Reimagining the TV Experience for a Premium Streaming Brand
STARZ 10ft Experience Redesign
STARZ was ready for a glow up.
Known for its bold original series and cinematic storytelling, STARZ was undergoing a major brand evolution—moving away from stark black-and-white palettes toward a new identity defined by glint, glow, and visual richness. But its TV applications (Roku, tvOS, Android TV, WebTV) hadn’t been updated in over six years, and the gap between brand and product was widening fast.
The objective was clear: redesign the 10ft TV experience to match the premium feel of STARZ’s content and brand, while improving usability, engagement, and conversion across the platform.
Objective
As the lead designer, I was tasked with transforming an aging, disjointed interface into a cinematic, intuitive, and content-forward experience. Our goals were:
- Make content shine using rich artwork, motion, and clean typography
- Rethink navigation to reduce friction and increase exploration
- Showcase the depth of the STARZ catalog and talent
- Drive conversion from free to paid users through strategic gating and upsells
- Balance accessibility, brand storytelling, and engineering scalability
Key Design Strategies
1. Content-First Navigation
We introduced a new visual hierarchy inspired by best-in-class streaming platforms, emphasizing:
- Bold key art and cinematic title cards
- Clear metadata and genre tags
- Consistent entry points to episodes, trailers, and cast pages
Through behavioral research, we saw users who watched 2+ episodes and saved a title to their watchlist had significantly higher retention and LTV—so we optimized the UI to prioritize those actions subtly but prominently.
2. Modernized Visual System
The new UI aligned with the STARZ brand refresh:
- High-contrast gradients and glow effects to create depth and mood
- Carefully balanced typography and legibility for large-screen readability
- Thoughtful micro-interactions and hover states to add fluidity and polish
We also introduced subtle motion language—from carousel transitions to button feedback—ensuring the experience felt premium and dynamic without overwhelming the content.
3. Gated Content Strategy
To encourage conversion, we designed light paywalls:
- Free users could preview one episode per series
- Teased features like “Continue Watching” and trailers were lightly blurred or locked
- Upgrade CTAs were embedded naturally within the flow, not just pop-ups
These moments created intrigue, not frustration, leading to measurable increases in trial starts and upgrades.
Challenges & Cross-Functional Alignment
Redesigning for TV means balancing competing needs—this project was no exception.
✦ Fragmented Priorities
Each department had a different vision:
- Engineering wanted reusability and performance
- Marketing pushed for visual boldness and campaign storytelling
- Content needed title-specific layouts and deep metadata
- Product focused on KPIs and roadmaps
- Business aimed for monetization via upsell and engagement loops
✦ Design System Negotiation
We had to align on:
- Reusability vs. Customization
- Platform Consistency vs. Platform Specificity
- Visual Boldness vs. Accessibility
✔️ Resolution
I led multi-disciplinary working sessions, allowing teams to prototype, visualize tradeoffs, and align on key principles:
- “Content first”
- “Reduce friction”
- “Meet users where they are”
We created a living design system (hosted in Zeplin), where all stakeholders could access component specs, accessibility standards, and brand usage rules in real time. This collaborative approach generated buy-in and transparency across the org.
Outcomes
While rollout was phased across platforms, early results were promising:
📈 +22% increase in Watchlist additions
📺 +31% increase in engagement with series content
🗣️ Improved user sentiment around navigation and UI clarity
💰 Higher free-to-paid conversion in cohorts exposed to gated content