Australian Open OTT Experience
DIRECTV | 2014
Context
Context
DIRECTV wanted to transform the Australian Open broadcast into an interactive OTT experience within its set-top box ecosystem.
The challenge was enabling fans to explore scores, player context, highlights, and recording options without interrupting the live match.
The experience also needed to scale across other sports, including soccer and football.
Role: UX/UI Designer
Led experience design and collaborated with product, engineering, and research.
Problem
The legacy sports app forced viewers to leave the live match to access statistics, highlights, or player information.
This created three key issues:
Breaking immersion during live gameplay
Limited access to contextual match information
Navigation not optimized for remote interaction
Insight
Sports fans want additional context during the match, but they do not want to miss gameplay to access it.
Design principle:
Enhance the viewing experience without interrupting the match.
Solution
Designed an experience centered on continuous match viewing with contextual interaction layers.
Key features included:
Side-by-side live video + scoreboard
Enabled fans to monitor match progress while exploring additional information.
Interactive highlight panels and player bios
Allowed viewers to explore match context without leaving playback.
Remote-friendly navigation
Simplified directional navigation optimized for set-top box interaction.
Tradeoffs
Design decisions were shaped by live sports behavior and set-top box constraints.
• Prioritized persistent video playback over full-screen stat panels to prevent missed match moments
• Focused on high-value information instead of deep statistical dashboards
• Used lightweight UI patterns to ensure smooth performance on set-top box hardware
Full-screen stat panels
High-value information
Results
• Generated approximately $2M in revenue
• Increased engagement through in-stream exploration of match information
• Established a scalable design framework later extended to soccer, football, and other sports
