MyFree DIRECTV
From Concept to Launch: I spearheaded the sales pitch for MyFree DIRECTV, transforming it into a compelling initiative that drove customer acquisition and captivated our leadership team.
DIRECTV
The Proposal
The majority of DIRECTV’s loyal customers are repeat users, and MyFree DIRECTV serves as the ideal introduction for newcomers. By offering a no-cost, no-strings-attached experience, we give potential customers the chance to enjoy high-quality content, all while building a foundation for future engagement. For those who love the experience, the door is open to upgrade to a full DIRECTV subscription—expanding our customer base and providing new opportunities for growth.
Challenge
How can we simplify both explaining the product and inviting new customers to sign up, using a sleek, modern approach?
Key objectives
- Launch Free Streaming Service: Develop a new free streaming offering based on existing content packages, targeting a launch date of Q4 2024.
- Design & User Experience: Create a modern, user-friendly web design that seamlessly integrates the new service, ensuring smooth navigation and intuitive interactions.
- Flexible Product Suite: Offer a configurable entertainment selection with current and relevant content that caters to diverse user preferences.
- Streamlined Signup Flow: Build a flexible, secure signup process, supporting multiple use cases including OTP (One-Time Password) verification for added security.
- Cross-Platform Access: Provide options for seamless viewing across a range of platforms and devices, ensuring a consistent experience.
- Upsell Opportunities: Identify and implement opportunities for customers to easily upgrade their viewing experience, driving future conversion to paid services.
The Solution
To bring the vision of MyFree DIRECTV to life, I collaborated closely with a project manager to communicate the idea to the Business VP, crafting user flows and mockups that clearly illustrated the user experience and overall product vision. These visuals served as a roadmap for the development process and helped align all stakeholders on the project’s objectives.
Next, I worked directly with the technical development team, guiding them through the design and implementation of both an informative explanation page and an intuitive signup page. This dual-page approach streamlined the user journey, providing a clear outline of the entertainment options available and a smooth, customer-centered signup flow. The design was focused on simplicity and ease of use, ensuring users could quickly understand the service and get started without unnecessary friction.
Throughout the process, I collaborated with cross-functional teams—business, development, UX research, and UX governance—gathering feedback and refining the design to ensure that all stakeholders were aligned. This collaborative approach helped us meet key objectives, including creating a flexible, configurable product suite and building a seamless signup experience, complete with OTP verification and cross-platform access.
Finally, I ensured the platform was optimized for upsell opportunities, making it easy for users to discover and upgrade to premium features, thus paving the way for future conversion to paid services. This cohesive process allowed us to meet the target launch date of Q4 2024, delivering a streamlined, user-friendly experience that resonates with new and existing customers alike.
Role: UX/UI Lead
Tools: Figma, Adobe Cloud, Baymard
Timeline: 7 months (March 2024-October 2024)
Design Process
- Idealization & Gathering Stakeholders
- Research & Design Spikes
- Architecture & UX Design
- UI Design & Prototyping
- Testing & Handoff
Idealization & Gathering Stakeholders
When the product managers initially met with me, they brought a preliminary set of solutions they were considering. To kick off the ideation phase, my team and I spent a focused iteration examining "freemium" models used by other entertainment and streaming providers. Drawing from my industry research, I was able to steer the conversation in a productive direction.
After refining the problem statement and identifying a clear market need, we zeroed in on the opportunity within free streaming services. While many competitors offered free options, their sign-up processes were often cumbersome, leaving users frustrated and negatively impacting brand perception.
Our solution, however, was tailored to the "freemium" model in a way that made it simple and inviting for users to sample DIRECTV’s offerings. The key differentiator was streamlining the user experience, offering easy access without unnecessary barriers.
Together, the product and development teams presented this research and my design mock-ups to the Business VP. Our approach, backed by strong data and a user-centric design, convinced the VP to move forward. We outlined a clear timeline and strategy to onboard new customers into the DIRECTV ecosystem, leveraging our existing technology and a refined user experience focused on simplicity and engagement.
