Modernizing Cable TV for 24 Million Subscribers
Spectrum Guide Redesign
The Spectrum Guide project aimed to modernize the cable TV experience with a complete redesign of the Electronic Program Guide (EPG)—the interface core to how users browse live channels, manage DVR content, and discover new programming.
With over 24 million subscribers, the redesign needed to balance familiarity for legacy users with innovation—introducing new features like on-demand content, restartable programs, and DVR access within a seamless, streaming-powered experience.
Design Goals
Redesign the Spectrum EPG to:
- Preserve the usability of the legacy guide that users trusted
- Introduce modern capabilities like DVR, restart, and on-demand access
- Support accessibility across a massive, diverse subscriber base
- Showcase the new IP-based streaming infrastructure powering the platform
Role & Responsibilities
Lead Product Designer
Collaborated with engineering, product, and user research
Led experience design for EPG architecture, layouts, interaction patterns, and visual system
Advocated for accessibility standards and legacy user empathy
Prototyped and tested with real users across different regions
Media
The Challenge
Cable customers are deeply familiar with the traditional grid guide. Spectrum wanted to introduce modern features—but without alienating a user base that spanned all ages, regions, and technical fluency levels.
The core challenges were:
- Balancing Familiarity and Innovation
- Users expected the “grid” they were used to—but needed new ways to explore and control live content
- Introducing restart, on-demand, and DVR needed to feel intuitive—not overwhelming
- Legacy Tech vs. Streaming Architecture
- Spectrum was shifting to IP-based streaming under the hood
- The UI needed to abstract this complexity and feel seamless
- Accessibility and Scale
- With 24M+ customers across varied devices and regions, accessibility was paramount
- The design had to meet visual clarity, remote control usability, and performance standards across the board
Key Design Solutions
- Familiar Grid + Contextual Enhancements
- Preserved the core horizontal time-based channel grid
- Added a dynamic info panel for each title showing genre, synopsis, cast, and recording options
- Enabled access to new features via intuitive iconography and remote shortcuts
- Unified Entry Point for Live, DVR, and On-Demand
- Created a single, smart info module for each title—whether live, recorded, or on-demand
- Users could play, record, or restart content from one place, removing UI fragmentation
- Restart Feature Integration
- Added a subtle but visible “Restart” badge for eligible live programs
- Mapped to a simple remote button to encourage discoverability and ease of use
- Accessibility by Design
- High contrast, readable typography
- Color and icon choices tested for clarity and simplicity
- Designed with remote navigation and cognitive accessibility in mind
Reflection
This project represented a pivotal moment in the evolution of cable TV—bridging traditional viewing habits with new digital behaviors.
Designing for such a broad, legacy user base required empathy, restraint, and deep attention to interface clarity. It wasn’t about reinventing the wheel—it was about giving users more control, clarity, and convenience, without ever making them feel lost.
The Spectrum Guide redesign is a great example of how design maturity, stakeholder collaboration, and user empathy can come together to ship innovation at scale—and quietly redefine what people expect from their TV.
Outcomes
The redesigned Spectrum Guide rolled out gradually to millions of customers and became a cornerstone product for Spectrum’s TV platform.
📺 Increased adoption of restart and on-demand features among legacy cable users
📈 Reduced support calls related to guide usability and DVR confusion
❤️ Positive feedback from users, particularly older demographics, for ease of use and clarity
🧠 Positioned Spectrum as a forward-thinking player in the evolving TV space