Optik TV Live Recommendation
The growth of content in the Optik TV catalog in recent years presents an opportunity to create a new discovery experience for TV. Earlier that year TELUS had acquired a content recommendation platform technology but didn’t have a concrete use-case for it. We were tasked to see how we can leverage the new acquisition to better the TV experience.
Client
TELUS Optik TV
Timeline
August 2014 - March 2015
Status
Proof concept and user group trials
Why the need for a content recommendation service?
There are 13000+ video on demand titles and 650+ TV channels in the Optik TV catalog and there has been no major improvements in the way content is presented in set top boxes. Only about 4% of TV subscribers knew exactly what to watch when they sit down in front of a TV. 96% channel surf until they see something they’re interested in.
What I did
I led the conceptualization and created a pitch for the future vision of live TV recommendation under the guidance of LVL Studio’s VP of Design. After the pitch, we were able to get our client’s full support and continued the project beyond conceptualization.
I conducted competitive research, created wireframes, and tested the wireframes with the client throughout the design iterations. After the wireframes were complete, I also had the support of a UI designer and a copywriter to create on-brand pixel-perfect screens. I stayed on the project until it went to user group trials stage.
Experimenting with live TV and transactional content
We tested how much we can mix subscribed content and transactional content (on-demand or premium subscription). The testing was done in the early stages of the design process to quickly test the market reception when served a mixed content type on a recommendation service.
Recommendation for all stages of TV watching
On now (live TV)
Mood based on demand recommendation
On next (upcoming live TV)
PVR Recommendations - see trending titles that others are recording