Research & Design Spikes
Research Goals
Our primary research objectives stemmed from our desire to disrupt the current landscape of free streaming services, especially with regard to user engagement and advertising models. We focused on understanding how free streaming services can both attract and retain users while integrating upselling, instead of advertising, in a non-intrusive way.
Our research goals were as follows:
- Clarify the core industry problem we aimed to solve.
- Assess the market and design strategy to ensure alignment with our business goals.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of existing free streaming services.
- Identify the target audience, including key psychographic traits such as values, interests, and behaviors.
- Develop a design strategy that meets the needs of both users and advertisers, ensuring a seamless experience.
Research Approach
To ensure we explored all potential solutions and ruled out those that wouldn't meet our goals, I led a comprehensive research process to understand the problem space, the market, and the needs of potential users.
Target Market Research
The target audience for free streaming services is diverse, but generally includes users who:
- Have varying levels of disposable income, often preferring free options due to economic factors.
- Enjoy entertainment but may not want to commit to paid subscriptions.
- Value convenience and ease of access, favoring platforms that do not have complicated sign-up processes or hidden fees.
- Use mobile devices as their primary medium for content consumption, making mobile-first services a key area of focus.
- Are open to ads if they help fund free access to content, but dislike intrusive or irrelevant advertising.
Research findings suggest that this audience is motivated by flexibility, value, and easy access. However, it’s crucial to understand that user frustration often stems from poorly executed ad placements, complex sign-ups, and confusing user interfaces.
Competitive Analysis
Based on our initial findings, we analyzed competitors in the free streaming market, including services like Tubi, Peacock, and Crackle. These platforms successfully integrate ads into their free offerings, but many users still find the experience frustrating due to:
- Intrusive ads that disrupt content flow.
- Complicated user interfaces and confusing account set-up processes.
- Limited content selection, which often leads to users seeking alternatives.
The key takeaway was that while these competitors had managed to build a user base, their approaches to advertising and user engagement were far from perfect. This presented an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves by focusing on a seamless user experience, easy sign-ups, and non-intrusive, relevant ads.
Key Takeaways & Next Steps
Based on the research findings, we identified the following priorities for the next phase:
- Simplify user onboarding with an intuitive, quick sign-up process that minimizes friction.
- Optimize ad placements to ensure they are relevant, non-intrusive, and brief.
- Curate a strong content library with a diverse range of popular shows and movies to attract a wide audience.
By focusing on these priorities, we can create a free streaming service that not only meets user expectations but also delivers value to advertisers—setting the stage for a successful product launch.
Architecture
The next step in our process was to develop a strategic plan that harmonized Common Goals, Design Implications, and Product Feature Priorities. This allowed us to create a clear structure for the product solution, ensuring that we maintained a user-centric approach while also meeting our business objectives and integrating seamlessly with our existing technology. We achieved this through roadmapping, followed by the creation of sitemaps for each application—ensuring alignment with both consumer and business needs.
Creating this roadmap flow allowed me to address the challenges posed by stakeholders with varying opinions on introducing customers to our new service. I gathered feedback and suggestions from each stakeholder, developing multiple iterations to gauge their responses. Once we reached a consensus on the diagram's approach, we were able to outline actionable steps and establish timelines to successfully implement this strategy.
User Flows
Utilizing the sitemap I created unique user flows utilizing the empathy maps and personas previously created to understand the direction and user journey of each individual and how they would interact with the flow. I did this for both the mobile application and the web application with emphasis on the user needs of each.
Wireframes & Prototyping
With the sitemap and user flows as a guide, I created wireframes for the mobile application to ensure seamless interaction with the web version. Each screen was carefully reviewed for technical requirements and then prototyped to confirm that the interaction design was clear and feasible for developers to implement.