfying, and consistent user experiences across a range of platforms. Confirmed panelists include NBCUniversal Director, Creative Products Shannon McKenzie and Hearst Television SVP, Streaming Services Andrew Fitzgerald.
02 Apr 2024
How important is it for streaming users and viewers to be able to customize, personalize, and curate their experiences with streaming apps? And what are product designers doing to facilitate those types of experiences? YouTube TV's Esther Ahn, Crunchyroll's Tom Hurlbutt, and Magellan TV's James Lauzun offer their takes in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.
27 Mar 2024
Streaming Media's Tim Siglin sits down with Patrick Courtney of Fuse to discuss FAST brand verticalization and UX in this exclusive interview from Streaming Media East 2023.
26 Jun 2023
How much choice is too much choice for OTT media and entertainment consumers? Is content and channel overwhelm ruining the user experiences for OTT audiences who just want to find something to watch? And is more bundling the solution? Find out what Media Cartographer Evan Shapiro and Applicaster Co-founder Jonathan Laor have to say on the subject in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2023.
12 Apr 2023
How do you measure what's working and what isn't in OTT user experience design? Vevo's Eileen Jackson, Hartbeat's Solan Strickling, and Philo's Thijs Lowette identify their UX KPIs of choice in this panel from Streaming Media West 2022.
08 Feb 2023
Companies and Suppliers Mentioned