THe UNIFIED ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM
TV+
Project snapshot
Challenges
In 2020, StarHub, a leading telecom provider in Singapore, faced mounting challenges as its TV platforms struggled to retain users amid fierce competitions, declining revenue (-24.2% YoY), costly fragmented TV platforms & an aging customer base highlighted the urgent need for a unified, accessible, and modern TV experience.
My role
As the Senior Product Designer, I led the UI/UX redesign from start to finish, focusing on a TV-friendly interface for elderly users while ensuring it appealing to younger viewers across multiple platforms including mobile, tablet, web and 10-ft experience on large TV screen.
Impacts
Over 8 months (Jan - Aug 2020), we delivered a solution that not only improved user satisfaction but also drove measurable business outcomes.
TOTAL ENTERTAINMENT SUBSCRIBERS
Average return per user (ARPU)
NPS SCORE Post-launch
Hours of EnTERTAINMENT CONTENT
RESEARCH
1.1 Meet our audience
Analysis from our internal customer data, we identified that there are 2 major groups emerged:
1.2 How they watch
Analysis from survey conducted by external vendors on 4000+ StarHub customer and interview data from shop front-liners, we have some preliminary data points of their watching behaviors to take in considerations:
Elderly customers
Demanded on-the-go access, seamless binge watch across all devices anywhere, anytime
1.3 What they're saying
Looking at NPS feedback themes, we understand that, customer are complaining about mulitple problems which including:
1.4 The "Gap" to close
IDEATIONS
2.1 Teams alignment & stakeholders buy-in
For all customers
For elderly customers
Elderly onboarding
Linear content priority
Multi-languages supported
Remote simplification
For younger customers
Personalisation content
Content quality (Ultra HD, 4K)
Content on-the-go
3rd parties OTT content integrations
2.2 Learning from rivals
Beside workshop, a quick competitive review of other TV providers revealed key insights into addressing generational divides:
Standardized Content Rails: Tile-based layouts (content rails) were universally adopted, minimizing learning curves through familiar navigation patterns.
Linear-First Hierarchy: Competitors prioritized live TV on the first screen fold—allocating 60-70% of space to linear content like news or scheduled shows. This aligned with elderly users’ preferences for immediate access to routine programming.
TV Guide Prominence: Dedicated TV guides were surfaced early in navigation, catering to linear viewers seeking channel-based browsing.
Live Content Highlighting: On-air shows were prominently featured with elapsed timers (e.g., “Live: 12:45/60:00”), creating urgency and transparency for time-sensitive viewing.
2.3 Structure the experience
Besides, we analyzed playback data to identify the most-watched channels and content genres. This data-driven approach informed the first draft of our information architecture:
Linear Content Prioritization: High-frequency channels (e.g., news, daily dramas) were surfaced first, with rails like ‘Now on TV’ and ‘Favorites’ occupying the top 40% of the screen—aligning with elderly users’ preference for routine viewing.
On-Demand Accessibility: Secondary placement was given to OTT content (‘Continue Watching,’ ‘Watchlist’) to cater to younger audiences’ binge-watching habits without overwhelming linear-first users.
Personalized Discovery: Tailored rails like ‘For You’ and ‘Because You Watched…’ leveraged viewing history to recommend content, bridging generational divides through data-driven curation.
Content was grouped by genre (e.g., sports, lifestyle) and ordered by real-time viewing frequency, ensuring relevance while minimizing cognitive load for elderly users.
DESIGN
3.1 Sketching the vision
Given the tight timeline of the project, wireframes were continuously sketched while simultaneously securing stakeholder buy-in.
3.2 Craft the look
A style guide was developed specifically for the 10-foot experience on large TV screens and later adapted for mobile, tablet, and web platforms. Key considerations include:
Readability & Clarity: Large, high-contrast text and clear visuals for easy viewing from a distance.
Efficient Navigation: Optimized for remotes and gamepads with simple directional controls (up, down, left, right) while minimizing unnecessary clicks.
Clear Visual Feedback: Strong indicators to highlight user focus and make selected items stand out.
Consistency & Usability: Adherence to familiar & established UI patterns for TV on the market for intuitive navigation, improve learnability, avoiding overly complex gestures or layouts.
VALIDATION
4.1 How we tested
Research Goals
Primary: whether proposal UX is usable for elderly.
Secondary: Get to know more about user existing behaviours, unmet needs around TV usage through pre-test questionnaires.
Test participants
Age group: 45 - 70 years
Singaporean, Mainly Chinese ethnicity
Fair mix of male & female
30% of respondents prefer speaking Mandarin
StarHub/Singtel Fibre TV (IPTV) subscribers
Technically not savvy
Research Methods
One-on-One In-depth interviews
20 elderly users
Test structure: 2 parts
Open-ended questionnaires to understand user’s TV viewing behaviours (15’)
Usability testing on 5 key use-cases on the TV app (45’)
4.2 Insights & iterations
5 |
REFLECTIONS
One year after StarHubTV+ launched in 2021, I’m pleased it kept elderly users happy and surprised us with youth appeal.
What we did well
Growth That Landed: We added +104K subscribers (520K to 624K), grew ARPU 7.6% ($26 to $28) and NPS rose 10%.
Keeping Elderly: after launch, there is no major opt-out, complaints from this segment when we upgraded all of their services to the new experience indicating no major rejection.
Youth Showed Up: With the push from Product and Marketing teams later on for 10 more OTT apps content integrated into StarHub TV app, plus our UX delivering watch-anywhere access across devices, pulled in 30% new subs.
What we can do better
Test Youth Sooner: Youth wanted OTT and watch-anywhere earlier, but we didn’t prioritize them. Testing both ages from the start could’ve sped up that 30% subs gain.
Clear Up Naming: Research found names like ‘Go Max’ confuse people. I’ve yet to sync with Content teams to fix this for better discovery.
Push NPS Higher: The 10% NPS lift is solid, yet youth satisfaction can climb more. We need better ways to gauge their experience.