Overview

Foozle is an Apple TV app devoted to children's programming primarily consists of long-form animated series as well as some short-form content and aimed at children ages 4-10.  It provide both free and subscription based programming as well as linear and on demand streaming content.

With plans to launch a children's property the internal design team at Sinclair Digital was tasked with creating initial concepts and designs for both the brand and product. As the company was already making a large play into the OTT market the Apple TV experience was fundamental to the initiative and worked on in close conjuction with the brand development. 

Users

Initially we identified three persona as our primary users

1. Children 4-10

Digitally savvy but most importantly children so extra safety/privacy measure were important as well as simplicity

2. Parents 24-34 

Busy parents who want to be able to quickly get the content their children want to play, cord cutters, very familiar with other streaming apps

3. Parent 34+

May use less OTT apps/streaming services, more concerned about content

 
Foozle-tv-mockup.png

Requirements

As the Foozle Apple TV app was being designed as the business and content plans were also being developed initial requirements were loose and sparse. The elements that were specifically called out for inclusion were:

Requirement 1: Home Screen

1. Large carousel of featured content

2. "What's New" carousel

3. Caterogies that link to category and show pages
 

Requirement 2: Home Screen Navigation

1. Explore: deeper navigation to genre sections

2. On Now: Links to live content

3. Search

4. Settings

 

Requirement 3: Genre Sections

1. Sections needed for a range of genres would include latest content and a grid of all show of said genre 

 

Requirement 4: Show Page

1. Allow for multiple seasons

2. Latest Videos

3. Episodes

4. Clips

5. Related content

 

REQUIREMENT 5: PLAYER/EPG

1. Player with preview for scrubbing

2. Next up autoplaying video

3. Related content

4. EPG overlay for live content

5. On Now screen, player with EPG overlay

6. Paywall to allow for subscription service

 

REQUIREMENT 6: SETTINGS/ACTIVATION

1. Settings Screen

2. Activate Foozle

3. Subscribe to Foozle Plus

4. Subscription Terms

5. Previous Used Accounts

6. Password Entry

7. Sign Out

8. Legal

 

My Role

As the sole UX/UI designer working closely with Foozle stakeholders and a creative director to design initial concepts for at Apple TV app. 

Competitive Analysis

I began the project by identifying and researching out competitors OTT apps, looking for standards and trends.

This included the apps for: 

  1. Disney/Disney XD/ Disney Jr
  2. Nickelodeon/Nick Jr.
  3. Cartoon Network
  4. Sprout
  5. Boomerang
  6. PBS Kids
  7. Noggin
  8. Netflix

The most noticeable aspect all of the app experience was how similar they were.  Most consisted of some sort of large teaser or featured content, a series of carousels or grids of content and deep dives into content based on show/season. This makes sense in considering that the users are largely either children or the parents of children and so keeping as much consistency between apps eases the barrier for the user.